LawImmigration
Entry into Israel Law, 5712-1952
חוק הכניסה לישראל, תשי"ב-1952
Published: 1952-09-05Last amended 2026-07-20✓ Amendment status checked against the Knesset legislation record on 2026-09-28
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Unofficial English translation — for reference only. It may contain errors or omissions and cannot be relied on as a legal text. Only the Hebrew text published in Reshumot is legally binding.More
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Chapter I: Entry and Residence Permits
General Provisions§
1.
(a)A person who is not an Israeli citizen shall enter Israel on the basis of an immigrant visa or on the basis of a visa under this Law.
(b)A person who is not an Israeli citizen or the holder of an immigrant visa or an immigrant certificate shall reside in Israel on the basis of a residence licence under this Law.
Categories of Visas and Residence Licences§
2.
(a)The Minister of the Interior may grant —
(1)a visa and licence for transit residence — for up to five days;
(2)a visa and licence for temporary residence — for up to three months;
(3)a visa and licence for provisional residence — for up to three years;
(4)a visa and licence for permanent residence;
(5)a temporary licence for temporary residence to a person who is in Israel without a residence licence and against whom a removal order has been made — until his departure from Israel or his removal therefrom.
(b)A visa and licence for transit residence or for temporary residence may be granted to a group of persons collectively.
(c)A visa and residence licence shall not be granted to a foreign worker as defined in Chapter IV-A of the Foreign Workers Law, 5751-1991 (in this Law — the Foreign Workers Law), unless the person seeking to employ the foreign worker holds a permit under section 1m of the Foreign Workers Law, and the Minister of the Interior may determine that in respect of foreign workers in certain positions that he has determined, or in respect of categories of workers that he has determined, the grant of a visa or residence licence does not require such a permit; the Minister of the Interior shall indicate in the visa and residence licence granted to a foreign worker the field of his occupation.
(d)A visa and residence licence of any kind shall not be granted to a person who is not an Israeli citizen or the holder of a licence for permanent residence in the State of Israel, if that person, or the organisation or body on whose behalf he acts, has knowingly done any of the following:
(1)published a public call for the imposition of a boycott on the State of Israel, as defined in the Law for the Prevention of Harm to the State of Israel by means of Boycott, 5771-2011, or undertook to participate in such a boycott;
(2)published, in writing or orally, statements denying the Holocaust within the meaning of the Holocaust Denial Prohibition Law, 5746-1986;
(3)published, in writing or orally, statements denying the massacre of 7 October 2023 (the Shemini Atzeret Massacre) within the meaning of the Law Prohibiting the Denial of the Events of the Massacre of 7 October 2023 (the Shemini Atzeret Massacre), 5785-2025;
(4)published, in writing or orally, statements supporting the prosecution of Israeli citizens in a foreign state or before an international tribunal for acts carried out in the course of their duties in the Israel Defence Forces or in one of the security arms of the State of Israel.
(e)Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (d), the Minister of the Interior may grant a visa and residence licence as referred to in that subsection, for special reasons that shall be recorded.
Extension of Visas and Residence Licences§
3.
The Minister of the Interior may extend —
(1)a licence for transit residence, provided that the total of all extension periods does not exceed ten days;
(2)a licence for temporary residence, provided that the total of all extension periods does not exceed two years;
(3)a licence for provisional residence, provided that the period of each extension does not exceed two years.
Extension of Visas and Residence Licences for a Foreign Worker, and Restriction on Grant of Renewed Visas and Licences§
3a.
(a)Notwithstanding the provisions of section 3(2), the Minister of the Interior may extend a licence for temporary residence granted to a foreign worker for periods not exceeding, in aggregate, five years, provided that the first extension period does not exceed two years and that each of the subsequent extension periods does not exceed one year.
(b)Where a licence for temporary residence granted to a foreign worker for the purpose of his employment in providing nursing care has been extended under the provisions of subsection (a) for a total period of five years (in this subsection — the total extension period), the Minister of the Interior may extend the licence for the purpose of the continued employment of the foreign worker in providing nursing care to the same patient, for additional periods not exceeding one year each, where the following conditions are met:
(1)the foreign worker was employed in providing nursing care to the same patient, continuously, during the year immediately preceding the end of the total extension period;
(2)a competent authority gave, after meeting with the patient at his place of residence, a written opinion in the manner prescribed by the Minister, that the cessation of the employment of the foreign worker in providing nursing care to that patient will cause serious harm to the patient. In this paragraph, "the competent authority" means a social worker with qualifications as prescribed by the Minister of the Interior, a physician or a registered nurse, or a social worker who has at least three years of seniority and holds a senior position as defined in section 62 of the Employment Service Law, 5719-1959, in a private bureau holding a special permit for the placement and handling of foreign workers in the nursing care sector under section 65 of that Law.
(b1)
(1)Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a) and (b), the Minister of the Interior may extend a licence for temporary residence for the purpose of the employment of a foreign worker in respect of whom 63 months have elapsed from the date of his first entry into Israel on a temporary worker visa in the nursing care sector, for the purpose of his employment in providing nursing care to a patient holding a permit for the employment of a foreign worker under section 1m of the Foreign Workers Law (hereinafter — a nursing patient), for special and exceptional humanitarian reasons pertaining to the nursing patient and related to the complexity or uniqueness of the nursing care required by him or to other personal circumstances of the patient, provided that at the time of submission of the application no more than 90 days have elapsed from the date of termination of the last lawful period of employment in Israel of the foreign worker whose licence is sought to be extended, and provided that the following conditions are met in respect of him:
(a)during his period of stay in Israel, the foreign worker was lawfully employed in providing nursing care to a specific nursing patient for at least 24 consecutive months; for this purpose, a transition between patients following the death of a patient or the transfer of the patient to a nursing institution shall be deemed as if the foreign worker continued to care for the same patient continuously;
(b)the foreign worker completed his last period of employment in Israel prior to the date of submission of the application under this section, as a result of the death of the nursing patient in his care or as a result of the permanent transfer of the nursing patient to a nursing institution;
(c)at the time of submission of the application under this section, 8 years have not elapsed from the date of the foreign worker's first entry into Israel to work in the nursing care sector;
(d)no prior decision of the Minister of the Interior to extend the foreign worker's licence under this subsection has been made, except for a decision to extend a licence for temporary residence for the purpose of caring for the spouse of the nursing patient who resided together with the nursing patient at the time of the foreign worker's employment;
(e)the committee appointed pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (2) recommended to the Minister of the Interior that the foreign worker's licence be extended; where the committee recommended not to extend the licence — the application shall be refused and the foreign worker shall leave Israel within 30 days of the date of notification of the refusal of his application as aforesaid;
(1a)Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1), the Minister of the Interior may extend the residence licence of a foreign worker for the purpose of caring for a patient whose age, at the time of submission of the application, does not exceed mandatory retirement age, within the meaning of the Retirement Age Law, 5764-2004, and who is one of those listed below, even if the conditions set out in paragraph (1)(a), (b) or (d) have not been met, and in respect of paragraph (1)(c), instead of "8 years" read "13 years":
(a)a nursing patient entitled to a special services allowance from the National Insurance Institute at a rate of at least 188%;
(b)a disabled IDF veteran or a victim of a hostile action who has been recognised as a nursing disabled person with a special disability rating of 100%;
(c)a disabled child entitled to a disabled child allowance from the National Insurance Institute at a rate of at least 188%;
(d)a person recognised by the National Insurance Institute as a nursing patient as a result of a work injury, as defined in section 79 of the National Insurance Law [Consolidated Version], 5755-1995, who is entirely dependent on the assistance of others for performing all daily activities;
(1b)(Repealed);
(2)the Minister of the Interior shall appoint a committee, chaired by a retired judge or a person qualified to be appointed as a Magistrate's Court judge, which shall advise him in respect of decisions under this subsection; the committee shall consider, inter alia, the foreign worker's compliance with the conditions of his licence in the past and shall examine opinions regarding his work in Israel;
(3)the decisions of the Minister of the Interior under this subsection shall be reasoned;
(4)the Minister of the Interior shall establish by Order an annual maximum quota of licences to be granted for humanitarian reasons under this subsection;
(5)the Minister of the Interior shall report to the Interior and Environmental Protection Committee of the Knesset, annually, on the number of applications approved or refused under this subsection in that year.
(c)Where the validity of a licence for temporary residence granted to a foreign worker has expired, no new visa and licence for temporary residence shall be granted to that same foreign worker under the provisions of section 2(a)(2), for the purpose of his employment in Israel, for a period ending after the expiry of five years and three months from the date on which a visa and licence as aforesaid were first granted to him, and in respect of a foreign worker to whom the provisions of subsection (b) apply — after he ceased to be engaged in the care of that patient, and a new licence for temporary residence granted to him shall not be extended under the provisions of this section for a period ending as aforesaid.
(c1)Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (c), the Minister of the Interior may extend a licence for temporary residence granted to a foreign worker, or grant a foreign worker a new visa and licence, for additional periods not exceeding one year each, if he finds that special and exceptional circumstances exist regarding the contribution of the foreign worker to the economy, the industry, culture, sport or society, after consultation with the Minister of Finance and with the consent of the Minister of Labour, Welfare and Social Services; the Minister of the Interior may also, after consultation with the Minister of Finance, with the consent of the Minister of Labour, Welfare and Social Services and with the approval of the Interior and Environmental Protection Committee of the Knesset, prescribe circumstances that shall be regarded as special and exceptional circumstances of a foreign worker's contribution as aforesaid.
(c2)
(1)The Minister of the Interior, in consultation with the Minister of Welfare and Social Services and with the approval of the Interior and Environmental Protection Committee, may prescribe in Regulations, for the purpose of preventing abuse of the visa and residence licence granted to the foreign worker, control measures on the number of employers among whom foreign workers whose field of occupation as set out in the visa and residence licence is the nursing care sector may transfer; a transfer of a foreign worker between employers as a result of the death of an employer shall not be regarded as a transfer for the purposes of this section;
(2)Regulations under this subsection shall be prescribed with regard to the circumstances in which the foreign worker terminated his employment with each of his employers and with regard to the worker's freedom, so that he shall not be compelled to work for an employer;
(3)the Minister of the Interior may authorise a foreign worker or a category of foreign workers to deviate from the provisions prescribed in the Regulations as aforesaid if he finds that this is justified in the circumstances of the matter.
(c3)The Minister of the Interior, in consultation with the Minister of Welfare and Social Services and with the approval of the Interior and Environmental Protection Committee, may prescribe in Regulations geographical areas in which alone foreign workers as referred to in subsection (c2) shall be permitted to engage in the field of occupation set out in the visa and residence licence granted to them, and also categories of nursing patients whom alone foreign workers as referred to in subsection (c2) shall be permitted to care for in the field of occupation set out in the visa and residence licence granted to them; Regulations under this subsection shall be prescribed with regard to the worker's freedom, so that he shall not be compelled to work for an employer.
(d)In this section, "foreign worker" — as defined in Chapter IV-A of the Foreign Workers Law.
Extension of Visas and Residence Licences for Persons Entitled to Return§
3b.
(a)In this section, "person entitled to return" means a person entitled to an immigrant visa or an immigrant certificate under the Law of Return, 5710-1950.
(b)Notwithstanding the provisions of section 3(2), the Minister of the Interior may extend a licence for temporary residence granted to a person entitled to return, provided that the total of all extension periods does not exceed five years.
(c)Notwithstanding the provisions of section 3(3), the Minister of the Interior may extend a licence for provisional residence granted to a person entitled to return, provided that the period of each extension does not exceed five years.
Substitution of Residence Licences§
4.
The Minister of the Interior may substitute a residence licence of a shorter category with a residence licence of a longer category or with a licence for permanent residence.
Return Visas§
5.
The Minister of the Interior may grant a return visa to a person who is entitled to reside in Israel as a permanent resident and who —
(1)wishes to leave Israel with the intention of returning to it; or
(2)is abroad and wishes to return to Israel.
Imposition of Conditions§
6.
The Minister of the Interior may —
(1)prescribe conditions for the grant of a visa or residence licence and for the extension or substitution of a residence licence, including the requirement to furnish a monetary surety, bank guarantee or other appropriate security to ensure such conditions, and the manner of realising or forfeiting the security;
(2)prescribe in a visa or residence licence conditions the fulfilment of which shall be a condition for the validity of the visa or the residence licence;
(3)(Repealed).
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LawImmigration
חוק הכניסה לישראל, תשי"ב-1952
Entry into Israel Law
Law of Entry into Israel
Knisah le-Israel
Entry Law
Israel entry law
Immigration entry law
1952 entry law
Entry provisions
Border entry
Entry authorization