Removal of a Foreign Worker from Israel
Removal proceedings rest on the Entry into Israel Law, 5712-1952. This guide sets out when the question of removal arises, how custody works, the deadlines within which a person held in custody must be brought before a tribunal, and what may be done at each stage.
Who counts as a foreign worker
The term foreign worker brings within one legal framework groups whose circumstances differ greatly from one another, and the route by which each is handled differs accordingly:
- Skilled workers, described as experts. Holders of particular qualifications, employed in a defined occupation. The permit is granted for the registered occupation only.
- Workers in sectors requiring lower skill, chiefly care work, agriculture and construction. This is the largest group.
- Workers from the West Bank and Gaza, employed mainly in construction, agriculture and manual work.
- Those who entered Israel other than through a regulated crossing, whose status is examined on a separate track from that of a worker who arrived with a permit.
The classification is not technical. It determines which enactment applies, which forum is approached, and which grounds are available to a person in the process.
The permit and lawful stay
Every foreign national wishing to work in Israel needs a work permit. The permit is what defines the lawfulness of both the stay and the employment, and obtaining it involves a fee and the filing of documents setting out the particulars of the employment.
For skilled workers, or experts, permits are granted only to those over the age of 18 and are limited to the registered occupation. On the routes and how they are obtained, see our page on the work visa for a foreign worker.
Because the permit ties lawfulness of stay to lawfulness of employment, a change in the employment can affect status. This is the point at which the question of removal most often begins.
How removal proceeds
Removal rests on the Entry into Israel Law, 5712-1952, which permits the removal of a foreign worker who does not hold a valid permit.
- Identification. The process begins when a person without a valid permit is identified by an official.
- A custody order. Custody is ordered by the Border Control Commissioner.
- Judicial review. The order is examined by the Custody Review Tribunal, as set out below.
- Removal. Where the order stands, removal from Israel follows.
Custody and judicial review
A custody order is not the end of the matter. The Law provides for review by the Custody Review Tribunal, which under section 13(12) may confirm the order, vary it, or cancel it.
- Within 14 days of the start of custody, and as soon as possible, the person must be brought before the tribunal (section 13(14)).
- Within 72 hours where a person has been returned to custody after release on bail.
- Grounds for release are set out in section 13(6), and include custody exceeding 60 consecutive days.
- An appeal against the tribunal's decision is brought as an administrative appeal to the District Court sitting as a Court for Administrative Affairs.
These are deadlines, and they matter. Whether the person is represented, and how early, is what usually determines whether they are used.
Binding to a single employer
The legal framework has developed through the courts. In HCJ 4542/02 Kav LaOved Association v. Government of Israel, the Supreme Court considered the arrangement binding a foreign worker to a single employer.
The Court held that compelling a person to work for a particular employer against their will deprives them of the ability to negotiate their terms of employment and their pay, and is inconsistent with the basic principles of labour law and with the right to dignity and liberty.
The practical significance for a worker facing removal is that the fact of having left an employer is not, in itself, the end of the analysis. The circumstances matter.
A comparative view
The difficulty the Court addressed is not unique to Israel. Arrangements tying a work visa to a particular employer exist in many countries, and the research literature and reports by workers organisations identify a recurring pattern in them: restricted mobility between employers reduces the worker bargaining power and increases the risk of exploitation.
The pattern is documented in the sectors where dependence is highest, chiefly seasonal agricultural work and domestic work. In those settings another feature recurs, in which a complaint about conditions of employment is perceived as putting continued stay at risk, and so is not made.
This comparative account is given as background and does not purport to state foreign law accurately. Law in other countries is not a source of rights in Israel and cannot be relied on in a domestic proceeding.
The humanitarian dimension
Removing workers who have families raises questions that are not resolved by status arguments alone. Many children of foreign workers were born and raised in Israel, speak Hebrew and are integrated in the education system, and regard Israel as home. Removing them disrupts their education and separates them from a society of which they consider themselves part.
Insecure status also affects the conditions of employment themselves. Workers without regularised status report long hours, delayed wages and poor housing conditions, and in many cases avoid approaching the authorities for fear that the approach itself will trigger removal proceedings.
In an individual case, humanitarian considerations do not replace the legal arguments but accompany them. Length of stay in Israel, the age of the children and the degree of their integration, medical circumstances, and the circumstances in which the employment ended, are matters to be presented in an orderly way and on evidence, not as a general plea.
Where a lawyer makes a difference
Three points in the process are time-sensitive:
Before the tribunal hearing. Preparing the material and the grounds for release under section 13(6) is done in days, not weeks.
On the question of status. Whether the permit lapsed, and in what circumstances the employment ended, is often the substance of the case.
On appeal. An administrative appeal to the District Court runs to its own deadlines.
In summary
Removal is a procedure with defined stages and defined deadlines: identification, a custody order, review by the Custody Review Tribunal within 14 days, grounds for release including custody beyond 60 days, and an administrative appeal. The stage at which advice is sought usually matters more than any single argument.
For advice on removal proceedings, contact us by phone at 02-5953322 or on WhatsApp at 050-441-1343.
What people ask most often
How long can a person be held in custody before seeing a tribunal?
Can custody be challenged?
Is there a limit on the length of custody?
I left my employer. Does that automatically mean removal?
Does the permit cover any kind of work?
When should a lawyer be involved?
All Labour Law Department pages
Facing removal proceedings?
Tell us the stage: whether a custody order has been made, when custody began, and whether a tribunal hearing has taken place. The deadlines are short, so the sooner the better.