Dozens of citizens are camping overnight outside General Security centers, waiting until morning to submit their applications for a passport, which costs LBP 14,900,000 (approximately $168) for a 10-year validity period, with expedited processing options available within two weeks.
Since the first day of the war, General Security centers have been crowded with people displaced from their homes in the South, Beqaa, and Beirut’s southern suburbs, along with citizens from areas considered safe, all seeking to issue new passports. While some have managed to leave the country, the majority are on standby, ready to depart if the situation worsens.
However, these individuals are now encountering the “quota” system at centers, which limits the number of applicants they can process—a measure implemented about a week ago, according to a General Security source quoted by Houna Loubnan. The source noted that quotas vary by center, depending on their capacity.
This "quota" system has eased the congestion in lines outside General Security locations. For example, the center in Saida, which receives a large influx of displaced people from the South, currently processes 100 applications daily, down from around 200 previously.
Qasim, a man in his sixties, recounts how he went to the General Security center in Damour at 3 p.m. to secure a spot for his passport, hoping to travel to a Gulf country where his son lives after losing his home in the South.
Qasim’s situation reflects that of dozens who spend the night outside GS centers, waiting for morning to submit their passport applications. The cost for a 10-year passport is LBP 14,900,000 (about $168) for expedited processing within two weeks. For those willing to pay an additional fee of LBP 19,800,000 at the Public Relations Department of the General Directorate of General Security, the passport can be issued within three days, provided they secure an appointment on the online platform, which opens for just five minutes at 8 p.m.
Regular passports, on the other hand, take more than three months to be issued, leading most people to opt for expedited processing, as per the source.
The same source told This is Beirut that there is no passport crisis, stating that the General Security has issued approximately 25,000 passports since September 25. Furthermore, last week, General Security received 100,000 new passports from a total of 460,000 funded by the State of Qatar.
The lines outside General Security centers also extend to the entrance of the General Directorate of Personal Status at the Ministry of Interior and to the civil status offices that have begun receiving displaced individuals. Citizens are waiting in line to obtain numbers for submitting requests for civil registry documents, often spending about two hours to receive them before using these documents to apply for passports.
As for bookings with Middle East Airlines at Beirut Airport, a source at the airport described the situation as "normal." However, since the outbreak of the war, there has been a significant increase in plane reservations, primarily to Istanbul and Amman, as Lebanese travelers do not require a visa to enter these countries.
Lastly, the source informed Houna Loubnan that bookings are now available after a period of full flights. Additionally, planes arriving in Lebanon are currently accommodating more passengers than before, suggesting a decline in the financial means of those who previously fled the war.
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