Starting Tuesday, September 8th, Lebanese citizens can benefit from the new service launched by the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities, which allows them to apply for an electronic Civil Registry Extract.
Announced by caretaker Interior Minister Mohammed Fehmi on Tuesday morning, the new service provides citizens with a new way to apply for the identification document, commonly referred to as “Ikhraj Qayd.”
How to Get an Electronic Civil Registry Extract
Although the word “electronic” might suggest otherwise, the extract itself can only be obtained and used in its traditional physical form.
The only thing that is electronic about it now is the new option for any citizen to download a sample application form for the extract from the website of the General Directorate of Civil Status.
The citizen may fill it out the application digitally before printing it, or by hand after printing.
From there, the process mostly remains unchanged in that the form has to be signed by the local Mukhtar before being submitted to the civil registry for the document to finally be issued as usual.
However, one additional perk that the new system provides is the ability for a citizen to apply for a Civil Registry Extract in the civil registry of the place of residence rather than the one where their records are kept.
The first of two cases wherein the application must be submitted to the civil registry where the citizen’s records are kept is during the first application.
After obtaining the extract for the first time, whenever a person wants to apply for a new one, they repeat the same procedures as the first time but submit the application to the local civil registry, along with the first extract.
Whenever a citizen’s status is updated (marriage, divorce, etc…), the Civil Registry Extract must be applied for, again, as if it’s the first time, after which the following applications are again submitted to the local civil registry along with the first extract.
Confused? Here’s an example:
If you live in Beirut but the civil registry that holds your records is in Tripoli, you apply for the Civil Registry Extract the first time in Tripoli, then you can start applying in Beirut for as many times as you like, attaching the extract you got from Tripoli to the application, so long as your personal information remains unchanged.
In case you get married, for example, assume that you’re applying for the first time again and repeat the above.
As usual, two ID photos (colored; white background; 4.3 x 3.5 cm) are required with the application.
