Lebanese nationality law
Lebanese nationality is based primarily on the principle of Jus sanguinis, transmitted by way of the father. However, this gives the right to Lebanese to transmit citizenship to their children and foreign wives only if entered in the Civil Acts Register in the Republic of Lebanon. Under the current law, expatriates can only receive citizenship from their father. Under the Lebanese law, women cannot pass on citizenship to their spouse or children.[1]
Rights and responsibilities of Lebanese citizens
Rights of citizens
Adult citizens of the Republic of Lebanon have the right to participate in the Lebanese political system and be protected abroad by the Republic of Lebanon through Lebanese embassies and consulates abroad, and to live in the Republic of Lebanon without any immigration requirements.
Citizens of the Republic of Lebanon by law have the legal right to:
- Live freely in the Republic of Lebanon without any immigration requirements.
- Gain access to free education covering primary, secondary and university education.
- Receive all health-care benefits at any public health institution.
- Participate in the Lebanese political system.
- Benefit from the privileges of the free trade market agreements between the Republic of Lebanon and many Arab countries.
- Get exempted from taxes with no condition of reciprocity.
- Own and Inherit property and values in Lebanon.
- Enter to and exit from the Republic of Lebanon through any port.
- Travel to and from other countries in accordance with visa requirements.
- Seek consular assistance and protection abroad by the Republic of Lebanon through Lebanese embassies and consulates abroad.
Responsibilities of citizens
All Lebanese citizens are required by law, when forced by the Lebanese government, to bear arms on behalf of the Republic of Lebanon, to perform noncombatant service in the Lebanese Armed Forces, and to perform work of national importance under civilian direction.
The code
The code covering the Lebanese nationality was issued in 1926.
Dual nationality
A person having a dual nationality does not lose Lebanese nationality according to the 1926 constitution.
Acquisition of Lebanese Citizenship
Jus sanguinis
A child is Lebanese at birth if:
- He/She is the child of a married couple of whom the father is a Lebanese citizen.
- A child of a Lebanese father not married to the mother is considered Lebanese by birth when a link of paternity is declared.
Citizenship requirements
- Children born to Lebanese fathers are entitled to Lebanese citizenship only if entered in the Civil Acts Register in Lebanon.
- Lebanon accepts the principle of dual citizenship. Acquiring another nationality does not result in losing the original Lebanese citizenship.
- Foreign wives of Lebanese husbands may apply and obtain Lebanese citizenship. They will become entitled to it one year after the marriage has been entered in the Civil Acts Register in Lebanon, provided they apply for it with their husband's approval.[2]
Simplified naturalisation by virtue of marriage
A foreign wife married to a Lebanese citizen may apply for Lebanese citizenship by facilitated naturalization after having been married for at least one year. No language test is required, but one must show the following:
- integration into the Lebanese way of life;
- compliance with the Lebanese rule of law;
- no danger to the Republic of Lebanon's internal or external security.
It is also possible for the foreign wife of a Lebanese citizen to apply for facilitated naturalization while resident overseas after the following:
- one year of marriage to a husband who is a Lebanese citizen; and
- close ties to Lebanon.
Birth in the Republic of Lebanon
Birth in the Republic of Lebanon does not in itself confer Lebanese citizenship. It could lead to Lebanese citizenship only in the case if the father is a Lebanese citizen.
Loss of Lebanese citizenship
Loss due to cessation of paternity
A child whose Lebanese citizenship depends on paternal links loses citizenship when those are cut.
Dual Citizenship
Even though Lebanese nationality law permits multiple citizenship, a Lebanese national who also holds another country's citizenship may be required to renounce the foreign citizenship, under the foreign country's nationality law. A dual Lebanese-Japanese national must, for instance, make a declaration of choice, to the Japanese Ministry of Justice, before turning 22, as to whether he or she wants to keep the Lebanese or Japanese citizenship.
Reforms
There is a public demand for giving the opportunity for Lebanese women to transmit their Lebanese nationality to their children and also to their husbands.[3][4] Moreover, the Lebanese citizenship to be given to the 8-14 million diaspora of Lebanese living all over the world.[5]
Currently, Lebanon provides no automatic right to Lebanese citizenship for emigrants who lost their citizenship upon acquiring the citizenship of their host country, nor for the descendants of emigrants born abroad. Recently, the Maronite Institution of Emigrants called for the establishment of an avenue by which emigrants who lost their citizenship may regain it, or their overseas-born descendants may acquire it if they want to.[6]
Draft Law for descendants of Lebanese
Article I: Every natural person who meets one of the two eligibility requirements has the right to reclaim his/her Lebanese nationality.
- 1- If the records of the 1921 census at the Ministry of the Interior and Municipalities, and the records of emigration clearly indicate that he/she or any direct paternal ancestral/predecessors or next of kin to the fourth degree were present in Lebanon, as registered by the 1921 census.
- 2- If he/she or the above mentioned ancestral predecessors or next of kin were naturalized as Lebanese citizens according to the law of naturalization promulgated in January 19, 1925, and has neglected to claim or reclaim his/her citizenship. [7][8]
The draft law would allow grandchildren of Lebanese paternal grandfathers to apply for citizenship. The latest draft law would help Lebanese expatriates take part in future Lebanese parliamentary elections by voting at Lebanese embassies abroad. The number of Lebanese living outside the country is thought to at least double the number of citizens living inside,[9] which means at least 8 million people.
See also
- Lebanese passport
- Lebanese identity card
- Driving licence in Lebanon
- Visa requirements for Lebanese citizens
- Visa policy of Lebanon
- Constitution of Lebanon
- Lebanese diaspora
References
- ↑ Bassil promises to ease citizenship for expatriates
- ↑ "Embassy of Lebanon, Canberra".
- ↑ Saseen Kawzally (28 April 2009). "Lebanese women sue for naturalization rights".
- ↑ Nadine Moawad (7 March 2010). "The Lebanese Nationality Law Will Pass Today!".
- ↑ "The Lebanese Diaspora". 2 October 2006.
- ↑ Maroun Khoury (24 July 2008). "Sfeir tells new Maronite group emigrants 'deserve' Lebanese nationality".
- ↑ Adib Ferzli (15 December 2011). "Translation of the Draft Law that Extends the Reacquisition of Lebanese Citizenship to the Descendants of Lebanese Emigrants" (PDF).
- ↑ Guita Hourani (28 December 2011). "New Lebanese Draft Law Extends the Reacquisition of Lebanese Citizenship to the Descendants of Lebanese Emigrants".
- ↑ Bassil promises to ease citizenship for expatriates
External links
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