Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness

• Coming into Force: 13 December 1975
• Citation: UNTS v. 989 (p.175)
• Date of Conclusion: 30 August 1961
• Registration Date: 13 December 1975
• Registration Number: 14458
• Participants: Albania,Angola,Argentina,Armenia,Australia,Austria,Azerbaiján,Bélgica,Belize,Benin,Bolivia,Bosnia & Herzegovina,Brasil,Bulgaria,Burkina Faso,Canada,Chad,Chile,Colombia,Costa Rica,Côte d'Ivoire,Croacia,Czech Republic,Dinamarca,República Dominicana,Ecuador,Federal Republic of Germany,Finlandia,France,Gambia,Georgia,Germany,Guatemala,Guinea,Guinea-Bissau,Haiti,Honduras,Hungria,Ireland,Israel,Italia,Jamaica,Kiribati,Latvia,Lesotho,Liberia,Libyan Arab Jamahiriya,Liechtenstein,Lithuania,Luxembourg,Mali,Montenegro,Mozambique,Holanda,New Zealand,Nicaragua,Niger,Nigeria,North Macedonia,Noruega,Panamá,Paraguay,Perú,Portugal,Republic of Moldova,Rumania,Rwanda,Senegal,Serbia,Sierra Leone,Eslovaquia,España,Swaziland,Suecia,Tunisia,Turkmenistan,Ukraine,United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,Uruguay,Islandia
• Subject Terms: Human rights,Legal matters,Refugees,Nationality
• Depositary: Secretary-General of the United Nations

No.

14458

MULTILATERAL

Convention

on

the

reduction

of

statelessness

(with

Final

Act

of

the

United

Nations

Conference

on

the

Elimination

or

Reduction

of

Future

Statelessness

held

at

Geneva

from

24

March

to

18

April

1959,

and

Resolutions

I,

II,

III

and

IV

of

the

Conference).

Concluded

at

New

York

on

30

August

1961

Authentic

texts:

English,

French,

Chinese,

Russian

and

Spanish.

Registered

ex

officio on

13

December

1975.

MULTILATÉRAL

Convention

sur

la

réduction

des

cas

d'apatrîdie

(avec

Acte

final

de

la

Conférence

des

Nations

Unies

pour

l'élimina

tion

ou

la

réduction

des

cas

d'apatrîdie

dans

l'avenir

réunie

à

Genève

du

24

mars

au

18

avril

1959,

et

résolu

tions

n°

s

I,

II,

III

et

IV

de

la

Conférence).

Conclue

à

New

York

le

30

août

1961

Textes

authentiques

:

anglais,

français,

chinois,

russe

et

espagnol.

Enregistrée d'office

le

13

décembre

1975.

Vol.

989,

1-14458

176

United

Nations

—

Treaty

Series

•

Nations

Unies

—

Recueil

des

Traités

1975

CONVENTION

1

ON

THE

REDUCTION

OF

STATELESSNESS

The

Contracting

States,

Acting

in

pursuance

of

resolution

896

(IX),

2

adopted

by

the

General

Assembly

of

the

United

Nations

on

4

December

1954,

Considering

it

desirable

to

reduce

statelessness

by

international

agreement,

Have

agreed

as

follows:

Article

1.

1.

A

Contracting

State

shall

grant

its

nationality

to

a

person

born

in

its

territory

who

would

otherwise

be

stateless. Such

nationality

shall

be

granted:

(a)

at

birth,

by

operation

of

law,

or

(b)

upon

an

application

being

lodged with

the

appropriate

authority,

by

or

on

behalf

of

the

person

concerned,

in

the

manner

prescribed

by

the

national

law.

Subject

to

the

provisions

of

paragraph

2

of

this

article,

no

such

application

may

be

rejected.

A

Contracting

State

which

provides

for

the

grant

of

its

nationality

in

accordance

with

sub-paragraph

(b)

of

this

paragraph

may

also

provide

for

the

grant

of

its

na

tionality

by

operation

of

law

at

such

age

and

subject

to

such

conditions

as

may

be

prescribed

by

the

national

law.

2.

A

Contracting

State

may

make

the

grant

of

its

nationality

in

accordance

with

sub-paragraph

(b)

of

paragraph

1

of

this article

subject

to

one

or

more

of

the

following

conditions:

(a)

that

the

application

is

lodged

during

a

period,

fixed

by

the

Contracting

State,

beginning

not

later

than

at

the

age

of

eighteen years

and

ending

not

earlier

than

1

Came

into

force

on

13

December

1975

in

respect

of

the

following

States,

i.e.,

two

years

after

the

date

of

the

deposit

of

the

sixth

instrument

of

ratification or

accession

with

the

Secretary-General

of

the

United

Nations,

in

accordance

with

article

18

(1):

Date

of

deposit

of

the

instrument

State

of

ratification

or

accession

(a)

United

Kingdom

of

Great

Britain

and

Northern

Ireland*

.......................

29

March

1966

With

a

declaration

that:

(a)

The

Convention

shall

apply

to

the

following

non-metropolitan

territories

for

the

international

relations

of

which

the

United

Kingdom

is

responsible:

Antigua,

Bahamas,

Barbados,

Basutoland,

Bechuanaland,

Bermuda,

British

Guiana,

British

Honduras,

British

Solomon

Islands

Protectorate,

Cayman

Islands,

Channel

Islands,

Dominica,

Falkland

Islands, Fiji,

Gibraltar,

Gilbert

and

Ellice

Islands,

Grenada,

Hong

Kong,

Isle

of

Man,

Mauritius,

Montserrat,

St.

Helena,

St.

Kills,

St.

Lucia, St.

Vincent,

Seychelles,

Swaziland,

Turks

and

Caicos

Islands,

Virgin

Islands.

(b)

The Conveniion

shall

not

apply

to

Aden

and

the

Protectorate

of

South

Arabia;

Brunei;

Southern

Rhodesia;

and

Tonga,

whose

consent

to

the

application

of

Ihe

Convention

has

been

withheld.)

Sweden

.................................................................

19

February

1969

a

Norway

.................................................................

11

August

1971

a

Austria*

................................................................

22

September

1972

a

Ireland*

.................................................................

18

January

1973

a

Australia

................................................................

13

December

1973

a

See

p.

248

of

this

volume

for

the

text

of

the

declarations

made

upon

ratification

or

accession.

2

United

Nations,

Official Records

of

the

General

Assembly,

Ninth

Session,

Supplement

No.

21

(A/2890),

p.

49.

Vol.

989,1-14458

1975

United

Nations

—

Treaty

Series

•

Nations

Unies

—

Recueil

des

Traités

177

at

the

age

of

twenty-one

years,

so,

however,

that

the

person

concerned

shall

be

allowed

at

least

one

year

during

which

he

may

himself

make

the

application

without

having

to

obtain

legal

authorization

to

do

so;

(b)

that

the

person

concerned

has

habitually

resided

in

the

territory

of

the

Contract

ing

State

for

such

period

as

may

be fixed

by

that

State,

not

exceeding

five

years

immediately preceding

the

lodging

of

the

application

nor

ten

years

in

all;

(c)

that

the

person

concerned

has

neither

been

convicted

of

an

offence

against na

tional

security

nor

has

been

sentenced

to

imprisonment

for

a

term

of

five

years

or

more

on

a

criminal

charge;

(d)

that

the

person

concerned

has

always

been

stateless.

3.

Notwithstanding

the

provisions

of

paragraphs

1

(b)

and

2

of

this

article,

a

child

born

in

wedlock

in

the

territory

of

a

Contracting

State,

whose

mother

has

the

nationality

of

that

State,

shall

acquire

at

birth

that

nationality

if

it

otherwise

would

be

stateless.

4.

A

Contracting

State

shall

grant

its

nationality

to

a

person

who

would

other

wise

be

stateless

and

who

is

unable

to

acquire

the

nationality

of

the

Contracting

State

in

whose

territory

he

was

born

because

he

has

passed

the

age

for

lodging

his

application

or

has

not

fulfilled

the

required

residence

conditions,

if

the

nationality

of

one

of

his

parents

at

the

time

of

the

person's

birth

was

that

of

the

Contracting

State

first

above

mentioned.

If

his

parents

did

not

possess

the

same

nationality

at

the

time

of

his

birth,

the

question

whether

the

nationality

of

the

person

concerned

should

follow

that

of

the

father

or

that

of

the

mother

shall

be

determined

by

the

na

tional

law

of

such

Contracting

State.

If

application

for

such

nationality

is

required,

the

application

shall

be

made

to

the

appropriate

authority

by

or

on

behalf

of

the

ap

plicant

in

the

manner

prescribed

by

the

national

law.

Subject to

the provisions

of

paragraph

5

of

this

article,

such

application

shall

not

be

refused.

5.

The

Contracting

State

may

make

the

grant

of

its

nationality

in

accordance

with

the

provisions

of

paragraph

4

of

this

article

subject

to

one

or

more

of

the

fol

lowing

conditions:

(a)

that

the

application

is

lodged

before

the

applicant

reaches

an

age, being

not

less

than

twenty-three

years,

fixed

by

the

Contracting

State;

(b)

that

the

person

concerned

has

habitually

resided

in

the

territory

of

the

Contract

ing

State

for

such

period

immediately

preceding the

lodging

of

the

application,

not

exceeding

three

years,

as

may

be fixed

by

that

State;

(c)

that

the

person

concerned

has

always

been

stateless.

Article

2.

A

foundling

found

in

the

territory

of

a

Contracting

State

shall,

in

the

absence

of

proof

to

the

contrary,

be

considered

to

have been

born

within

that

territory

of

parents

possessing

the

nationality

of

that

State.

Article

3.

For

the

purpose

of

determining

the

obligations

of

Contracting

States

under

this

Convention,

birth

on

a

ship

or

in

an

aircraft

shall

be

deemed

to

have

taken

place

in

the

territory

of

the

State

whose

flag

the

ship

flies

or

in

the

ter

ritory

of

the

State

in

which

the

aircraft

is

registered,

as

the

case

may

be.

Article

4.

1.

A

Contracting

State

shall

grant

its

nationality

to

a

person,

not

born

in

the

territory

of

a

Contracting

State,

who

would

otherwise

be

stateless,

if

the

nationality

of

one

of

his

parents

at

the

time

of

the

person's

birth

was

that

of

that

State.

If

his

parents

did

not

possess

the

same

nationality

at

the

time

of

his

birth,

the

question

whether

the

nationality

of

the

person

concerned

should

follow

that

of

the

Vol.

989,1-I4458