A Lebanese passport. (Credit: AFP/File photo)
BEIRUT — General Security announced on Wednesday its decision to stop receiving as of Monday, Jan. 9, “exceptional requests” from citizens who want to advance their appointment to obtain a passport.
"The General Security Directorate announces its decision to stop receiving exceptional requests from citizens to forward their appointments to be taken to request passports, as of Jan. 9," the body wrote in a statement.
Due to the high number of passport requests and the crisis affecting all Lebanese administrations, delays to take an appointment on the General Security platform to file a request can be monthslong.
But, until now, citizens needing to make urgent appointments could do so under certain conditions, if the application was already recorded on the platform and an appointment set, and the applicant was a student studying abroad, needed to receive medical treatment abroad or needed to renew a residency permit abroad.
These specific requests were then studied by a committee.
General Security is now working on adopting a new mechanism regarding these requests.
It wrote on Twitter that applicants with an already scheduled appointment but whose file has not yet been studied could still keep the original appointment date set on the platform.
This platform had been relaunched mid-June for making appointments to obtain or renew passports, after services were suspended for over a month. The online platform was created because of the high demand for passports following the ongoing economic crisis and mass emigration of Lebanese out of the country.
Last May, General Security also suspended its online platform for making appointments to obtain or renew passports for more than a month, due in part to a delay in a payment owed by the state to the company responsible for printing travel documents.
Requirements have also been imposed on Lebanese people seeking to obtain a passport, such as providing a valid plane ticket, hotel reservation, or proof of registration for an educational institution.