 | ||
Visa requirements for citizens of the Republic of Lebanon are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other sovereign countries and territories placed on citizens of the Republic of Lebanon.
Contents
- Recent Changes
- Visa requirements
- Territories
- Vaccination
- Passport validity
- Fingerprinting
- Biometric Data Gathering
- Rejection of Lebanese passports
- Evidence of travel to Israel
- Evidence of travel to the Nagorno Karabakh Republic
- Armenian name or ancestry
- Persona non grata
- References
As of 1 January 2017, Lebanese citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 37 countries and territories, ranking the Lebanese passport 96th in terms of travel freedom (tied with Ethiopian, Kosovan and South Sudanese passports) according to the Henley visa restrictions index. Additionally, Passport Index Organization also ranked the Lebanese passport as 88th in the world in terms of travel freedom.
Citizens of the Republic of Lebanon do not need a passport when traveling to Jordan and Syria. For these countries, they may use just their domestic national identification cards called (Arabic: بطاقة الهوية (bițāqat al-hawiya); French: Carte nationale d'identité).
Besides visa requirements, most countries specify other requirements which preclude the entry of citizens of the Republic of Lebanon and other citizens into their country, for example the prospective entrant has a criminal history, health issues, evidence of sufficient funds, evidence of ticket for exit or many other factors.
Recent Changes
Recently visa requirements for citizens of the Republic of Lebanon were lifted by Turkey (January 11, 2010), Georgia (March 23, 2012), Iran (July 29, 2015), and Indonesia. (October 7, 2015)
Antigua and Barbuda and Tajikistan introduced an Electronic Visa facility for citizens of the Republic of Lebanon on 3 July 2016 and 3 June 2016 respectively.
Visa requirements
General visa requirements of fully internationally recognized sovereign countries and territories towards citizens of the Republic of Lebanon:
Territories
Visa requirements for citizens of the Republic of Lebanon for visits to various territories, disputed areas, partially recognized countries and restricted zones:
Vaccination
Many African countries, including Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia require all incoming passengers to have a current International Certificate of Vaccination. Almost all other African countries and some Asian and Latin American countries require vaccination if the passenger is coming from an infected area.
Passport validity
Passport validity is the length of time passports issued by the Republic of Lebanon can be used to travel to another country, or be used as a valid form of identification within or outside the Republic of Lebanon before its date of expiration.
Fingerprinting
Several countries including Afghanistan, Argentina, Burundi, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and the United States demand all passengers to be fingerprinted on arrival.
Biometric Data Gathering
Countries capturing other biometric data like iris pattern include Jordan, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates.
Rejection of Lebanese passports
Passports issued by the Republic of Lebanon are recognized by all the countries and territories in the world. Albeit, in some rare cases, citizens of the Republic of Lebanon might be refused entry. Most common situations are:
Failure of meeting the criteria required on entrance by a specific country/territory is not an act of rejection of the passports issued by the Republic of Lebanon
Evidence of travel to Israel
Visitors with an Israeli passport stamp or visa will likely be refused entry to the following countries:
Entering Israel by air seems the best option to avoid evidence of travel to Israel in the passport. The border guards from Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv no longer stamp the passport, instead they issue a small pieces of blue paper that stand for the stay permit and entry stamp and a similar piece or pink paper that stands for exit permit and exit stamp. Entering and leaving Israel by air leaves no evidence of travel there in the passport.
Some border guards of the above countries might take the time to search the passport for evidence of travel to Israel such as entry stamps of Egypt or Jordan from land crossing points on their border with Israel or Palestine. The Egyptian or Jordanian entry stamp from the Egyptian-Israeli border or the Jordanian-Israeli border will be considered evidence of travel to Israel and access will be denied with that specific passport.
Evidence of travel to the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
Visitors with a passport stamp or visa of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic are not allowed to enter the following country:
As a result of the Nagorno-Karabakh War between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Azerbaijan refuses entry to citizens of the Republic of Lebanon whose passport shows evidence of entry into the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Such persons are immediately declared permanent personae non gratae.
Upon request, the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic authorities may attach the visa to a separate piece of paper in order to avoid detection of travel to their country.
Armenian name or ancestry
Azerbaijani authorities refuse entry to a citizen of the Republic of Lebanon and any other country if they have an Armenian name or are of Armenian descent.
Persona non grata
The government of a country can declare a diplomat of the Republic of Lebanon persona non grata, banning their access into the country. In non-diplomatic use, the authorities of a foreign country may declare a citizen of the Republic of Lebanon persona non grata permanently or temporarily.