B1 Visa and Nispach Gimel

This article addresses the B1 visa and nispach gimel, which is a letter a CPA signs when companies seek to apply for a B1 visa for a foreign expert worker in Israel.

**How the B1 Visa and Nispach Gimel Worked in the Past**

In the past the B1 permit department would, among other things, require a CPA (accountant) letter indicating that the Israeli foreign expert worker gets twice the average salary in Israel. The accountant could provide a general letter indicating that this is what happens. They were not required to go into details about the process, or, for example, detail how the money is paid. Also, in the past, the CPA was not required to indicate if the payment includes other employment expenses, such as payment for apartment, car, etc. The CPAs would just draft a simple letter and sign it. This document is called nispach gimel in Hebrew.

Changes in B1 Visa and CPA Regulations

In order to ensure that the foreign expert worker obtains the salary they are promised, a special accountant report for foreign expert wage must be filled out and submitted. The document is still called nispach gimel, but the format has changed and now requires more details. This document makes sure that the salary the foreign expert should receive — at twice the rate of the average Israeli salary — is actually a salary and does not include other expenses. This document seeks to hold accountants and thus the company responsible for meeting the difficult demands to bring a foreign expert worker to Israel.

Without this document, the permit office will not proceed with the application request. Applicants who do not obtain the proper paperwork according to the permit office’s specifications will certainly fail in their application process.

Problems to Avoid

It is important that a company seeking to bring a foreign expert worker to Israel pays the required double wage. This must be proven annually when the company re-applies for the B1 visa.

Sometimes the company that pays the foreign expert worker’s salary is not the same company that is applying for the permit. Some big companies have subsidiaries and other companies through which they issue payment. The Israeli permit department does not look favorably on this sort of arrangement. The company submitting the application to hire a foreign expert worker must also be the company issuing salary payments. The accountants of the applying company must sign on the nispach gimel.

Other B1 Visa and Foreign Expert Worker Articles

We provide numerous other articles on topics related to the B1 visa and foreign expert workers in our immigration to Israel and corporate law categories. This includes information on B1 visa extensions beyond five years, international non-governmental organization fee exemptions, foreign company B1 visa fee exemptions, tips to get your application approved the first time, general information about the B1 visa process, expediting the B1 process, and more. The above link providing information about the general B1 visa process also details the two phases, one with the Department of Expert Workers and the other with the Ministry of Interior.