Lebanese nationality law

Rights of citizens

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

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

According to the Lebanese Ministry for Migration, there has been no restriction on multiple citizenship in The Republic of Lebanon since 1 January 1926. Thus, foreigners who acquire Lebanese citizenship and Lebanese citizens who voluntarily acquire another citizenship keep their previous citizenship (subject to the laws of the other country), as was the case before that date.

Since many nationality laws now allow both parents to transmit their nationality to their common child (and not only the father, as used to often be the case), many children automatically acquire multiple citizenship at birth. However, the Lebanese Ministry for Migration specially notes that this has not resulted in any practical problems worth mentioning. Military service, the most likely problem to arise, is usually done in the country where the applicant resides at the time of conscription. For instance, a dual Lebanese-Armenian national must do his military service in Armenia, since Republic of Armenia has compulsory military service for two years for males from 18 to 27 years old. All male dual citizens regardless where they live are required to serve in the military as if they were Armenian resident citizen with certain exceptions. Most male Armenian citizens living outside of Armenia do not return to serve in the military.

Lebanon previously had mandatory military service for men only. All men were required to do 1 year of military service through age 18+. Training was only done whenever they had free time or time off school including summer vacations and holidays. There were also training done alongside high school. On May 4, 2005, a new conscription system was adopted, making for a six-month service, and pledging to end conscription within two years. As of February 10, 2007 mandatory military service no longer exists in Lebanon thus making it a conscription-free all-volunteer force.

Jus sanguinis

A child is Lebanese at birth if:

Simplified naturalization by virtue of marriage

A foreign wife married to a male Lebanese citizen may apply for Lebanese citizenship by facilitated naturalization after having been married for at least one year and their marriage has been entered in the Civil Acts Register in the Republic of Lebanon since then. No language test is required, but the spouse must show the following:

It is also possible for the foreign wife of a Lebanese citizen to apply for facilitated naturalization while resident overseas after the following:

Birth in the Republic of Lebanon

Birth in the Republic of Lebanon does not in itself confer Lebanese citizenship. Therefore, Jus soli does not apply.

Loss due to cessation of paternity

A child whose Lebanese citizenship depends on paternal links loses citizenship when those are cut.

Loss due to adoption

A Lebanese child adopted by foreign parents is considered to have lost Lebanese citizenship.

Annulled adoptions

Where a former Lebanese citizen lost citizenship due to adoption by foreign parents and that adoption is later annulled, the Lebanese citizenship is considered to never have been lost.

Loss due to birth abroad

A Lebanese citizen born abroad to a Lebanese father and holding at least one other nationality loses the Lebanese citizenship at age 25 if:

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. Moreover, the Lebanese citizenship to be given to the 8-14 million diaspora of Lebanese living all over the world.

On 7 November 2015, Gebran Bassil, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, "refused to compromise on a draft law that would grant citizenship to the descendants of Lebanese expatriates by expanding it to include the foreign spouses and children of Lebanese women".

On 11 November 2015, the Lebanese Parliament and Free Patriotic Movement member Ibrahim Kanaan stated that the ministers have agreed to pass a "10-article draft law titled “The Reacquisition of Lebanese Citizenship to the Descendants of Lebanese Emigrants,” to grant those of Lebanese origin the nationality on the basis of certain procedures and legal pathways.

On 12 November 2015, the Lebanese Parliament approved a raft of draft laws Thursday, including a law allowing foreigners of Lebanese origin to get citizenship.

On 5 May 2016, the Gebran Bassil, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants announced the beginning of the implementation of citizenship law for Lebanese diaspora. However, the law would allow only grandchildren of Lebanese paternal grandfathers but not grandchildren of Lebanese maternal grandmothers to apply for citizenship.

Law for descendants of Lebanese origin

Article I Every natural person who meets one of the two eligibility requirements has the right to reclaim his/her Lebanese nationality.

Article II This law intends to verify the “actual presence of Lebanese relatives in the town, village or neighborhood,” which an individual would claim, including the degree of kinship, along with any ownership/holding of rights to real property that may have been “devised, bequeathed, or inherited from a Lebanese citizen.”

Although bureaucratic in nature, this aspect of the law was meant to encourage associations with the land, a defining feature of Lebanese nationality. Where one traced his/her roots were deemed vital that, again, added a specific feature to the law. The law would allow grandchildren of Lebanese paternal grandfathers to apply for citizenship. The latest 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, which means at least 8 million people.