Registration

Access to UNHCR

If you are in Jordan and wish to seek international protection with UNHCR, or have a question about the assistance and services provided by UNHCR and its partners, you can call the UNHCR Helpline (064008000). Should you have an urgent request, you can approach UNHCR at any of its locations (Amman, Mafraq and Irbid) and request to access the reception/filtering area. Working days are Sunday to Thursday. At reception, you will be received by a UNHCR staff member who will identify what you need and refer you to the unit that can help provide you with an answer.

If you do not live near a UNHCR office, you can approach UNHCR at one of our Helpdesks and they will be able to help you find the answer to your question. You can also approach one of our partners or Community Support Centres and if they are unable to answer your question, they will refer your question to UNHCR.

You can also submit a petition in any of the blue petition boxes and these will be shared with the relevant units for further action.

Registration is the first step in the relationship between asylum-seekers and UNHCR. If you cannot return to your home country because you fear for your life, and wish to seek international protection with UNHCR, you must first register. At registration, UNHCR records information relating to you and your family, as well as why you had to leave your home country.

In order to register, call the UNHCR Helpline and request a new registration appointment.

Please note that:

– If you live in the governorates of Karak, Ma’an, Tafilah, Aqaba and Ruwaished, please do not come to Amman, Mafraq or Irbid to seek an appointment. Please call the Helpline or approach our Helpdesks in these locations and request an appointment for the next mobile registration mission;
– Please do tell the reception or the staff you speak with at the Helpdesk or Helpline if you need an interviewer who speaks a specific language or dialect;
– If you have a family member who is in hospital, unable to leave the house because of disability, pregnant and the baby is due soon, or because they are old or suffer from a medical condition, you can approach any of our Helpdesks and request a home or hospital visit. Please explain clearly why you or your family member cannot come to the office for an interview;
– You do not need to bring your family when you come to request an appointment, but you need to bring all your family members for registration and bring all your documents, including:
1. Identity documents: passport, national ID, driving license
2. Ministry of Interior Service Card (for Syrians only)
3. Family and military booklets
4. Marriage or divorce certificates
5. Birth certificates for children
6. Education and employment certificates
7. Work permit in Jordan
8. Medical certificates
9. Custody/guardianship documents

Please note that if you only have one or two of the documents listed above, this is absolutely fine; bring what you have. You can register with UNHCR even if you do not have any documents. You will be asked why you do not have any documents, and then registration will continue. Please inform reception if this is the case.

Once you come to register, you will need to fill out a registration form. Spouses and adult family members (over 18 years) will have to fill in separate forms. The form includes questions relating to your name, date of birth, nationality, place of birth, family members and the reasons you left your country.

It is very important that you provide full and correct, information, to the best of your knowledge, while registering. If you have entered on an alternate identity or have any information to disclose that you are scared might negatively impact your case with UNHCR, please note that all information shared with UNHCR is confidential. It will only be shared as needed and will not be shared without your permission. You will be asked to sign a document to confirm the truth of your statements and provide a telephone number or address at which you can be contacted.

In order to ensure your protection in Jordan, UNHCR is required to share names of asylum-seekers and refugees, their date of registration, their arrival date and their point of entry in Jordan with the Jordanian authorities. All other information provided to UNHCR remains confidential – no information related to your claim or reasons of flight are shared with any third party without your written permission, including the Jordanian authorities. At no point of time UNHCR is allowed to share information about you with your country of origin. Should you not agree to share your personal information with the authorities of Jordan, please inform the UNHCR staff member who is conducting the interview.

Providing your most recent contact detail will allow UNHCR to stay in touch with you and keep you informed about changes in your case. If you do not have a phone number, please share the phone number of a friend or relative who can help us contact you. Please keep your phone number updated in UNHCR records.

The registration interview, what to expect?

Before the registration interview begins, the UNHCR staff member will explain the purpose of the interview, the type of questions and the steps that are to be followed.
Should you prefer an interviewer or interpreter of as specific gender, please request this.

During the interview, you will be assigned a case number for you and your family, as well as an individual number for each family member. These numbers relate to your record with UNHCR and serve as a reference within UNHCR as well as with external entities. You will be provided with an Asylum-Seeker Certificate at the end of the interview and both numbers will be recorded on your Asylum-Seeker Certificate.

During the interview, the registration staff member will gather information about you as well as all your family members. This means that the interviewer will need to speak not only to you, but to everyone in your family, including your children and your spouse. An individual photograph will be taken of all your family members and eye biometrics (scan of your iris) will also be collected for each person aged 5 years and above. All the documents that you presented in the interview will be copied and placed in your file; originals will be returned to you.

The information you have shared will be reconfirmed before the interview is closed. Please do ask any questions you might have at this time.

There are small shops selling snacks in the centre, however we encourage you to bring food with you for yourself and your family as you may be in the centre for 3 to 5 hours. Water is available for free at water tanks. Restrooms are available in the registration centre, there is also a breastfeeding corner for mothers with babies as well as a playing area for children.

At the end of the interview, you are provided a UNHCR Asylum-Seeker Certificate that includes information about you and all family members and confirms that you are now a ‘person of concern’ to UNHCR and are under the international protection of UNHCR in Jordan. Please, ALWAYS carry it with you.

The UNHCR document is important as with this you can enroll your children in public schools. You can also present it to the police or other Government officials to confirm your registration with UNHCR. This does not replace the residency or a work permit.

The UNHCR Asylum-Seeker Certificate must be renewed every year in order for it to remain valid. In order to renew the document, you need to request an appointment with UNHCR at least one month prior to the expiry date of the document. To make an Asylum-Seeker Certificate renewal appointment please contact the UNHCR Helpline. If you do not have access to a phone you can request a renewal appointment at any of UNHCR’s urban registration centres or Helpdesks if you live in the governorates of Karak, Ma’an, Tafilah, Aqaba and Ruwaished. For the renewal interview as well, you need to come with your entire family and bring all the documents that you have.

Please note that ALL services provided by UNHCR, including registration, are provided for FREE. For more on reporting fraud, abuse and exploitation, please check our site.

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