Lebanese passport

Lebanese passport

The front cover of a contemporary Lebanese passport
Date first issued

1944 (First Lebanese Travel Document; Black Cover)

1990 (Burgundy Red Cover)

April 12, 2006 (Machine Readable Passport; Navy Blue Cover)

June 1, 2015 (Future Biometric Passport)
Issued by  Lebanon
Valid in All countries with which the Republic of Lebanon mantains diplomatic relations
Type of document Passport
Purpose Identification
Eligibility requirements Lebanese citizenship
Expiration 5 years after acquisition for adult, 5 years for children
Cost 300,000[1] Lebanese pounds or 200 US Dollars

The Lebanese passport (Arabic: جواز سفر الجمهورية اللبنانية) is a passport issued to the citizens of the Republic of Lebanon. It is issued exclusively by the Lebanese Directorate General of General Security (DGGS), and can also be issued at various Lebanese embassies and/or consulates outside the Republic of Lebanon. It allows the bearer a freedom of living in the Republic of Lebanon without any immigration requirements, participate in the Lebanese political system, entry to and exit from the Republic of Lebanon through any port, travel to and from other countries in accordance with visa requirements, facilitates the process of securing consular assistance abroad from Lebanese consular offices if necessary, and requests protection for the bearer while abroad.

Lebanese passport booklets are valid for travel by Lebanese citizens anywhere in the world, although travel to certain countries and/or for certain purposes may require a visa and the Republic of Lebanon itself restricts its nationals from traveling to or engaging in commercial transactions in certain countries against the internal and external safety of the republic. They conform with recommended standards (i.e., size, composition, layout, technology) of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).[2][3]

By law, a valid unexpired Lebanese passport or Identity card (Arabic: بطاقة الهوية (transl. Bitakat Al Hawiya); French: Carte D'identité) is conclusive (and not just prima facie) proof of Lebanese citizenship, and has the same force and effect as proof of Lebanese citizenship as certificates of naturalization or of citizenship, if issued to a Lebanese citizen for the full period allowed by law. The Lebanese law does not prohibit Lebanese citizens from holding passports of other countries, though they are required to use their Lebanese passport to enter and leave the country.

An expired Lebanese passport can still be used to return to the Republic of Lebanon at any port and port personnel are obliged by Law to allow the passage of the bearer without any delay or hindrance.

The French state-run printing firm, Imprimerie Nationale carries on the official printing works of both the Lebanese and French governments.[4]

Rights and responsibilities of Lebanese citizens

Rights of citizens

Citizens of the Republic of Lebanon by law have the legal right to:

Responsibilities of citizens

Types

Physical appearance

Lebanese passports are navy blue, with the Lebanese Cedar emblazoned in the centre of the front cover.

"The Lebanese Republic, Passport" is written on the cover page in both Arabic and French. The contents of the passport are in Arabic, French and English.

There are 48 pages in the current machine-readable navy blue passport. Frequent travelers may request 52-page passports for no additional cost. Extra visa pages can be added by mail (if the passport holder resides in the Republic of Lebanon) and at most Lebanese embassies and consulates (if the passport holder resides or visits a country overseas). The addition of visa pages used to be free, but as of July 13, 2010, the non-refundable application fee for 24 or 48 additional pages costs 120,000 Lebanese Pounds or 80 US Dollars.

History

Passports issued before the adoption of the navy blue new design were burgundy red and were neither machine readable nor biometric.

In 2012, The Lebanese Directorate General of General Security announced that it would be issuing biometric passports to all of its citizens starting from 1 June 2015.[5] The biometric passport will have a contactless smartcard RFID chip encoded with the bearer's name, gender, date and place of birth, and a digital image of their face, ten fingerprints, palmprints, and electronic signature in a JPEG2000 format embedded at the bottom of the front cover under the word "PASSEPORT".

The Lebanese Directorate General of General Security states that "The use of biometric passports will allow the Republic of Lebanon to follow international standards in the field of passport security to protect the nation's borders and maintain the ease of international travel that Lebanese citizens deserve to enjoy". At the same time, the Lebanese Directorate General of General Security started offering the option of a 5-year validity period as well as the current 1-year validity period.

The old burgundy red passport

Lebanese Passport before 2006

A 32-page passport with a burgundy red cover, commonly known as the old burgundy style came into use in 1990 under the auspices of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) with the formation of the Passport Service following international agreement on a standard format for passports, and remained in use until replaced by the Modern-style machine-readable navy blue passport on April 12, 2006. As with many documents worldwide and all booklet-format documents, details were handwritten into the passport and (as of 1998) included: number, holder's name, "accompanied by his wife" and her maiden name, "and" (number) "children", national status. For both bearer and wife: profession, place and date of birth, country of residence, height, eye and hair colour, special peculiarities, signature and photograph. Names, birth dates, and sexes of children, list of countries for which valid, issue place and date, expiry date, a page for renewals and, at the back, details of the amount of foreign exchange for travel expenses (a limited amount of sterling, typically 11,500 Lebanese Pounds but increasing with inflation, could be taken out of the country). The bearer's sex was not explicitly stated, although the name was written in with title ("Mr"). Descriptive text was printed in both Arabic, French, and English. (a practice which still continues), e.g. برفقة زوجته / Accompagné de sa femme (Née) / Accompanied by his wife (Maiden name)/. Changed details were struck out and rewritten, with a rubber-stamped note confirming the change.

If details and photograph of a man's wife and details of children were entered (this was not compulsory), the passport could be used by the bearer, wife, and children under 16, if together; separate passports were required for the wife or children to travel independently. Notes section at back: "A passport including particulars of the holder's wife is not available for the wife's use when she is travelling alone." The passport was valid for five years, renewable for another five, after which it had to be replaced. Notes section at back: "... available for five years in the first instance, ... may be renewed for further periods ... provided ... ten years from the original date is not exceeded."

The passport had a printed list of countries for which it was valid, which was added to in handwriting as validity increased.

As of November 24, 2015 all citizens that possess the burgundy red Lebanese passport must submit them to the Lebanese Directorate General of General Security or at any Lebanese embassy as well as any of the various Lebanese Consulates. These passports will no longer be valid since they are not machine-readable. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has decided that November 24, 2015 will be the deadline to implement the use of machine-readable passports only in travel through airports. Those who possess the red Lebanese passport must apply for the navy blue (machine-readable) passport as soon as possible.[6]

Biometric passport

On 12 April 2006, the Republic of Lebanon started issuing ICAO compliant machine-readable passports, valid for five years or one year, replacing the old burgundy red passport. It is the 45th nation in the world to adopt the ICAO standard. The implementation of the new passport began at offices across Beirut and Tripoli before expanding nationwide between April and June 2006 and to Lebanese embassies/consulates abroad between September and October 2006.

In 2012, A new contract was signed between the Lebanese Directorate General of General Security with a Lebanese company Inkript, a member of Resource Group Holding (RGH), to make the move for biometric passports. Inkript held a joint venture with French firm Gemalto, based in the Netherlands to participate in the tender. Jacques Seif, General Manager of Inkript, said: “We will handle all the programming and software development in-house, while Gemalto will be in charge of manufacturing the passports and matching the program’s interface with the coding machines.”. The contract’s term is three years, and Inkript will produce four million Lebanese biometric passports. The contract, valued at 140 million US dollars, was funded by a Saudi grant. The Lebanese Directorate General of General Security announced that it would be issuing biometric passports to all of its citizens starting from 1 June 2015.[7]

As of 1 June 2015, all new Lebanese passports issued will be biometric passports and machine-readable and will have a contactless smartcard RFID chip embedded at the bottom of the front cover under the word "PASSEPORT".

Facial recognition technology is being introduced to coincide with the release of the Biometric Passport. This technology will be used to improve identity verification, reduce identity-related fraud, and protect the legal identity of the citizens of the Republic of Lebanon. Similar technology is used in the Lebanese identity card.

The biometric data that is to be included on the Lebanese passport is the bearer's name, gender, date and place of birth, and a digital image of their face, ten fingerprints, palmprints. Lebanese immigration checkpoints will not be the only ones with the technology to read and authenticate the data from the RFID chip using a fingerprint scanner and facial recognition technology, but widespread adoption of Biometric passport technology around the world has seen the technology installed in international airports in the US, the UK and other countries.

In addition to biometric data and the personal information stored on the information page, the chip also records the bearer's travel history of the last ten entry and exits at Lebanese border control points (Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport, Beirut Naval Base, Port of Beirut, Port of Byblos, and Port of Tripoli).

All biometric passport will be issued with 48 pages as opposed to the previous choice of 24 or 48 pages.

On 14 August 2014, the General Directorate of General Security released requirements for the new biometric residence permits (Arabic: بطاقات الإقامة البيومترية الذكية (transl. Bitakat Iqama Bayometriya Thakiya) issued to the expatriates residing temporarily or permanently in the Republic of Lebanon.[8] On 15 January 2015, All of the Lebanese government offices started issuing and dealing with the new Biometric residence permit in dealing with the official paperworks of expatriates.[9]

Security features

Front cover

The words "الجمهورية اللبنانية" (The Republic of Lebanon) are inscribed above the Cedar, whilst the words "Republique Libanaise" and "جواز السفر" are inscribed below.

The biometric passport symbol is to be implemented on passports issued after 1 June 2015.

Passport note

The passports contain a note from the issuing authority addressed to the authorities of all other states, identifying the bearer as a citizen of the Republic of Lebanon and requesting that they be allowed to pass and be treated according to international norms. The textual portions of Lebanese passports are printed in Arabic, the official language of the Republic of Lebanon, as well as in both French and English languages. The note inside of the Lebanese passport states:

الجمهورية اللبنانية باسم رئيس الجمهورية اللبنانية يامل من السلطات المختصة تسهيل مرور صاحب هذا الجواز و منحه المساعدة و الحماية القانونية عند اللزوم
Republique Libanaise au nom du President de la Republique Libanaise Le Directeur General de la Surete General prie le autorites competentes de bien vouloir accorder libre passage au titulaire de ce passeport et en cas de besoin, de lui accorder toute aide et protection legitimes.
Republic of Lebanon On behalf of The President of the Republic of Lebanon The General Director of the General Security hereby requests competent authorities to permit the bearer to pass without any delay or hindrance and in care of need to provide all lawful aid and protection.

Information page

Lebanese passports include the following data on the information page:

DataDescription
Photograph of the holderDigital image printed on the page
TypeP for ordinary passports, PD for diplomatic passports, PO for official passports
Code of issuing stateLBN
Passport NumberA six digit number, biometric passports begins with RL
Surname
Given Name(s)
Also Known AsOnly printed for people who have another name
Nationality(لبناني / Libanais / Lebanese)
Date of birthDD MMM YY
SexM for male, F for female
Place of birth(Only the city or town is listed, even if born outside the Republic of Lebanon) (See note bellow)
Date of issueDD MMM YY
AuthorityD.G.G.S
Date of expiryDD MMM YY
Holder's signatureDigital image printed on page
Machine Readable ZoneStarts with P<LBN

The items are identified by text in Arabic,English and French (e.g., "تاريخ الولادة / Date of birth / Date de naissance").

Signature field

A Lebanese passport is invalid if the passport is not signed, and normally the bearer affixes his/her signature on the signature field, whose position has varied with various incarnations of Lebanese passports. Persons too young to sign a passport previously may have a parent or legal guardian sign the passport on their behalf, although this has since been prohibited.

Old burgundy red passports originally contained the signature field below the data page at the passport's inner cover. When navy blue passports began being issued in 2006, a field where the bearer must sign the passport appeared above the information page.

Place of birth

Passport applicants may request, in writing, that their Lebanese passport not list the place of birth (city and country) - or simply the country - on their data page. A separate form is available for such a request, on which one must indicate one's awareness that omitting this information could cause one difficulties at international entry points or when applying for visas.

In response to the government of the People's Republic of China's (PRC) modification to the requirements for the issuance of Chinese visas to Lebanese citizens born in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan the PRC will not issue visas to Lebanese passport holders whose place of birth is inscribed as being Hong Kong HKG, Macau MAC or (city name) TWN. Accordingly, passports issued to Lebanese born in Hong Kong, Macau or Taiwan now only list the place of birth, without an accompanying three-letter country code, unless upon request.

Since April 1976, the policy has been that Lebanese citizens born in Jerusalem have their birthplace identified only by the city's name, with no national designation, due to the unresolved legal status of Jerusalem. Lebanese citizens born prior to 1948 may have their birthplace identified as Palestine if they were born in what was the British Mandate of Palestine (including Jerusalem).

Document Requirements

Passport photograph

Passport photo requirements are very specific. Official Lebanese Directorate General of General Security photographic guidelines are available online.

Issuing Restriction

Passports are not issued to persons who are under arrest because of criminal offenses, or to those who appear as 'dangerous' in accordance with the International Police Agreement of 1920.

People who owe 380,000 Lebanese Pounds ($2,500) or more in child support, are not eligible to receive a Lebanese passport. Therefore they should make arrangements to pay the agency where child support is owed before they submit their application for a Lebanese passport. All questions about their child support arrears or the status of a payment should be directed to the appropriate child support enforcement agency.

Fees

Fees for applying vary based on whether or not an applicant is applying for a new passport or they are renewing an expiring passport for either 1 or 5 years. Fees also vary depending on whether an applicant is under the age of 5.

Multiple passports

Multiple passports are issued to Lebanese citizens on official business, and to diplomats, the latter a process followed by virtually all countries. The United Nations laissez-passer is a similar document issued by that international organization.

However, more than one valid Lebanese passport of the same type may not be held, except if authorized by the General Directorate of General Security.

It is routine for the General Directorate of General Security to authorize a holder of a regular passport to hold, in addition, a diplomatic passport or an official passport.

One circumstance which may call for issuance of a second passport of a particular type is a prolonged visa-processing delay especially for Angola and São Tomé and Príncipe visa applications. Another is safety or security. The period of validity of a second passport issued under either circumstance is generally two years from the date of issue.

Visa Free Travel

A Lebanese passport does not, in itself, entitle the holder to enter another country. To enter another country, the traveller must comply with the visa and entry requirements of the other countries to be visited, which vary from country to country and may apply specifically to a particular passport type, the traveller's nationality, criminal history or many other factors.

According to the 2014 Visa Restrictions Index holders of a Lebanese passport can visit 39 countries and territories visa-free or with visa on arrival, and the score of Lebanon is currently ranked 88th in terms of travel freedom (tied with Ethiopia, South Sudan and Sri Lanka).

Visa requirements for Lebanese citizens are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other states placed on citizens of the Republic of Lebanon. As of April 2015, Lebanese citizens have visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to the listed 48 countries and territories though conditions do apply for Iraq, South Korea, and Vietnam:

 Armenia
 Bangladesh
 Bolivia
 Cambodia
 Cape Verde
 Colombia1
 Comoros
 Cook Islands
 Djibouti
 Dominica
 Ecuador
 Georgia
 Guinea-Bissau
 Haiti
 Iran
 Iraq

2

 Jordan
 South Korea

3; Kosovo

 Laos
 Macau
 Madagascar
 Malaysia
 Maldives
 Mauritania
 Mauritius
 Micronesia
 Mozambique
   Nepal
 Niue
 Oman
 Palau
 Saint Kitts and Nevis1
 Samoa
 São Tomé and Príncipe1
 Senegal

1

 Seychelles
 Somalia
 Sri Lanka1
 Syria
 Tajikistan
 Timor-Leste
 Togo
 Turkey
 Tuvalu
 Uganda
 Vietnam4
 Zimbabwe1

1 – The visa is an eVisa thus can be obtained online.
2 – A visa on arrival can only be obtained at Erbil International Airport.
3 – A visa on arrival can only be obtained at Jeju International Airport.
4 – A visa on arrival can only be obtained at Phu Quoc International Airport.

Note that the Lebanese Identity Card can be used as an optional replacement for the Lebanese passport in the listed countries and territories:

 Syria
 Jordan

Gallery of historic images

See also

External links

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Passports of Lebanon.
  1. Lebanon to introduce biometric passports
  2. International Civil Aviation Organization, Doc 9303, Machine Readable Travel Documents, Part 1: Machine Readable Passport, Volume 1, Passports with Machine Readable Data Stored in Optical Character Recognition Format, Part 1, Machine Readable Passport (6th ed. 2006), Volume 2: Specifications for Electronically Enabled Passports with Biometric Identification Capabilities (6th ed. 2006).
  3. Lebanon to introduce biometric passports
  4. Lebanon to introduce biometric passports
  5. Lebanon to introduce biometric passports
  6. Lebanon to introduce biometric passports