Status of Children Where One Parent Is Registered in the Area's Population Registry
A child has no independent status. It derives from the status of the parents, and where one parent is registered in the population registry of the Area, a special temporary order applies to the case, laying down a separate track and two different rules according to the child's age.
“A child has no independent status. The child has a status derived from the parents, and a procedure that must be opened in time.”
Adv. Liat Karskas · Head of the Personal Status & Immigration Department
Where a child's status comes from
The basic rule is simple and written in the Entry into Israel Regulations: a child born in Israel to whom section 4 of the Law of Return does not apply has the status in Israel of the parents. Where the parents do not share one status, the child takes the status of the father or guardian, unless the other parent objects in writing, in which case the Minister determines the child's status according to that of one of the parents.
It follows that the first question in every case is not what the child is entitled to, but what the parents' status is and what is registered. Where one parent is an Israeli citizen or a permanent resident and the other is registered in the population registry of the Area, that registration is what brings the case within a special temporary order.
The Temporary Order is not concerned only with children. It lays down a comprehensive arrangement for spouses, for children and for humanitarian cases, and this page deals with the chapter concerning children.
Normative source: Entry into Israel Regulations, 5734-1974, regulation 12. Checked September 2026.
What the Temporary Order provides
The law in force today is the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law (Temporary Order), 5782-2022. Its current text was checked in September 2026, and it includes a validity provision for one year, which the government may extend by order with the approval of the Knesset, each time for a period not exceeding one year.
The rule at its base: during the period of the law's validity, and notwithstanding any other law, the Minister of the Interior shall not grant citizenship and shall not give a permit to reside in Israel to a resident of the Area or to a national or resident of a state listed in the Schedule, and the Area Commander shall not give a resident of the Area a permit to stay in Israel.
"Resident of the Area" is defined in the law as a person registered in the population registry of the Area, and also a person who lives in the Area although not registered there, excluding a resident of an Israeli locality in the Area. That definition determines whether the case falls within the law, and it is therefore the first check a lawyer makes.
Alongside the prohibiting rule the law lays down exceptions, among them the exception concerning children.
Normative source: Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law (Temporary Order), 5782-2022, sections 2, 3 and 18. Checked September 2026.
The two rules by age
This is the heart of the matter, and the law draws a sharp distinction between two age groups.
A minor up to the age of 14. The Minister may, in the exercise of discretion, give the minor a permit to reside in Israel, in order to prevent separation from the custodial parent lawfully present in Israel.
A minor over the age of 14. Here the law speaks not of a residence permit but of approving an application for a stay permit from the Area Commander, for that same purpose, with an express additional condition: the permit shall not be extended if the minor does not permanently reside in Israel.
Three practical conclusions follow. First, the track changes with age, and so the date of filing matters. Second, the legal test in both tracks is the same, preventing separation from the custodial parent, and so custody and the lawful presence of that parent must be proved. Third, permanent residence in Israel is not a declaration but a matter of evidence, and it is examined at each extension.
Alongside these the law provides that a temporary residence permit given under it shall be given for a period of two years.
Normative source: Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law (Temporary Order), 5782-2022, sections 6(1), 6(2) and 10. Checked September 2026.
The humanitarian track
Where the circumstances of a case do not fall within the age exception, a further track is open. The law empowers the Minister of the Interior, on special humanitarian grounds and on the recommendation of a professional committee, to give a temporary residence permit or to approve an application for a stay permit, to a person whose family member is lawfully present in Israel.
Alongside the general committee the law provides that one of the committees shall be a dedicated committee for examining applications on grounds of domestic violence or abuse by the spouse or the parent. The composition of the committee is fixed in the law, and it may consult welfare authorities.
The timetable is written expressly: the Minister's decision shall be given in writing and shall be reasoned, within six months of the day on which all the required documents were furnished to the committee, and in the dedicated committee within three months.
That distinction also matters for the question of the forum, as explained below.
Normative source: Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law (Temporary Order), 5782-2022, sections 7(a), 7(b), 7(c), 7(d) and 7(e). Checked September 2026.
A security impediment
The law provides that a stay permit or a residence permit shall not be given if the Minister of the Interior or the Area Commander has determined, in accordance with an opinion of the competent security authorities, that the applicant or a family member may constitute a security risk to the State of Israel. "Family member" is defined in the section itself: spouse, parent, child, brother and sister and their spouses.
The section is not entirely open-ended. It requires an opinion from a competent authority, and it must point to the applicant or to a family member as defined. Those two requirements are the central points of attack on appeal, alongside the ordinary grounds of administrative review.
Normative source: Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law (Temporary Order), 5782-2022, section 11. Checked September 2026.
Where to turn on a refusal
Here lies a point that many miss, and it is written in the two amending sections at the end of the law.
The rule: decisions under the Temporary Order were added to the Schedule to the Entry into Israel Law, and so an appeal against them is filed with the Appeals Tribunal, within 30 days of the day on which the decision was published, delivered or came to the appellant's knowledge, whichever is earlier.
The exception: that same amendment expressly excludes decisions under sections 7, 8 and 9 of the law, that is to say the humanitarian track. In parallel the law added the Temporary Order to item 12 of the First Schedule to the Administrative Affairs Courts Law. The result: a decision on the humanitarian track is challenged in the Administrative Affairs Court, and not before the Appeals Tribunal.
The first question after a refusal is therefore not when to file but under which section the application was decided. The challenge procedure itself, the grounds of attack and the duty to give reasons are described on the pages administrative appeal and administrative petition and principles of administrative law.
Normative source: Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law (Temporary Order), 5782-2022, sections 16 and 17; Entry into Israel Law, section 13KD(b) and the Second Schedule; Administrative Affairs Courts Law, 5760-2000, First Schedule, item 12. Checked September 2026.
In summary
A child's status derives from the status of the parents. Where one parent is registered in the population registry of the Area, the Temporary Order applies, and the arrangement in it distinguishes between a minor up to 14, who may receive a permit to reside in Israel, and a minor over 14, whose case is regulated by a stay permit that will not be extended if the minor does not permanently reside in Israel.
Alongside that track there is a humanitarian track, with a professional committee, a reasoned decision within six months, and a dedicated committee on grounds of domestic violence or abuse in which the period is shorter.
The difference between the tracks does not end with the decision. It also determines where to turn when the decision is negative. Proper planning of a case begins with the child's age and the custody documents, and continues with documentation of permanent residence. Contact us to review your situation and for information on the options available to you.
Questions and answers on the status of children
At what age does the track change?
What has to be proved in both tracks?
Who is a resident of the Area for the purposes of the law?
What is the humanitarian track?
How long is a permit given under the law valid?
The application was refused on security grounds. Can it be challenged?
Where is an appeal filed?
All pages of the Personal Status & Immigration Department
Routes and statuses
Graduated procedure for a foreign spouseA foreign spouse: what it is actually likeTemporary residency and the A/5 permitPermanent residency in IsraelCommon-law spousesMixed marriagesStatus of children under the Temporary OrderFamily reunificationBirth registration when one parent is a residentCitizenship and legislation
The Citizenship Law and Israeli citizenshipNaturalization of permanent residentsRefusal of a citizenship applicationThe Entry into Israel LawTypes of visas and residence permitsLet us check which track you are on
A short diagnostic call with a lawyer from the department, in which we check the child's age, the custody documents, the status of the parent present in Israel, and the documentation required to prove permanent residence.