The Lebanese passport () is a passport issued to the citizens of the Republic of Lebanon to enable them to travel outside the Republic of Lebanon and entitles the bearer to the protection from the diplomatic missions and consulates of the Republic of Lebanon if necessary. It is issued exclusively by the Lebanese Directorate General of General Security (DGGS), and can also be issued at various Lebanese diplomatic missions and/or consulates outside of 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 the diplomatic missions and consulates of the Republic of Lebanon if necessary, and requests protection for the bearer while abroad.
Lebanese passport booklets are valid for travel by Lebanese citizens anywhere in the world to countries with which the government of the Republic of Lebanon maintains diplomatic ties although travel to certain countries and/or for certain purposes may require a visa and the Republic of Lebanon itself restricts its citizens 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).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. 2003), Volume 2: Specifications for Electronically Enabled Passports with Biometric Identification Capabilities (6th ed. 2003).
By law, a valid unexpired Lebanese passport or identity card () 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. The Republic of Lebanon law permits dual nationality. 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. Lebanese passports are property of the Republic of Lebanon and must be returned to the Lebanese Government upon demand.
The French state-run printing firm, Imprimerie Nationale carries on the official printing works of both the Lebanese and French governments.
As of January 10, 2016, The Lebanese Directorate General of General Security (DGGS) has stopped renewing passports with handwritten notes and started issuing new ones instead. This move is intended for the introduction of the new Lebanese Biometric Passport on August 1, 2016. As of August 1, 2016 all passports being issued by the Lebanese Directorate General of General Security (DGGS) are Biometric and hold the biometric passport symbol . Non-biometric passports are valid until their expiry dates.
Types Ordinary Passport (; ) - Issued to citizens for occasional travel, such as vacations and business trips Temporary Passport (; ) - Issued in emergency cases to those who are in need to travel on short notice or urgently need to replace their lost or stolen passport. This passport contains 8 pages and is valid for a period between six months and one year. An emergency passport may be exchanged for a full-term passport. Strict rules apply. Collective Passport (; ) - Issued for the occasion of pilgrimages, excursions and other acts of analogous nature, facilitating the issuance of visas, or to decrease administrative costs if a lot of group members do not have their individual passports. Main users of these passports are high schools and tourist agencies. whenever reciprocity with the destiny country exists, its validity is limited a single trip, whose duration will not be able to exceed three months. Though it is not primary means of international travel for organised groups, high schools, and tourism agencies. All members of the group must cross the border at the same time and be part of the same organized trip. Diplomatic Passport (; ) - Issued to diplomats, Top ranking government officials, Diplomatic couriers, Members of the National Assembly, Parliament members, Head judges of the judicial organs, and their deputies, Negotiators that are to deal with international issues, Spouse of the diplomatic passport holders (this passport can only be used when accompanying the primary passport holder), and Unwed and unemployed daughters, and sons younger than 18 years of age of the diplomatic passport holders who live with their parents (this passport can only be used when accompanying the primary passport holder) upon the request of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Validity is determined by the nature of the position held. Official Passports and on Watch (; ) - Issued to individuals representing the Lebanese government if travelling on official business and to Lebanese military personnel when deployed overseas. Validity is determined by the nature of the position held. Emergency passport (; ) - Issued to citizens for direct return to the Republic of Lebanon. It contains details of the person, photo, travel details and expiry date of the document and can only be used for one travel. Alien's passport (; ) - Issued for travelling purposes to non-Lebanese residents of the Republic of Lebanon who are unable to obtain a passport from their own government. Laissez-Passer (; ) - Issued as an emergency travel document with 8 pages containing handwritten information. Refugee Travel Document (; ) - Not a full passport, but issued to aliens who have been classified as refugees or asylees.
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 (DGGS) announced that it would be issuing biometric passports to all of its citizens starting from July 2016.http://www.mulhak.com/new-passports-to-survive-biometric-age/ New passports to survive Biometric Age 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 (DGGS) 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 (DGGS) started offering the option of a 5-year validity period as well as the current 1-year validity period. The Lebanese passport can only be renewed for 1-year through diplomatic missions and consulates of the Republic of Lebanon abroad,
The old burgundy red passport 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, 2003. 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 the equivalent of £L11,500, 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 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 (DGGS) or at any Lebanese embassy as well as any of the various diplomatic missions and consulates of the Republic of Lebanon abroad. 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.
The old navy blue non-biometric passport
On 12 April 2003, the Republic of Lebanon started issuing ICAO compliant machine-readable non-biometric passports with the navy blue cover, valid for one or five years, 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 2003 and to Lebanese embassies/consulates abroad between September and October 2003.
The Lebanese Directorate General of General Security (DGGS) stopped issuing the old navy blue non-biometric Lebanese passports and started issuing biometric passports to Lebanese citizens starting from 1 August 2016. The old non-biometric navy blue passports are valid until their expiry dates when will be renewed with the new navy blue biometric passports.
The new navy blue biometric passport