Andreas Kelling
We have been working with Decker, Pex Ofir & Co - Law Firm in Tel Aviv for many years very well. Because we appreciated their lawyers services, we recommended businesses and individuals again and again to go there as well.
Sophie Cooperman
Oded Ger did an excellent job by reviewing a modeling contract I was offered. Explained the bad clauses in the contract, and their possible consequences. Thank you for your amazing job, your professionalism, your consultation and honesty. You showed me from your experience how it can be done differently. It was the best decision choosing you as my lawyer.
I highly recommend this firm, especially Oded Ger.
Lilian Granovsky
I can highly recommend these services!
Every time we turned to Joshua we always got a professional quick and helpful respond.
YK C
We had a pleasure of working with Irena Rosenberg who assisted in getting our two U.S. born children registered in Israel and supported visa process for my wife in 2021. During the pandemic, my wife and I decided to move to Israel where I am originally from after living in the U.S. for over 20 years, but we had no idea how to go about securing visas before and after arriving in Israel. Irena is knowledgeable, reliable and competent lawyer who always had answers to all our questions which made us feel confident that everything would be fine with her assistance. We are now happily living in Israel and are so grateful to have Irena who is a genuinely nice person as our lawyer.
Shaltiel Devorah
Mr. Joshua Pex is knowledgeable and Professional. I really appreciate his courteous and direct approach.
Israel iluz
We were very satisfied with the service of Nehama. She was very professional in all her dealings and kept us informed all the way.
We highly recommend this law firm. They proved to be reliable, efficient and pleasant to work with.
Joshua Pex was both an amazing human being and an inspiring human rights attorney. I reported directly to him for various activities I performed as in intern. I was impressed with his incredibly solid character. He is trustworthy, fair, and goes above and beyond to advocate for the vulnerable. He is completely trustworthy and high caliber in his work. His partners and employees are very blessed to work with him. I am honored to know them.
Heather Lebrun
Greg Olson
We highly recommend Adv. Mike Decker and have know him for many years. He has helped our family with many battles over the years. We recently received our permanent residency after 23 years in Israel. We so much appreciate Mike’s representation of us.
Priscilla Moses
competent consulting, fast processing, reliable, warm & good team. highly recommended
Kfir Cohen
We were searching for a law firm that will be honest with us and really work hard for a satisfying result, it wasn't an easy task
We found them online; they were the only law firm from all of our searchings which were completely honest and NOT gave us just what we wanted to hear
Using them guaranteed honesty above all. A legal team that is friendly and cares for a superb result
They really care about helping their customers without any other interest
Nadia gave us service behind what we expected; she was professional which lead to fast and easy process with great result
We definitely recommend using them
Schruuf
We were very pleased and content with the services of this law firm. They supported us 100% and solved our case successfully, we couldn't be happier.
Alexander P Gutterman
EU PASSPORT ! Big news! Thanks to Michael Decker and the other good people at the law office, as well as to the virtue of my ancestors, the cruelty of the Inquisition, reparations issued in the Iberian Peninsula, and etc, I am delighted to be on track for Portuguese and European Union Citizenship! A truly incredible development and one which brings me deep joy.
Amir Abt
The best lawyer firm I’ve had dealt with. I would like to thank Anat Levi and Ariel Galili from the Jerusalem branch for all of their efforts and patience, we could not have been Able to reach to where we are now without them
Marce Ruth St. Rey
Party time in the heart, my beloved husband received his residence after so much time of battles and faith. Gratitude, God has blessed us with wonderful beings who have accompanied us, including a "precious angel" who touched our hearts, our excellent and fantastic lawyer: Maria Chernin Dekel, sweet and wonderful human being, who has guided us and stayed On our side. side in this intense legal transit whom we bless on every occasion. God bless you dear Maria, you have exceeded your professional duty by containing us and collaborating with us in hard times, very hard, for that we want to thank you publicly, you are unique!!!
We bless and thank the entire team at Decker Pex Tal Ofir Law Firm.
Dumitrascu Cristina
Best lawyer house from Israel! I couldn’t dealt with my situation without their professionalism and effectiveness. Their dedication to every legal aspect and their drive it’s how a true lawyer house can be!
Working in European market and international now, I couldn’t dare to let myself wide my wings on countries unknown to me. Definitely they’ll be the lawyers representing me, my business at every international aspect and on personal development.
When you hear Decker,Pex,Ofir &Co, you hear 10+ class services, luxurious professionals, confidentiality and exclusive attention to your needs.
Arielle Bosch
Incredibly knowledgeable, approachable, accessible, and evident across the board that they truly care about the people they are helping. They are quick to respond, engaged, and obviously top-notch lawyers. I couldn't recommend them highly enough. Thank you, Joshua and Itamar for your help with our Joint Life Application. You were a calming energy during a storm - always breathed a sigh of relief after speaking with you. It is so difficult to get straight answers from the Misrad Hapnim, but you guys are straight shooters. I appreciate your candor and evident integrity. Hope to work with you in the future, and will send everyone I know in need of legal aid your way. Thank you for your guidance and support.
Halvor Ronning
Courteous, clear, efficient service.
Paul Prince
The team of lawyers and assistants are incredibly professional. Aiming to give their clients the advice possible regarding the normative and the law of Israel. With well trained and professional secretary at the front desk to the lawyers team, I could say that I had one of the most professional services possible. I'm super glad of choosing Joshua Pex of Law office for immigration solution, lawyers to advise in my case, to me, it is remarkable.
Michelle Long
Josh has been helping me on and off for a few years now. I have needed legal advice and assistance with immigration due to a complex situation of mine, and he has been extremely available and responsive, honest and clear about my route and how to proceed. Very much recommended!
Morgan Jones
The team at Decker, Pex, Ofir & Co have been awesome to work with in helping our US company establish banking in Israel and in providing counsel for legal needs in Israel. I highly recommend!
Matthias Oppliger
I have been receiving services from this Law Firm for several years now and I want to say THANK YOU to the team, especially Joshua Pex. They are doing outstanding work. The services I have received for both our Israeli non profit association but also our social business have helped us solve many issues at hand and provided solutions in complicated situations. Personally, I am grateful for support in visa issues as a foreigner living now in Israel for many years.
lynn vonne
Excellent service, very friendly and helpful, fast responding and very patient. Highly recommend. I will choose them again next time if needed.
Jacob Newberry
A really excellent firm. They knew exactly how to handle my situation effectively and efficiently, and we got the result I needed without much fuss. Adi Berger was a wonderful advocate for me and I am deeply grateful for her help!
Stuart Safft
I am delighted to report that my wife and I have just obtained our Israeli citizenship. We will be forever grateful for all of the help, guidance and support which Ariel Galili of Decker, Pex, Ofir & Co. provided through this process.
I am a Jewish, 80-year-old American, and my wife is not Jewish. We had started the process on our own back in November 2020 via the Jewish Agency and Nefesh B’Nefesh, but soon became entangled in the delays and often-changing regulations due to Covid-19. The pandemic also caused delays in obtaining the required apostilles for various documents from various state agencies and the US State Department.
We found Decker, Pex, Ofir & Co. On the internet and began working with Ariel in late November 2021. Ariel did a superb job of leading us through the process, helping us to understand which documents were essential, which would most likely be required, and which, though included on the list of required documents, were rarely required. He helped us several times to understand what was likely and unlikely to occur as “the next step.” Helping us manage our expectations was extremely useful to us.
Besides his knowing the laws, regulations and procedures, Ariel also made us feel that he was truly interested in helping us to successfully work through this process in as smooth, timely, and frustration-free manner as possible.
My wife and I strongly recommend anyone planning to go through this process seriously consider hiring Decker, Pex, Ofir & Co. and, specifically, Ariel Galili.
Gáspár Erőss
If you need to solve any complicated legal issue in Israel, don't hesitate to contact them. Otherwise you will loose hours/days/weeks with things that they can solve in minutes. They helped me to obtain my expert working visa in Israel and even after that they responded further questions and gave me advices related to administrative issues in Israel which saved me a lot of time. Irena Rosenberg and Michael Decker worked on my case, they are very professional and helpful. They will not let you down, feel free to contact them.
Dongdiet & Nellie
We are very happy with the services. Somehow they managed to translate the law lingo into language we actually understand 😉 and their outstanding YouTube videos helped us to have a better grasp of what process we had to go through. Their patience, clear explanation and experience are very valuable. It's also very nice to know that you will receive response promptly; it made us feel we can really trust their services. We recommend all those looking for immigration lawyers to get in touch.
Michael and Ariellah Waizman
For Advocate Joshua Pex.
We were in a devastating situation when my wife received an order from the immigration office to leave Israel within 30 days, without any explanation, after we have been married and in the process for six and a half years. We heard of Advocate Pex through a friend of a friend. We contacted Mr. Pex and he was ready to help us when he heard of our situation.
The service is amazing! Always ready to assist without regard to the time it takes. The advice Mr. Pex gave us was great, such as what to do, he gave useful links, and advice about which officials to contact. The price for the service was great!
The process until we received the extension for another year for my wife was not long (3 months). Things started moving once Mr. Pex came into the picture.
We highly recommend Advocate Joshua Pex! We achieved our goal and the fear of deportation has been lifted!
TarcisioePotira Freitas
I really recommend the law office's services. The service is very professional and efficient, the price is right. I am satisfied with the services I needed and happy to have known them.
Prima Lorenzo
I admire the Austrian citizenship team in Tel-Aviv branch! They deserve more then 5 stars!! They are very friendly and professional. I've got Austrian citizenship in 4 months for all family members which consists of 12 people! The entire team is very friendly and responsive. They are always answering questions and support during the process. I recommend to everyone. Was 100% satisfied.
Eden Weiss
Extrmely friendly, professional and helpful. A big thank you to Irina especially from the Jerusalem office. Highly Recommended.
Yossi Montrose
Very knowledgeable and professional
If the foreign partner of an Israeli has a criminal record, this may be a barrier to arranging legal status in Israel. A spouse’s criminal is a complex issue which has been brought up more than once in Israeli courts. In this article, attorney Michael Decker discusses the subject in detail, describing the couple’s legal options when a criminal record is recorded in the foreign partner’s certificate of good conduct.
Our law offices in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, specialize in the area of Israeli immigration law. Our office has extensive experience in arranging Israeli legal status for foreign partners (including cases in which they have a criminal record) and representing them before the Population and Immigration Authority of the Interior Ministry, as well as before administrative and judicial courts. We handle issues of immigration to Israel, citizenship, and visas, including appeals of Interior Ministry decisions.
Filing a joint-life application and the process of evaluating a foreign partner’s criminal record
A foreign citizen married to or in a relationship with an Israeli must arrange his or her personal status with the Interior Ministry, as legislated by the Citizenship Law. This is a process that takes a few years and involves several stages. In the first stage, the couple submits a joint-life application. You can find detailed information on differences in the process for married couples or common law couples in other articles on our website.
As part of the joint-life application process, a comprehensive background check is done on the foreign partner. This check includes evaluating whether there is any legal or security impediment to accepting their application and granting a visa to the foreign partner. This visa enables the foreign citizen to reside in Israel and begin the process that will eventually lead to Israeli citizenship.
There is no doubt that a criminal record of one of the partners may be considered such an impediment. Both partners are required to present various documents (which are prerequisites for filing the application), including a certificate of good conduct or an official document from their country of origin regarding their criminal record or lack thereof. The State of Israel, justifiably, does not want to bring in and grant temporary or permanent status to foreign citizens who may represent a danger to the public, or engage in criminal activities in the country.
How the Population and Immigration Authority reaches its decision
When the Israeli partner has a criminal record, the joint-life application will only rarely be refused on these grounds. The situation differs, however, if the foreign partner’s criminal past is at issue. Interior Ministry regulations are based on the assumption that a marriage or a romantic relationship is not enough on its own to grant a foreign partner the right to settle in Israel. The authorities will approve the absorption of the foreign partner only if it is proven that he or she does not pose a danger to the State of Israel or its citizens. Each case is considered on its own merits, but a foreign partner’s involvement in criminal activity is likely to lead to a refusal to accept the joint-life application.
The decision is based on the evaluation of the foreign partner’s criminal record by law-enforcement bodies (police and others). In cases where the application is rejected due to pending criminal proceedings in the applicant’s country of origin, Interior Ministry regulations state that the couple can reapply when and if the proceedings are closed. Note that the official bodies’ opinion constitutes a recommendation only; the final decision is left up to the Population and Immigration Authority. Sometimes submitting additional documents, such as a document indicating a change in circumstances, may prevent rejection of the application.
How can the decision be appealed?
If a joint-life application is refused on the grounds that the foreign partner has a criminal record, the couple can file an internal appeal of the decision, and eventually bring it to the appeals court if necessary. An appeals court decision can in turn be appealed to the district court, sitting as an administrative affairs court. A study of court and appeals court rulings shows that when hearing appeals, the courts closely examine the crimes of which the foreign partner has been convicted.
When the crimes are not serious enough to endanger the Israeli public, this may be cause for the court to intervene in the Interior Ministry’s decision and change it, or send the case back to be reviewed again. For example, possession of drugs for personal use is not the same as assault (though, as noted, each case is evaluated on its own merits). In addition, sometimes irregularities in legal processes may lead to intervention in the decision. Thus, for example, if the Interior Ministry did not seek any opinion from the Israeli police, this constitutes a deviation from Interior Ministry regulations and most likely will lead to changing the decision.
Contact an attorney specializing in Israeli immigration law
The summary we have presented here is a general one, based on familiarity with the issue and the experience our office has acquired in representing and assisting foreign partners of Israelis (including those with criminal records) in processes with the Interior Ministry and various courts. If you would like to file a family unification application for a married couple, or a joint-life application for a common law couple, or have encountered difficulties in filing the application, our office is available to answer any question or offer assistance.
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Legal status for a foreign spouse when the Israeli partner has a criminal record