Last Change:
02/28/2025
Order No. 319 Regulating the Status of Foreign Nationals in Lebanon
Year: 1962
Type: Domestic law
Rights Category: Asylum, Documentation
Description
Order No. 319 of 1962 regulates the residency status of foreign nationals in the country. The order mandates foreign nationals to register with the Sûreté Générale (General Directorate of General Security). It establishes a classification system dividing foreign nationals into five categories based on their visa or documentation type. The document also includes specific regulations for Syrians and Jordanians.
Selected provisions
ORDER No. 319 REGULATING THE STATUS OF FOREIGN NATIONALS IN LEBANON - Generic
In the event that a former political refugee is deported, he or she may not be removed to the
territory of a country where his or her life or freedom is threatened.
Any foreign national who is the subject of a prosecution or a conviction by an authority that is
not Lebanese for a political crime or whose life or freedom is threatened, also for political
reasons, may request political asylum in Lebanon. The definition of political crime contained in
articles 196 and 197 of the Penal Code shall be taken into consideration. The provisions of
articles 30 to 36 of the Penal Code respecting extradition shall remain applicable.
Asylum shall be granted pursuant to an order made by a committee the membership of which is
as follows: Ministre de l’Intérieur, chair; the Directeurs de la Justice, des Affaires Étrangères et
de la Sûreté Générale, members. In the event that the number of votes cast for and against is
equal, the chair shall have a casting vote. An order made by this committee is not admissible in
law and may not be subject to any claim, even that of abuse of power.
The committee may refuse to grant asylum or may cancel it at any time or limit it by requiring the person, for example, to remain in a specific place.
No foreign national may enter Lebanon unless he or she passes one of the posts of the Sûreté
Générale and on condition that he or she has the regulatory documents and visas as well as a
passport in which a transit or residence visa has been affixed by a representative of Lebanon
abroad, by an authority responsible for the interests of Lebanese nationals abroad or by the
Sûreté Générale. No Lebanese national may enter Lebanon unless he or she passes one of the
posts of the Sûreté Générale. The entry into Lebanon of persons who are not Lebanese nationals
and who are not required to be in possession of a passport shall be recorded at the border by the
Services de la Sûreté Générale. The application of this paragraph shall be regulated by an order
of the Ministre de l'Intérieur. Any foreign national wishing to enter Lebanon in order to pursue a
career or to work there is required to obtain in advance authorization from the Ministère du
Travail et des Affaires Sociales, although this requirement shall not apply to artists, who shall
obtain authorization from the Direction de la Sûreté Générale.