Before you start

A job offer from a Lebanese employer, or a qualifying Lebanese connection for courtesy residence
Confirmation that your profession is not one of those reserved to Lebanese nationals
A passport with substantial remaining validity — courtesy residence requires at least three years
Attested civil documents where the route depends on a family relationship

Step-by-step

1
Check the profession and the permit class first
Decree No. 17561 of 1964 embeds a preference for Lebanese nationals, and a ministerial decree reserves roughly seventy professions to them. Separately, work permits are graded into classes, and the class determines downstream rights including whether family can obtain residence on your permit. Ask your employer which class they are applying for.
Via employerWho: Your employer, with you verifyingBefore anything elseFree to check
2
Employer obtains prior authorisation, then the work permit
The Ministry of Labour issues a prior authorisation before the permit itself, and each carries a fee set in Lebanese pounds. Those fees have been revised repeatedly since 2019, so ask the employer for the current figures rather than relying on a published table.
Via employerWho: Your employerWeeksEmployer-borne; figures set in LBP and frequently revised
3
Enter Lebanon and apply to General Security within three months
Once the work permit exists you apply for temporary residence at General Security, normally within three months of arrival. Applications are made in person with the standard form, photographs and the category-specific documents.
In personWho: You, usually with employer supportWithin three months of arrivalResidence fee set in LBP
4
If you have a Lebanese connection, ask about courtesy residence instead
General Security grants courtesy residence free of charge to dual nationals, people of Lebanese origin born abroad but unregistered, children of a Lebanese parent, the husband of a Lebanese woman where the marriage is over a year old, the non-working wife of a Lebanese man, foreign minors born in Lebanon and studying, and retired diplomats who served here. It requires a passport valid at least three years and three photographs at 3.5 × 4.5 cm.
In personWho: YouWeeksFree, per General Security's published conditions
5
Understand that courtesy residence does not carry work rights
It permits you to live in Lebanon. If you intend to be employed by a Lebanese entity you still need a Ministry of Labour work permit, and the reserved-professions list still applies. A great many people of Lebanese descent hold courtesy residence and work remotely for employers abroad, which is a different arrangement again.
Via employerWho: YouBefore taking Lebanese employmentWork permit fees as above
6
Plan family residence around your permit class
General Security's annual residence conditions for the family of a foreign worker refer specifically to holders of a second-class work permit, and require a marriage certificate, passports valid at least a year, a notarised work attestation and proof that you support them. Confirm your class allows it before moving anyone.
In personWho: YouAfter your own permits existThe same fee as the principal applicant; minors exempt

Documents you’ll need

Passport — at least three years' validity for courtesy residence
Ministry of Labour work permit, with its class stated
General Security residence application form, signed in person
Three photographs, 3.5 × 4.5 cm
Category-specific civil documents — marriage and birth certificates, proof of Lebanese nationality

Things most newcomers don’t know

Courtesy residence is the most useful Lebanese immigration fact nobody publishes abroad.

General Security grants a free temporary residence to people with a defined Lebanese connection — dual nationals, the unregistered Lebanese-origin diaspora, children of a Lebanese parent, the husband of a Lebanese woman married over a year, foreign minors born and studying here. Given the size of the Lebanese diaspora, this covers an enormous number of people who assume they need an employer to sponsor them. It does not carry work rights, but it removes the sponsorship problem entirely for anyone earning abroad.

Source: General Security — courtesy residence conditions

The three-year passport validity requirement catches people with two years left.

Courtesy residence, per General Security's own published conditions, requires a passport valid for at least three years — considerably longer than the six months most countries ask for. Somebody arriving with two years on their passport, which would be ample almost anywhere, will be refused. Renew before you apply. It is a small thing that wastes a lot of time when missed.

Source: General Security — courtesy residence conditions

The work permit class, not the job title, decides whether your family can join you.

Lebanese work permits are graded, and General Security's published condition for family residence refers specifically to the family of holders of a second-class annual work permit. That means a sponsor on a different class may not be able to bring a spouse and children at all. It is the single most important question to settle before relocating a family to Lebanon, and it is not one an employer will volunteer.

Source: General Security — annual residence categories

Roughly seventy professions are reserved to Lebanese nationals.

A ministerial decree reserves a broad list of occupations — covering administrative, banking, insurance and educational work among others — to Lebanese citizens, on top of the general preference principle in Decree No. 17561 of 1964. The list is reissued and can change. Check it against your actual job description rather than your title, because the categories are defined broadly and a role can fall inside one without looking like it does.

Source: Decree No. 17561/1964; Ministry of Labour reserved professions decree

Common mistakes to avoid

Applying for courtesy residence with a passport that has less than three years to run.
Assuming a work permit and a residence permit are one document.
Relocating a family before confirming your work permit class allows family residence.
Relying on published Lebanese fee tables, which are set in LBP and have been revised repeatedly.
Assuming courtesy residence lets you take a job with a Lebanese employer — it does not.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.