Lebanon Extends Biometric Passport Enrolment to Its Diaspora, Starting in Paris

Lebanese citizens in France can now complete biometric passport enrolment at their embassy rather than flying home to do it, after Lebanon launched its biometric fingerprint system at the Lebanese Embassy in Paris.

Foreign Affairs Minister Joe Rajji and Interior Minister Ahmad Hajjar launched the service at a ceremony attended by Lebanon’s ambassador to France, Rabih al-Shaer, along with French officials and members of the Lebanese community, according to the state-run National News Agency. Rajji said the initiative will let Lebanese citizens living abroad obtain biometric passports without traveling back to Lebanon, part of what he described as a comprehensive plan to modernize consular services at Lebanese embassies and consulates worldwide, with the objective of supporting the diaspora and easing access to consular services. The push extends a broader overhaul of Lebanon’s identity documents that has continued despite the country’s financial strains, following the resumption of nationwide issuance of biometric driver’s licenses last October.

Paris is the second stop in that expansion. Hajjar launched the biometric fingerprinting service at the Lebanese Embassy in Kuwait last month, the first time it had been offered outside Lebanon, and he said the Interior Ministry will now extend the system to embassies and consulates in the Gulf countries and around the world. Other governments are taking the same route to their diasporas, much as Brazil began issuing its national identity card to citizens abroad starting with Lisbon.

The minister added a political note: easier passport issuance abroad, he said, will have a direct positive impact on the upcoming parliamentary elections, a reference to the voting rights of Lebanon’s large expatriate population, which by many estimates exceeds the population of Lebanon itself. The government has been courting that diaspora on the documentation front for months; in February, Rajji announced a major cut in consular fees for Lebanese living abroad, including a 50 percent reduction in the cost of biometric passports.

Fingerprint enrolment is the step that has tethered passport applicants to in-country offices, since capturing biometrics requires certified hardware and trained staff. Moving that capability into embassies is what makes fully remote issuance possible for expatriates.

Sources: L’Orient Today

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By the ID Tech Editorial Team