Self-Help Guides to the Law(TM) explain the law in clear, concise terms to a popular audience of non-lawyers. Summarizing the key areas of the law with which readers are most likely to come into contact, the Guides broadly outline the statutes and cases that govern immigration law, landlord-tenant relations, personal injury, contracts, family law, criminal law and constitutional law and procedure.

In this edition, Syrian family law is presented in light of the Syrian Personal Status and Civil Status Laws. Landmark cases and recent developments, such as the September 2010 presidential Decree No. 76 and its implications for adoption under the Catholic Personal Status Law, are also analyzed and presented.

The laws are particularly relevant for the purpose of immigrant visa applications to the United States, because when evaluating applications for immigrant visas to the United States, American consular officers are required to make determinations as to whether Syrian applicants are deemed to be single, married or divorced under the local laws of Syria. Similarly, they are required to make determinations as to custody and legal dependency on the basis of local Syrian law. This volume will therefore be of particular relevance to both practitioners of immigration law as well as to applicants for immigrant visas.