Working in Lebanon as a French National: Visa, Work Residence, Contributions, Income Tax and Economy

A French national enters Lebanon with a free one-month visa issued on arrival, but this option is for tourism. To work or do an internship, including in an NGO and even for a short period, France Diplomatie (the French foreign ministry) asks you to file a long-stay, multiple-entry visa application with the Lebanese embassy in Paris or the Lebanese consulate general in Marseille, depending on your place of residence. Interns who arrived without a visa at Beirut airport were turned back. The volunteer visa is requested by the host organisation in Lebanon before the volunteer arrives.

Among the visas, General Security distinguishes the work visa, authorised by the Ministry of Labour, and several visit visas, including one for one-off missions of a commercial, consulting or training nature. The Lebanese Ministry of Labour (labor.gov.lb) specifies the conditions for granting the work permit: this information is checked with the employer and the ministry before signing a contract. The page on living in Lebanon presents the other settling-in formalities.

Once the work permit is obtained, General Security issues an annual work residence card, placed in a category from 1 to 4. Published fees are LBP 108 million a year for category 1, 72 million for category 2, 24 million for category 3 and 18 million for category 4; they appear in the table below. An accelerated service is offered for a supplement of LBP 4.9 million (about €50) per card. When a three-year residence can be granted, the fees are three times the annual rate.

• Family: the rates for categories 1 and 2 include the holder’s family members; categories 3 and 4 cover the holder alone.
• Change of employer: General Security provides for a transfer of sponsorship, charged at LBP 2 million (about €20).
• Applicable category: assignment to one of the four categories depends on the job and the work authorisation; the employer specifies it when filing the application.

Conversions into euros rely on the official rate of 89,500 pounds per dollar (2025 average, World Bank) and on the ECB rate of 01/10/2026 (€1 = USD 1.1298). The rate used day to day may differ.

A foreign employee’s employment contract specifies the pay, the duration and the employer who sponsors the stay. A local contract places the employee under Lebanese law; secondment falls under French law, see the guide to seconded or expat.

The statutory minimum wage is expressed in Lebanese pounds and its current amount can be read on the Ministry of Labour website and in NSSF circulars. Since 2019, the Lebanese pound has lost 98% of its value and the banking sector remains weakened (World Bank), so candidates compare an offer in pounds, in dollars or mixed before signing. The level of pay is therefore assessed in the currency actually paid, at the rate at which it is converted, and according to the benefits (housing, schooling, health insurance).

The Lebanese National Social Security Fund (NSSF, CNSS in French) has three branches: sickness-maternity, end-of-service indemnity and family allowances. Its website shows, on 04/10/2026, 409,078 declared employees, 19,655 voluntary members and 1,273,097 people with health cover. Contributions are declared by the employer, who has an online account; the conditions applicable to a foreign employee are confirmed with the NSSF (+961 1 700 801).

CLEISS indicates that Lebanon is not among the forty or so states linked to France by a bilateral social security agreement. Two schemes therefore apply depending on status:

• Seconded employee sent by their French employer: they are kept in the compulsory French scheme, with contributions paid in France, for 3 years renewable once. This continuation does not exempt them from any local contributions. Care is reimbursed within the limit of French tariffs, on paid invoices with form S 3125c.
• Expat employee on a local contract: they fall under the Lebanese scheme and leave the French scheme. They inform their health insurance fund, return their carte Vitale (the French health insurance card) and can contribute voluntarily to the CFE (the French social security fund for expatriates) for sickness-maternity, work accident and basic pension risks.

On retirement, without an agreement, each country examines rights separately: periods completed in Lebanon do not count towards the rate of the French pension, and Lebanese contributions do not automatically open a pension payable in France (CLEISS). The page on healthcare reimbursement in Lebanon sets out these rules by situation.

The treaty signed in Paris on 24 July 1962, approved by the law of 6 August 1963 and published by the decree of 2 January 1964, avoids double taxation on income tax and inheritance tax. It defines a resident of a state as a person liable to tax by reason of their domicile or residence; in case of dual residence, the centre of vital interests, then the longest place of stay, decide (article 2).

• Salaries (article 19): taxable in the state where the activity is exercised. A temporary mission of at most 183 days, whose pay remains borne and paid by the home establishment, is not considered an activity in the host country; beyond that, tax applies in the country of the mission.
• Public remuneration (article 20): that which a state pays to a person working in the other state remains taxable in the paying state, except for a person who holds only the nationality of the other state.
• Liberal professions (article 22): taxable in the state where the activity is exercised.
• 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.

The method for eliminating double taxation is set out in article 26: income taxable exclusively in one state cannot be taxed in the other, and the state of residence grants a deduction equal to the tax paid in the other state for royalties, directors’ fees, liberal professions and artists and sportspeople. Each taxpayer checks their filing obligations with the French tax administration and with the Lebanese Ministry of Finance (finance.gov.lb), whose wage tax scale can be consulted online.

The income of a liberal profession is taxed where the activity is exercised (article 22), while a company’s profits are taxed in its state of residence, unless there is a permanent establishment in the other state (article 10). On the social side, the self-employed person relies on the CFE for sickness-maternity (CLEISS) and on the Lebanese scheme under the conditions set by the NSSF. Residence cards based on income or a bank balance come with a notarised undertaking not to work: remote work for a foreign employer is therefore assessed with General Security (information line 1717) before settling, just like one-off commercial missions.

For a remote work project, the guide to digital nomad visas and the page on digital nomad insurance bring together benchmarks. Details of the cover are in the Lebanon expat health insurance page.

Since 2019, Lebanon has been going through, according to the World Bank, the most severe economic and financial collapse in its history: the banking sector is insolvent, the pound has lost 98% of its value and more than a third of the population has fallen into poverty. The 2023-2024 conflict cost USD 14 billion according to the November 2024 assessment, of which USD 6.8 billion in physical damage and USD 7.2 billion in economic losses; reconstruction needs are estimated at USD 11 billion.

• Currency: the official exchange rate stayed at 89,500 pounds per dollar in 2024 and 2025 (World Bank). The employment contract specifies the currency of pay and, where applicable, the conversion rate applied.
• Sectors: tourism is described as a growth driver, while international financing is concentrated on energy, water, reconstruction, health, social protection and support for small businesses.
• Outlook: after a recovery in 2025, the World Bank published on 21/08/2026 a projection of economic contraction in 2026, linked to the resumption of the conflict; bank restructuring and budget management are among the reform priorities.

Up-to-date indicators (growth, inflation, unemployment) appear in the “Economic benchmarks” block above. Before choosing a post, Expavy helps you compare health insurance by status and length of mission.