Lebanon’s General Directorate of General Security announced new rules at air, land, and sea border crossings to facilitate the entry of Syrian nationals into Lebanon, setting out the conditions, required documents, and permitted length of stay for each category.

According to a table published by Lebanese General Security on Wednesday, September 23, Syrians arriving through Beirut airport or seaports to transit onward to Syria will be granted a 24-hour entry permit if they hold a valid passport and transit visa.

Syrians entering through land crossings to depart from the airport or seaports must have a valid passport, a non-refundable travel ticket, and a visa for their destination country. They will be granted a 24-hour entry permit.

Travelers heading to countries that do not require visas for Syrians will be granted a 48-hour entry permit if they have a travel ticket and passport.

Property Owners, Residency Holders, and Family Reunification

Under the new rules, property owners in Lebanon must provide identification documents, a family booklet if accompanied by family members, and either a title deed or a recent original property registry statement issued no more than one month earlier, showing ownership of at least 1,200 shares. The property owner, spouse, minor children, and unmarried daughters will be granted entry for 15 days.

Syrians holding valid Arab or foreign residency permits with more than one month remaining in a country whose nationals are automatically entitled to enter Lebanon will be granted entry for up to one month. The permit also covers the resident’s spouse and minor children, provided they accompany the residency holder.

Regarding family ties, the parents of Lebanese citizens will be granted entry for one month upon presenting identification documents and a family booklet proving the relationship. The spouse and children of a Lebanese man or woman will be granted entry for three months upon providing proof of kinship.

The wife and children of people holding annual or permanent residency in Lebanon, as well as the wife of a Palestinian refugee, will be granted entry for one month. Children of a Palestinian refugee woman will be granted entry for one week.

Education, Medical Treatment, and Embassy Appointments

Patients will be granted an entry permit for up to one week upon presenting identification documents and a medical treatment contract. One family member may accompany the patient, provided they leave Lebanon together.

Syrian students presenting valid enrollment documents or a university ID card will be granted entry for 15 days to visit the regional center and complete procedures for obtaining residency.

For appointments at foreign embassies, people whose appointments have been notified to Lebanese General Security in advance will be granted entry for 48 hours, with entry permitted between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. Those whose appointments were not reported in advance must present identification documents, written proof of the appointment, and a payment receipt. Their cases will be referred to the security department for a decision.

Professional Unions and Businesspeople

Members of professional unions, including doctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers, and journalists, will be granted entry for 15 days upon presenting a valid union membership card and an original letter from the head of the union explaining the reason for the visit. The same provisions apply to accompanying family members.

Holders of premium and first-class chambers of commerce and industry cards must present a recent commercial registration document. Their applications will be referred to the security department, which may grant entry for up to 15 days. Business visits by traders and investors require an invitation letter from the host company and a recent commercial or industrial registration document. These applications will also be referred to the security department, which may grant entry for up to one week.

Judges, government lawyers, and members of public-sector unions will be granted entry for up to 15 days or one month, depending on the category, upon presenting an employment card and a letter from the relevant authority.

Transport Sector, Special Categories, and Diplomats

Drivers of public vehicles, buses, and vans will be granted entry for 24 hours upon presenting the required identification and vehicle documents, including the applicable insurance documents. Truck drivers and their assistants will be granted entry for one month, provided they present the required vehicle documents and proof of ownership or authorization.

Diplomats and holders of special passports will be subject to the principle of reciprocity. Employees of the United Nations, international organizations, and embassies will be granted entry for one month upon presenting identification and a mission order.

Domestic workers accompanying a Syrian sponsor will receive an entry visa linked to their sponsor and valid for no longer than their residency period, provided they hold a foreign residency permit bearing the sponsor’s name.

The document also stated that the entry of Syrians for employment purposes will be subject to direct coordination with Lebanon’s Ministry of Labor, with the aim of establishing regulatory frameworks based on labor market requirements and protecting the local workforce.

Entry Requirements for Lebanese Citizens into Syria

The announcement of Lebanon’s new rules comes amid reciprocal restrictions on cross-border movement between the two countries that began in early 2025, when Syria’s General Authority for Land and Sea Ports specified the categories under which Lebanese citizens could enter Syrian territory.

Those categories included holders of valid Syrian residency permits, as well as the spouses and minor children of Syrian residency holders provided they accompanied them, the husbands and children of Syrian women, and the wives of Syrian men.

The categories also included the family of a Lebanese woman who married a Syrian man and later obtained Syrian citizenship, domestic workers accompanying their Lebanese sponsors, and holders of Arab or foreign nationality or residency valid for at least one month.

The list also covered employees of the United Nations and international organizations operating in Lebanon, diplomats, holders of special and mission passports and their companions, and traders. Humanitarian cases were also included, such as ambulances transporting patients between the two countries, Syrians deported from Lebanon, Lebanese university students, medical cases, and religious figures and delegations.

In turn, the new Syrian authorities have barred Lebanese citizens without Syrian residency documents from entering Syria since the beginning of 2025, in response to Lebanon’s treatment of Syrian nationals.

At the time, Lebanese General Security stopped allowing Lebanese citizens to cross into Syria unless they held Syrian residency, according to Lebanese media. The decision applied to all border crossings in the Bekaa region of eastern Lebanon and to the northern crossings at Arida, Abboudiye, and Jesr Al Qmar.