General security says as of Monday it will reopen the electronic platform for the making of passport appointments. (Credit: Anwar Amro/AFP)
BEIRUT — Starting Monday, Lebanese citizens will be able to make an appointment on the General Security online platform to obtain a passport, the General Security announced in a tweet on Friday.
Here’s what we know:
• This move ends a period of more than a month since the site was suspended at the end of April when the Lebanese authorities admitted their resources were inadequate in the face of the increasing demand for new passports, which jumped tenfold over the past two years, according to the General Security.
• "On April 27, 2022, the Directorate of General Security was unfortunately forced to temporarily stop the activity of the platform," General Security reported in a statement. It indicated that the demand exceeded the available passports, and added, "This measure was taken to protect the rights of citizens on the one hand, and to respect the principle of transparency" on the other. No appointments were granted since that date to obtain new passports.
• General Security also pointed out that it had been notified on Thursday that the company in charge of printing the passports had "received the payment" that was due to it by the Lebanese state, which allowed it to resume its work.
• "The electronic platform will be back in service from Monday, June 13, in the morning,” said a tweet from General Security.
• Fearing an overwhelming load of Lebanese citizens on the online platform, it pleaded “people who do not urgently need a passport not to rush to make an appointment.”
• The country’s worsening economic crisis and declining living conditions continues to push people to seek a fresh start abroad. Obtaining or renewing passports has become much more difficult, with long queues forming in front of the General Security offices. Some people have also resorted to paying huge sums of money to invest in real estate in other countries in order to obtain residency in those countries.
• Only three days ahead of the May 15 legislative elections, Lebanon’s government had approved the exceptional renewal of expired passports for a fee of LL200,000 to allow Lebanese to participate in the elections.