The Marshall Islands is not party to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol. It has likewise not acceded to the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons or the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. The State has accepted core human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

There is no dedicated asylum legislation or formal refugee status-determination procedure. Claims for international protection are handled within the general immigration framework, without specialized procedural safeguards or an explicit right of appeal. Under the Immigration and Emigration (Amendment) Act of 1991, individuals without valid entry documentation may be detained for administrative processing—typically limited in duration—pending resolution of their status.

The statutory regime for nationality is governed by the Citizenship Act of 1984, as amended. Citizenship by descent is granted automatically to children born to at least one Marshallese parent, and registration provisions extend to those born abroad. Naturalization is available after ten years of continuous residence, subject to character and renunciation requirements. Part IV of the Act includes provisions for adoption, and Section 411 permits dual citizenship, thereby reducing the risk of statelessness upon acquisition of another nationality. However, the law does not explicitly address foundlings—children of unknown parentage—leaving a gap in conformity with article 2 of the 1961 Convention.

A notable legal advancement has been the incorporation of dual citizenship provisions in the Citizenship Act, which aligns domestic law with principles of statelessness prevention by allowing individuals to retain Marshallese nationality when naturalizing elsewhere. In contrast, the absence of formal asylum legislation or statelessness determination procedures represents a continuing area where treaty obligations are not operationalized in national statute, leaving protection to administrative discretion rather than codified rights.