Background:

In Latvia, the status of a stateless person is regulated by the Law on Stateless Persons. According to its provisions, a person can be recognised as stateless in Latvia if no country has recognised this person as its citizen. A person who has been recognised as stateless in Latvia receives a stateless person’s travel document. The validity of a stateless person’s travel document is 2 years (in accordance with point 5 of the annex to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons). A stateless person in the Republic of Latvia is issued a temporary residence permit that does not exceed 5 years. Considering that a stateless person's travel document in Latvia is issued for a validity period of 2 years, while the temporary residence permit is issued for a validity period of 5 years, this creates an administrative burden.

With this query, the Latvian NCP wishes to identify the practices in other EMN Member and Observer Countries regarding the issuance period for stateless persons' travel documents.

Respondents:

25 EMN Member and Observer Countries (including BE) provided a public answer to this ad hoc query.

Findings:

A preliminary analysis of the results of the ad hoc query shows that:

• Out of 25 responding countries, 15 report issuing a travel document for individuals recognised as stateless. However, most countries report that other conditions must be met, often related to a valid residence permit. In BE, individuals recognised as stateless can obtain a travel document only if their stateless status was established by a family court (the recently established residence procedure on the grounds of statelessness does not facilitate the delivery of travel documents), if they have at least a limited right of residence, and if they are not subject to measures restricting their freedom of movement. In countries that do not issue travel documents for stateless persons, these individuals can obtain travel documents if they obtain a right of residence linked to other statuses (for example, as beneficiary of international protection).
   
• The types of travel documents issued vary greatly from country to country: passport (HR, GE, ES) or alien passport (AT, NL), grey passport (BE), certificate for traveling abroad (BG), travel identity document (CZ), stateless person’s travel document (LT)…
   
• The validity of travel documents varies from 1 year (HU) to 5 years (AT, HR, FR, LU, NL), with some countries reporting that the validity of the travel document is directly linked to the validity of the residence permit held by the individual. In BE, the travel document issued (“grey passport”) has a validity of 2 years, but ends immediately if the individual loses their right of residence or if they acquire another nationality.
   
• Most responding countries report that the recognition of stateless status does not automatically lead to the issuance of a residence permit. In BE, a new administrative procedure was introduced in 2024 whereby individuals can apply for a residence permit on the grounds of statelessness. Only 5 countries (BG, HR, FR, GE, and HU) report issuing residence permits automatically upon recognition of stateless status.

For further details, please read the compilation of answers attached above.