Statelessness is when a person is not a citizen or national of any state. This can occur at birth or later, based on reasons such as discrimination, war, conflict, or national frontiers and legislation. Being stateless can be difficult, particularly with immigration and getting legal status in the United States.
We will be going over what statelessness is, what happens when it happens, and what can happen to a stateless person’s immigration status in the US in this article.
Important Note:
Statelessness is a complicated legal question, and usually, you’ll need an immigration attorney to help. You can speak with a non-member immigration lawyer at Law and Visas for advice.
How Does Statelessness Happen?
Statelessness is possible in many legal, political, and social ways:
Lacunes or Contradictions:
A child conceived in different countries may not always be born with the nationality of either parent due to law incompatibilities between the countries concerned. Statelessness can also be caused by laws limiting women’s right to defer nationality to their offspring.
Discriminatory Laws:
Nationality laws do not allow citizens to be citizens of any ethnic or minority group. This results in statelessness, especially for minorities denied nationality rights.
War and Expulsion:
Military conflict, wars, expulsion, and the division of territory lead to the disloyalty of the nation or the failure to be able to gain citizenship from any nation.
State Intervention:
In political wars, states can deprive people of their nationality and make them stateless.
Administrative Gaffes:
Errors in birth certificates, documents lost, or official records destroyed can delay a claim for nationality and leave you stateless.
Being Stateless in the U.S.
As many as 218,000 stateless or nearly stateless persons are registered in the United States alone, according to the UN Refugee Agency.
Statelessness can have serious consequences. Stateless people are often denied basic rights such as healthcare, education, employment, and legal protection. But they can also be exploited and discriminated against.
In this country, the most difficult aspect of getting immigration status or other services is being a stateless person in the US. Stateless people who lack established nationality or identification documents may not be able to obtain key documents like birth certificates or passports. It makes it hard for them to obtain a green card, find work, travel, or access government services due to this absence of documentation.
New Advice for Stateless Immigrants in the U.S.
New guidance for assisting stateless individuals in their immigration procedures was recently released by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). These new measures include:
- Process for determining statelessness: USCIS agents will now be empowered with a new process for determining the potential statelessness of applicants.
- Enhanced training for USCIS officers: Officers will be better equipped to deal with statelessness and other related cases with improved training.
- Standardized review processes: Officers will need to ask for an internal review if statelessness applies to an application.
These amendments will help stateless people who want to apply for legal status in the United States get a bit more clarity and security.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a Stateless Person Receive Green Cards?
The stateless can get a green card, but that can be very difficult. It’s also common for stateless applicants to have incomplete documents, such as proof of identity or nationality, which is needed by USCIS for green card applications. As USCIS usually requires official documentation to verify an applicant’s identity, document inadequacy is also a major hindrance for stateless individuals.
Are Stateless People Eligible to Work for U.S. Citizenship?
An individual needs to first be a green card holder (permanent resident) for some time and qualify under other criteria in order to qualify for US citizenship. This is how a stateless individual who already has a green card and meets these conditions can get U.S. naturalization.
Can the U.S. Deport a Stateless Person?
Deportation of a stateless person is a very legal problem. Statelessness is not itself the reason for deportation, but the immigration status and the case will be relevant. Deportation can depend on things such as legal status or undocumented status. The most helpful advice you can get if you have questions about statelessness and deportation is to talk to an immigration lawyer.
Statelessness is a real challenge for people to work through in the US immigration system. If stateless individuals can get clear on their options and rights in knowing the legal landscape and partnering with Law and Visas. It is important to talk to an immigration attorney for the advice you can get if you are trying to get in for immigration benefits or are being deported.
