Legal Residency

As of January 2015, if you are a Syrian national wishing to enter Lebanon you must inform the border authorities of the reason of your entry and provide relevant supporting documentation including a valid national identity card, and/or passport, and a family booklet if you are travelling with your family. You will not be able to enter Lebanon legally if you do not fulfil these requirements.

For more information, please visit this page on the website of the General Security Office.

If you are a Syrian refugee residing in Lebanon you can obtain/renew your residency based on your UNHCR certificate if you meet the following two criteria:

1. You registered with UNHCR before January 2015,
2. You did not previously renew your residency based on any other category than UNHCR registration (e.g. sponsorship, property owner, tenant, etc.).

From 29 April 2024, you will need to pay a fee of LBP 4,900,000 in case if you have no valid residency permit (even if expired for one day) at the time of renewal.

The extension of residency permit on the basis of the UNHCR certificate is free of charge if you apply for the renewal before it expires.

The residency permit based on the UNHCR certificate is granted for a period of one year, renewable.

You need to submit the following documents for renewal of your residency permit:

• Identification document (colored copies)
• Entry coupon and card
• Residency cards
• Valid bio data attestation issued by UNHCR, or a housing attestation issued by a Mokhtar.
• Pledge to abide by the law, to be signed at GSO center
• 2 passport photos
• Valid UNHCR certificate provided that the date of registration with UNHCR is before 1/1/2015 

Make sure your residency permit is valid when you apply for renewal to avoid paying extra fees (4,900,000 LBP) mentioned above.

Your UNHCR certificate and bio data attestation issued by UNHCR include the date of your registration with UNHCR.

You can call the UNHCR National Call Center at 📞04726111, from Monday to Friday from 8:00 to 17:00 to request an appointment to have your UNHCR certificate and housing attestation with registration date.

From 3 July 2023, if you are eligible to obtain a bio data attestation, you can request it by calling the UNHCR National Call Center at 📞04726111 or approaching the nearest Khadamaty location and expect to receive it through an 📨SMS sent to your mobile phone (smartphone only). For more information, please see the Q&As on the housing attestation.

If you benefit from the waiver of the renewal and overstay fees (Question 2), but have an expired UNHCR certificate, please call the UNHCR National Call Center at 📞04726111 to request an appointment for the renewal of your UNHCR certificate.

Please note that you need to make an appointment before coming to UNHCR. Please do not come to UNHCR without having secured an appointment.

No, only the members who wish to renew their residency need to approach the General Security Office.

As of 21 March 2022, you are not allowed to enter Lebanon based on the sponsorship. However, if you are in Lebanon and you already hold a valid residency permit based on the sponsorship, you are allowed to renew your residency based on this category.

You must pay the yearly required fee of 13,000,000 LBP to renew your residency permit.

Since April 2024, in addition to the regular fee for extension of your residence permit based on sponsorship (13,000,000 LBP), you may be asked to pay LBP 4,900,000 in case if your residency permit has expired at the time of submission of the application for renewal (even for one day).

You need to bring the following documents for the renewal of your legal residency:

• Pledge of responsibility signed by your Lebanese sponsor at the public notary (كاتب عدل).
• Original family civil extract of your Lebanese sponsor;
• Housing commitment signed by the landowner or tenant where you reside, authorized by a local Mukhtar;
• Copy of ID of the landowner or tenant signed and stamped by the Mukhtar;
• Copy of the title deed or lease agreement signed and stamped by the Mukhtar OR attestation from Mukhtar or Municipality certifying that the landowner or tenant is the signatory of the housing commitment;
• Your ID or passport or a civil extract less than three years old for minors who turned 15 years of age in Lebanon and are younger than 18 years of age; the General Security Office will only take a copy and not the original document.
• Exit and entry cards;
• 2 passport photos
• If the pledge of responsibility is not for work purpose, you may also be asked to present a pledge not to work signed at the public notary.

Make sure your residency permit is valid when you apply for renewal, to avoid paying extra fees (4,900,000 LBP) mentioned above.

• Syrian nationals who entered Lebanon through an unofficial border after 24 April 2019, may be subject to deportation. The Lebanese authorities have decided that any Syrian national who enters or re-enters Lebanon irregularly after 24 April 2019 will be deported and handed over to the Syrian immigration authorities. Authorities consider the last date of (re-)entry, regardless of whether one previously entered legally or not. No regularization of stay is possible for this group.

• Syrian nationals who entered Lebanon through an unofficial border before 24 April 2019, sometimes may be allowed by the General Security Office to regularize their status. Please contact UNHCR to be informed of the updated regulations. You may be at risk of deportation if you are unable to prove that you entered Lebanon before 24 April 2019. Please make sure to keep proof of your entry to Lebanon before this date at all times with you (e.g., exit slip from Syria, UNHCR certificate (for refugees registered prior 2015), rental agreement, electricity bill, education certificates, hospital bills, etc..).

If a member of your family has been arrested or at threat of deportation, immediately contact UNHCR at 📞04726111.

Since July 2018, the General Security Office allows Syrians who overstayed their residency issued based on their UNHCR certificate to exit the country without paying any fees but may receive a re-entry ban. This provision does not extend to Syrian nationals who overstayed their residency on any other categories for which they would be required to pay overstay fees or face a re-entry ban.

For individual counselling and more detailed advice and support, please call the UNHCR National Call Center at 📞 04726111, Monday to Friday from 8:00 to 17:00.

You can also call the partners’ hotlines.
➡️For Syrian refugees, please visit this page.
➡️For non-Syrian refugees, please visit this page.