As Lebanon crumbles under its growing financial crisis, a concerning claim about arrivals’ ability to carry cash dollars through the Beirut-Rafik Hariri International Airport came up recently.
With the airport reopening for commercial flights just two days from now, is it true that new limits on cash U.S. dollars are now in effect?
Claim: Lebanese Customs is prohibiting arrivals at the Beirut airport from carrying more than $2,000 in cash into Lebanon.
Verdict: The claim is false; Lebanese Customs denied it in a statement.
Context:
On June 29th, the General Directorate of Lebanese Customs released a statement in response to the “incorrect information circulating some social media sites” about “conflicts that occurred with travelers coming to Lebanon carrying cash.”
The statement confirmed that there are “no restrictions on entering cash through the airport and other border ports.”
Nonetheless, it clarified that travelers are required to “announce the entered amount that exceeds fifteen thousand U.S. dollars or its equivalent in other foreign currencies.”
According to Lebanese Customs, in said cases, the authorization process “takes only a few minutes and is not subject to any fee, tax, insurance, or deduction.”
Finally, the statement noted that the Directorate understands the increase in the introduction of cash and its relationship with the difficult economic and financial conditions that Lebanon is going through.
With that said, it invites travelers to review the customs office at the airport in the event of any problem in this regard, call the hotline 1703, or the phone numbers of the Lebanese Customs, which are presented below:
- Operations Room: 01983253/4.
- General Directorate: 01980060/1/2/3.
