Passport fees in Lebanon among the highest in the world

A Lebanese expat living in Montreal complained about the high cost of passports, which is CAD 720 ($570 USD) for 10-year validity. 

And from France, too, an expatriate girl who renewed her passport a few days ago and paid 528 euros, described it as the most expensive passport in the world.

However, LBCI learned that the high cost of passports abroad is due to a decision issued in November 2021 by the Ministries of Finance and Foreign Affairs, which stipulated raising all consular fees to cover the expenses of diplomatic missions in light of the economic crisis.

The price of the passport, after its increase, is the same in all countries, but it certainly varies according to the country’s currency.

Thus, in the United States, for example, the price of a biometric passport for adults for ten years is $600.

In Canada, a ten-year passport costs 720 Canadian dollars.

In European countries, the price ten-year passport is 528 euros, while in Arab countries, specifically in the Emirates, the ten-year passport costs 2210 dirhams.

These prices are for renewing biometric passports, as for expatriates who have old passports, it was renewed only for five years, and its price was $300, or its equivalent in other currencies.

Moreover, every expatriate who wants to renew the electronic biometric passport cannot do so abroad, but exclusively in Lebanon, because it requires his personal fingerprint.

Lebanese expats are already struggling with the economic crisis, and the high cost of passports is adding to their financial burden.