IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

Lebanese citizenship can only be claimed if one of the parents is a Lebanese citizen. The acquisition of Lebanese citizenship is dependent on the parent's citizenship (particularly the father's), not on where the child is born. [ External Affairs Canada, 30 June 1989.] Therefore, although a Palestinian child born in Lebanon is automatically eligible for Lebanese travel documents and residence, their status is that of a Palestinian refugee, not a Lebanese Citizen. [ External Affairs Canada, 11 July 1989. ]

A Lebanese national can hold dual citizenship if it is not acquired to avoid the fulfilment of civic duties (e.g. paying taxes). [ M. Mohammed Bukry, HCR in Genève, (February 1989); confirmed by Dr. Nassif Hitti of the office of the Arab League in Ottawa. ] The U.S. Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1988 corroborates the existence of dual citizenship. [ U.S. Department of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1988, (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, February 1989), p. 1414.] The citizenship laws of the second country would also have to be considered.