age, and naturalization occurs at the discretion of the Interior Ministry. The residence requirement can be waived if the person has a permanent residence permit and Has lived there for at least 10 years continuously, or Was born on the territory of the Czech Republic, or Has held Czech or Czechoslovak citizenship before, or At least one of his or her parents is a Czech citizen, or Was adopted by a Czech citizen, or His or her spouse or registered/civil partner is a Czech citizen, or Is under 18 years of age, or Is stateless or has refugee status in the Czech Republic., or Is applying for naturalization by Section 16 and whose grant of citizenship would be a significant benefit to the Czech Republic from a sports, scientific, cultural, or other perspective Declaration If a person was a citizen of the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic as of 31 December 1992, he may declare citizenship of either the Czech Republic or Slovakia (gaining Slovak citizenship) assuming he does not have any other citizenship. The Slovak provision allowing for this grant expired in 1993, however, the Czech equivalent remains in the citizenship law. The children and grandchildren of former Czech or Czechoslovak citizens who lost their citizenship on or before December 31, 2013 are also eligible to claim citizenship by declaration, also known as citizenship by descent. Since the new amendment allowing children and grandchildren to renew their Czech citizenship through the descent route was enacted in September 2019, only about 280 children or grandchildren have taken advantage of the fast-track citizenship as of April 2021. This in spite of over an estimated 1 million Czech descendants living in the United States and an estimated 100,000 or more being eligible for the citizenship. Due to the fact that Czechoslovakia and the United States had a treaty that forbade dual nationality for those who were naturalized in the other country at the age of 21 or older, the new citizenship by descent (declaration) mainly concerns US citizens with Czech ancestry, as it is easy to prove loss of citizenship with a US naturalization certificate. Before 1993, simply naturalizing in another country did not automatically mean loss of citizenship unless the individual who lost it was at least 21 years and naturalized in the United States or was a minor child whose US citizenship was derived from his/her parents who naturalized in