Retiring in Lebanon: Residence Without Employment, Taxation of the Pension, Health and Cost of Living

A French national enters Lebanon with a free one-month visa issued on arrival, which General Security allows to be extended up to three months. To settle long term without working, the retiree applies for one of the residences provided by General Security: these are residence cards without professional activity, which rest on a notarised undertaking not to work and on proof of financial means. General Security describes them by resource category rather than under the name of a retiree visa: they are open to anyone with income or a blocked account.

The table below compares the four routes. Amounts are published in Lebanese pounds and converted here at the official rate of 89,500 pounds per dollar (2025 average, World Bank) and at the ECB rate of 01/10/2026 (€1 = USD 1.1298), for information. The page on living in Lebanon presents the general framework for settling in and the Lebanon expat health insurance page the insurance obligations.

The annual residence “monthly income or bank statement” is the most common route for a retiree. General Security asks for a notarised declaration that the applicant will not carry out any paid work (this declaration is no longer required beyond age 64), a passport valid for at least one year with two copies, three identity photographs, a title deed or a lease, and one of the following financial proofs:

• a statement showing an account blocked for three months of at least LBP 1 billion (about €9,900), or the equivalent in foreign currency;
• a statement showing a monthly income of LBP 50 million (about €495), or the equivalent in foreign currency;
• a blocked joint account of at least LBP 2 billion (about €19,800), also provided for on the same page.

The applicant’s family automatically obtains a residence, with the exception of adult men whose file is examined before a decision; each provides a notarised undertaking not to work. The card’s duration follows that of the passport when it remains valid for more than six months without exceeding one year. Minors are exempt from fees, and the published scale provides LBP 18 million (about €180) for the other annual residence categories; the amount applicable to this route is confirmed with the regional General Security centre (Beirut, Jounieh, Tripoli, Zahlé and others).

The six-month multiple-entry residence visa rests on a statement from an account held at a Lebanese bank: minimum balance of LBP 1.5 billion (about €14,800) and a certified statement for the last three months, with a notarised declaration not to work. Only the account holder benefits from it; it is refused to people who have received an order to leave the country and to holders of a work residence. The application is filed at the secretariat of the regional General Security centre, for a paid service.

The three-year permanent residence on a cash guarantee requires a guarantee of LBP 4.5 billion (about €44,500), deposited in cash or by bank cheque at the Ministry of Finance, Treasury directorate, as well as LBP 54 million in fees (about €535), a passport valid for at least three years, a lease or title deed and a written undertaking not to work for those under 64. It covers the holder, their wife, their minor children and their relatives over 64.

As these conditions are published by General Security circular, the official pages, re-read on the day of the application, are authoritative. Funds are placed within the Lebanese banking system, weakened since 2019 according to the World Bank: asking the bank and the Banque du Liban (bdl.gov.lb) before blocking an amount is a useful precaution.

The treaty signed in Paris on 24 July 1962 shares the right to tax between France and Lebanon. Its article 18 provides that pensions and life annuities are taxable only in the state where the recipient is resident, subject to article 20. For a retiree who is a Lebanese tax resident, a basic, supplementary or private scheme pension therefore falls under Lebanese law; the French tax administration (DGFiP) sheet “You live in Lebanon” lists, among the pensions to be declared in France, only those paid by the French State or its local authorities.

• Public pensions (article 20): taxable in France, except for a person who holds exclusively Lebanese nationality. A Franco-Lebanese dual national is therefore not covered by this exception.
• Dividends and interest (articles 15 and 16): taxable in the state of residence of the recipient.
• Income from property (article 9): taxable in the state where the property is located, for example for a home rented out in France.
• Inheritance (articles 28 and 32): immovable property falls under the state where it is located; intangible assets, under the state of residence of the deceased.

Tax residence is determined by each state’s law; in case of dual residence, the centre of vital interests, then the longest place of stay, decide (article 2). Article 26 adds that income taxable in only one state cannot be taxed in the other, even by withholding, but that each state may calculate its tax at the rate corresponding to total income. The DGFiP invites you to contact the tax administration of the country of residence to learn the local filing obligations: Lebanese tax on salaries, wages and pensions is among the taxes covered by the treaty, and its application to a pension of foreign source is checked with the Lebanese Ministry of Finance.

Assurance Maladie indicates that a retiree who lives permanently outside the European Union, the European Economic Area, Switzerland and the United Kingdom sees their healthcare costs cease to be covered by the French scheme; form S1, valid in Europe, does not apply (see the guide to form S1). The bilateral agreements that organise retirees’ care do not include Lebanon. The retiree informs their health insurance fund and their pension fund of their departure; they are not required to return their carte Vitale (the French health insurance card), unlike their family members.

• CFE: the retirees’ plan is aimed at people drawing a pension from the French basic scheme with no professional activity. It starts at €147 a month at the advertised price, has no health questionnaire, imposes no waiting period for enrolment before departure or within three months of moving, then three or six months depending on age. See the glossary entry on the retirees’ plan and the guide to retirees’ health insurance abroad.
• Stays in France: since 1 July 2019, a retiree living in a country with no agreement is reimbursed during temporary stays in France provided they have contributed at least 15 years to one or more compulsory French schemes, after registering with Cnarefe (the National Centre for Retirees of France Abroad). A CFE member who is a retiree of the general scheme sends their claims to the CPAM (local health insurance fund) of Seine-et-Marne.
• International insurance: cover with evacuation answers the ability-to-pay check carried out by hospitals. Details are in the page on healthcare reimbursement in Lebanon and in the guide to the Lebanese healthcare system.

The French pension continues to be paid abroad. Each year, the fund sends a proof-of-existence form; since June 2024, the “Mon certificat de vie” app lets you validate it by biometric recognition, failing which the form is completed by the French consulate or a local authority. A single certificate is enough for all funds (CLEISS, the French liaison centre for international social security). See the guide to receiving your pension abroad and the page on retirement insurance abroad.

A retiree’s budget in Lebanon is calculated in dollars and checked against prices found on site. The official exchange rate stayed at 89,500 pounds per dollar in 2024 and 2025 (World Bank) and the residence thresholds above, from €495 of monthly income to €44,500 of guarantee, give the scale of the funds required. Price statistics are published by the Central Administration of Statistics (cas.gov.lb), and up-to-date indicators appear in the “Economic benchmarks” block above.

• Beirut: capital, consular services, universities and a wide choice of hospitals; the France Diplomatie security map specifies the level of vigilance by district.
• Jounieh and Byblos (Jbeil): coastal towns of Mount Lebanon, close to the capital.
• Tripoli and Zahlé: large cities in the North and the Bekaa, whose level of vigilance is read on the France Diplomatie map before any project.

A retiree’s decisive criterion is proximity to a hospital with the specialties useful for their follow-up, then the safety of the district and access to a pharmacy. For daily life, the page on living in Lebanon details the cities, the currency and the formalities; Expavy helps you compare health insurance suited to your age and medical history.