Lebanon rolls out biometric passport fingerprinting in Kuwait, a global first
New system eliminates the need for Lebanese expatriates to travel home for passport issuance and renewal.
The Times Kuwait Report
Kuwait has become the first country outside Lebanon to offer biometric fingerprint registration for Lebanese passports, marking a major milestone in the modernization of consular services for Lebanese expatriates.
The service was officially launched on Sunday by Lebanon’s Minister of Interior and Municipalities, Brig. Gen. Ahmed Hajjar, who described the initiative as the first of its kind outside Lebanese territory. He said the system will be gradually introduced at Lebanese diplomatic missions around the world in the coming weeks and months.
Speaking during the inauguration ceremony, Hajjar said the project reflects Lebanon’s commitment to making government services more accessible for its citizens abroad by eliminating the need to travel to Lebanon for biometric registration when applying for or renewing passports.
He credited the successful launch to months of coordination between Lebanon’s Ministries of Interior, Foreign Affairs and Finance, the General Directorate of General Security, and the Lebanese Embassy in Kuwait.
The General Security Directorate provided the required equipment and financed the project, while the participating government agencies worked together to ensure its implementation.
Under the new system, biometric fingerprints captured at the Lebanese Embassy in Kuwait are transmitted electronically to the General Directorate of General Security in Beirut, where the passport is issued before being returned to the embassy for delivery to the applicant.
Hajjar noted that existing passports will remain valid during a transitional period, with biometric passports becoming the standard from October 1, 2026. He said the initiative aligns with international travel security standards and will significantly ease administrative procedures for Lebanese citizens living overseas.
The minister added that the availability of biometric passports abroad will also facilitate the participation of expatriates in future parliamentary and overseas elections, allowing eligible voters to meet documentation requirements without returning to Lebanon.
He praised the close cooperation of the Kuwaiti authorities, saying they had welcomed the initiative and provided all necessary support to ensure its success.
Lebanese Ambassador to Kuwait Ghadi Khoury said selecting Kuwait as the first overseas mission to introduce the biometric service reflects the strong and longstanding ties between the two countries and the special place Kuwait holds for the Lebanese state and its people.
Khoury announced that the embassy has begun operating the service on a trial basis without requiring prior appointments. Should demand increase, an appointment system may be introduced. He added that the entire fingerprint registration and application process takes less than ten minutes.
Reassuring applicants about data security, the ambassador stressed that biometric information collected at the embassy is transmitted exclusively to Lebanon’s General Directorate of General Security and is not shared with any other entity.
He emphasized that the system complies with the highest international standards for data protection, accuracy and security.
