Syrian refugees in Jordan, as elsewhere in the world, are vulnerable to exploitation and abuse and are prevented from accessing humanitarian services, such as health and education. To amend this situation and in an effort to help refugees claim their rights, the “Enhancing Protection” project funded by the Swiss Agency for Cooperation and Development in Jordan (SDC) project has aimed to address civil documentation needs of a large number of refugee families suffering from a lack of relevant documents.

This Working Paper stems from the legal aid services that have been conducted over the course of the most recent rectification campaign that ended in 2019, and the work afterwards. As part of its advocacy commitment to enhance and strengthen the rights of Syrian refugees this legal Working Paper thus hopes to contribute to enhanced community knowledge and raise awareness on the complexities surrounding procedural aspects of refugees’ civil status documentation.

This Working Paper concentrates on a key aspect of civil documentation, namely affixing marriage and kinship in the Kingdom. It provides analysis of key obstacles preventing the concerned individuals from seeking successfully completing their regularization in the country. The Paper also provides some preliminary analysis the impact of COVID 19 on the legal system as well as some reflections on its impact on the possible future obstacles to document marriages and civil status. Finally the paper provides several recommendations for decision-makers, official institutions, legal aid providers, donors and refugees to ensure the best protection for refugees and reliable information, stressing the importance of documentation and taking into account all developments such as Covid-19 and others.