Lebanon permanent residence: the three-year permit explained

General Security publishes three routes. The first is based on a cash guarantee and is open to foreigners who will not work. The second is for businesspeople and investors who are nationals of Arab countries, backed by a certificate from their home authorities and a certificate from the Lebanese authorities that they have started investment projects in Lebanon. The third is for holders of a three-year work permit in the first or second category with at least two years and six months left.

Despite the name, the permit is not indefinite: it lasts three years, or less when the passport expires sooner, and must be renewed. The work-permit routes are not open to Egyptian nationals.

Every route requires the approved application form, a colour copy of a passport valid for at least three years with two photocopies, and three recent passport photos. The work-permit route adds the three-year work permit and a copy, a copy of the employer's ID or commercial registration certificate, and a certified copy of the three-year employment contract; employers, representatives of foreign companies and correspondents of news agencies without a Lebanese office are exempt from the contract.

On the cash-guarantee route, you deposit LBP 4,500,000,000 in cash or by fresh cashier's cheque with the Ministry of Finance, Treasury Directorate, Accounting and Funds Department. You also need a lease or title deed and, if you are under 64, a written undertaking not to work. The permit then covers you, your spouse, your minor children and dependent relatives over 64.

The cash-guarantee and Arab investor routes cost LBP 54,000,000 for three years. On the work-permit route, the fee is charged per year: LBP 108,000,000 for the first category and LBP 72,000,000 for the second. The two-year route for first-category work permit holders is listed at LBP 216,000,000.

The passport must normally be valid for at least three years. If it has between two and a half and three years left, the residence is granted for the passport's remaining validity; for the two-year route, between eighteen months and two years. Holders of two-year work permits receive a one-year residence, which is renewed for the second year on the same permit.