The Entry into Israel Law: What the Law Sets and What to Know Before Any Application
The Entry into Israel Law is the law under which every visa and every residence permit is issued to a person who is not a citizen, and it is also the law that sets when a visa is revoked, when a person becomes an unlawful resident, and where to turn when a decision is made against them.
“Most applications do not fail on the law. They fail on a condition written into the permit that nobody read.”
Adv. Liat Karskas · Head of the Personal Status & Immigration Department
What the law regulates and to whom it applies
The Entry into Israel Law opens with two short provisions that define everything else. A person who is not an Israeli citizen enters Israel under an immigrant visa or under a visa issued under the law, and a person who is neither a citizen nor the holder of an immigrant visa or immigrant certificate resides in Israel under a residence permit issued under the law. Citizens and immigrants are outside this framework, and everyone else is within it.
The distinction between a visa and a residence permit is the foundation of the whole law. The visa is the permission to enter, and the residence permit is the permission to stay after entry. The two are sometimes issued in the same document, but they are not identical, and each can be revoked separately. The types of visas and permits are set out in the regulations made under the law.
The law empowers the Minister of the Interior, and almost all of the Minister's powers are discretionary: the Minister may issue, may extend, may attach conditions and may revoke. This means that meeting the conditions opens a door but does not confer a right, and this is the point from which most of the need for representation arises.
Normative source: Entry into Israel Law, 5712-1952, section 1. Checked September 2026.
Four permit grades and their extension
The law sets four grades of visa and residence permit, each with a time ceiling: a transit residence permit for up to five days, a visitor residence permit for up to three months, a temporary residence permit for up to three years, and a permanent residence permit that is not limited in time. Alongside them there is a temporary visitor permit for a person who is in Israel without a permit and against whom a removal order has been issued, valid until their departure.
Extensions too are limited by the law. A transit permit may be extended up to ten days in total. A visitor permit may be extended so long as the total of the extension periods does not exceed two years. A temporary permit may be extended for periods each of which does not exceed two years. The Minister may also replace a permit of a shorter type with one of a longer type or with permanent residence, and this is the legal basis for moving between the grades, for example in the graduated procedure.
For a foreign worker the law sets a further rule: a visa and permit are issued only if the employer holds an employment permit, and the field of occupation is stated in the permit itself. Extension of a foreign worker's permit is subject to a separate arrangement in the law, set out on the work visa for a foreign worker page.
Normative source: Entry into Israel Law, 5712-1952, sections 2(a), 2(c), 3 and 4. Checked September 2026.
Conditions, guarantees and revocation
The Minister of the Interior may set conditions for the issue of a visa or permit, for its extension and for its replacement, including requiring a cash deposit, a bank guarantee or another security to secure the conditions. The Minister may also set in the visa or permit conditions whose fulfilment is a condition of their validity. A breach of such a condition is not a disciplinary matter: it goes to the validity of the permit itself.
In parallel the Minister may, at the Minister's discretion, revoke a visa that was issued, whether before the holder's arrival in Israel or at the time of arrival, and revoke a residence permit that was issued. The combination of these provisions is the reason to read the permit itself and not rely on what was said orally: what is written in the permit is what determines what is allowed, and what forfeits it.
Normative source: Entry into Israel Law, 5712-1952, sections 6 and 11(a). Checked September 2026.
Who is refused a visa
An amendment to the law provides that no visa and no residence permit of any kind is issued to a person who is not a citizen or permanent resident if that person, or the organisation on whose behalf they act, has knowingly done one of four things: published a public call for a boycott of the State of Israel or undertaken to take part in such a boycott; published Holocaust denial; published denial of the massacre of 7 October 2023; or published support for 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 army or the security services.
The wording common online, which speaks only of the "boycott amendment of 2017", is out of date: the last two grounds were added in 2025. Here too the law preserved discretion, and the Minister of the Interior may issue a visa and permit despite the bar, for special reasons that are recorded.
Normative source: Entry into Israel Law, 5712-1952, sections 2(d) and 2(e). Checked September 2026.
Unlawful residence, removal and custody
The law defines an unlawful resident as a person who is not an Israeli citizen or immigrant and is in Israel without a residence permit. An unlawful resident is removed from Israel as soon as possible unless they leave voluntarily beforehand, and removal is carried out under a removal order of the Minister of the Interior. The law also sets a presumption: a person who cannot produce a residence permit without a reasonable explanation is presumed to be an unlawful resident.
Holding in custody is done under an order of the border control officer in charge, and such an order is not issued until the person has been given an opportunity to be heard, and if the person could not be located, no later than twenty-four hours after custody began. The order is delivered, as far as possible, in a language the person understands. A person held in custody is brought before the Custody Review Tribunal as soon as possible and no later than ninety-six hours from the start of custody.
The law also lists the grounds for release on bail, among them a stay that stems from a good-faith mistake or mishap, satisfaction that the person will leave on their own by the date set, an age or state of health that custody may harm or other special humanitarian reasons, and custody of more than sixty consecutive days. Alongside them there are exceptions, including a lack of cooperation with removal. More on the procedure itself on the deportation of foreign workers page.
Normative source: Entry into Israel Law, 5712-1952, sections 13(a)-(b), 13א(b)-(e), 13ו(a) and 13יד(a). Checked September 2026.
Appeal and further appeal
A person who considers themselves aggrieved by a decision of an authority in their matter may file an appeal with the Appeals Tribunal, established under the law, which hears matters of entry, stay, exit and citizenship. The appeal is filed in writing within thirty days from the day the decision was published, delivered or came to the appellant's knowledge, whichever is earliest. The tribunal hears the appeal according to the grounds, powers and remedies by which the Court for Administrative Matters hears an administrative petition.
A final decision of the Appeals Tribunal may be appealed as of right to the Court for Administrative Matters, within forty-five days from the day the decision was given or served. These two deadlines are the point at which many cases are decided without being heard on their merits, and they are set out in detail on the administrative appeal page.
Normative source: Entry into Israel Law, 5712-1952, sections 13כד(b), 13כז and 13לא(a). Checked September 2026.
In summary
The Entry into Israel Law is built on discretionary power: the Minister of the Interior may issue, attach conditions, extend and revoke, and the time ceilings, conditions and deadlines are written in the law and are not open to negotiation. A person who understands the distinction between a visa and a permit, the grades and the appeal deadlines knows what is required of them at every stage and when the window closes.
The intersection of administrative discretion, conditions whose breach forfeits a permit, and short deadlines for appeal and further appeal requires a precise reading of the permit and of the decision itself, and professional legal representation by a lawyer who specialises in the field.
Contact us to examine your status under the law and for information on the options available to you.
Questions and answers on the Entry into Israel Law
Who needs a visa to enter Israel?
How long may one stay in Israel on a visitor residence permit?
Can one move from a shorter permit to a longer one?
Must the Minister of the Interior issue a visa to a person who meets the conditions?
Who counts as an unlawful resident?
Within what time is an appeal filed with the Appeals Tribunal?
Who cannot obtain a visa under the amendment to the law?
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's make sure you are in the right framework
A short consultation meeting with a lawyer from the department, in which we identify which section of the law applies to your situation, what is written in the permit you hold, and the nearest deadline that must not be missed.