Legally employing asylum seekers – are you permitted to employ refugees in Israel
Joshua Pex
Greg Olson
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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.
Israel iluz
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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!
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
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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.
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
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!
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!
Yossi Montrose
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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.
Halvor Ronning
Courteous, clear, efficient service.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Priscilla Moses
competent consulting, fast processing, reliable, warm & good team. highly recommended
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!
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
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.
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.
Shaltiel Devorah
Mr. Joshua Pex is knowledgeable and Professional. I really appreciate his courteous and direct approach.
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.
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.
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.
Lilian Granovsky
I can highly recommend these services!
Every time we turned to Joshua we always got a professional quick and helpful respond.
lynn vonne
Excellent service, very friendly and helpful, fast responding and very patient. Highly recommend. I will choose them again next time if needed.
Legally employing asylum seekers – Will an Israeli employer be fined for employing an asylum seeker?
Legally employing asylum seekers in Israel is a complicated issue. The laws and procedures are frequently updated by government and Interior Ministry decisions, so there is considerable confusion about it. Asylum seekers in Israel apply for refugee status in Israel under international conventions to which the State of Israel is a signatory. Asylum seekers are considered illegal infiltrators into Israel by many of the general public and legislators, because some of them (mainly Sudanese and Eritrean citizens) entered Israel illegally through the Israel-Egypt border crossing.
However, in the last few years we have seen a significant increase in asylum applications that are filed by citizens of Eastern European countries, particularly citizens of Ukraine and Georgia. Asylum seekers in Israel naturally wish to support themselves, and there are Israeli employers who are looking for workers willing to engage in hard labour which few Israelis want to undertake. The Population and Immigration Authority creates an ambiguity of laws and regulations that makes it difficult for an Israeli employer to understand what is legal and illegal in regard to employing asylum seekers in Israel.
Our Law office, a law firm in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, specializes in issues of immigration to Israel. This article by Joshua Pex will explain what is legal and illegal in the employment of refugees. All information is current at the time the article was published (January 2018). Note: the terms “infiltrator” “asylum seeker” and “refugee” are used interchangeably.
Enforcement of the prohibition on employment of asylum seekers in Israel is ambiguous:
At present (January 1, 2018), the Population and Immigration Authority publishes notices warning that employers of asylum seekers lacking a work permit are liable to criminal charges and fines. The specific charge and the size of the fine are not specified, but the usual charge of employing a foreign worker without a permit is implied. At the same time, the state committed itself to the High Court of Justice as part of the State Attorney’s Office’s response to the Supreme Court not to enforce the prohibition on employing Sudanese or Eritrean refugees.
As Judge Edna Arbel notes in her summary: “At the current state of affairs, in addition to the necessary sensitivity to the difficult background of many members of these groups, the State’s interest is in preventing “labor migration” that deviates from those cases in which there is a well-founded fear of persecution – it appears that the position of the State mentioned above, according to which work permits can not be granted, alongside the statement that at this stage no action will be taken against employers, is the proper balance, considering the difficult and sensitive reality created at present”. As a result, the Population Authority’s notices also indicate (in an inconspicuous manner) that it is possible to employ legally asylum seekers and infiltrators lacking a work permit.
What are the types of residence permits that allow or prohibit the employment of asylum seekers?
The Ministry of the Interior provides asylum seekers with permits that allow them to temporarily reside in Israel (not to be confused with an A-5 temporary residence permit) while they process the application for political asylum, under Ministry authority per section 2 (a) 5 of the Entry into Israel Law. These temporary permits are usually granted for a period of 3 months, but are extended repeatedly until the decision regarding the asylum application is made. An asylum application my be in process for several years in Israel pending for the decision.
The type of permit granted to the asylum seeker determines their possibilities of legal employment. The difference between permit types is not obvious. A temporary visitor’s permit for an asylum seeker who is not allowed to work in Israel, and a permit for an asylum seeker who has the right to work, even without a work permit, are almost identical. The two permits are formulated so that those not familiar with the intricacies of immigration policy (the general public) will believe that it is forbidden to employ any asylum seeker with a temporary residence permit. The purpose of the Ministry of the Interior’s policy is clear – deterrence of employers from hiring asylum seekers.
What is permitted and what is forbidden when it comes to employing asylum seekers in Israel?
As of today, it is legal to employ asylum seekers and infiltrators with a residence permit which states: “This temporary permit does not constitute a work permit.” Also, refugees released from the “Holot” detention facility are prohibited from living and working in Tel Aviv and Eilat, which is noted on their residence permit. That very prohibition against living and working in a particular geographical area is in fact an admission that these asylum seekers are allowed to live and work in all areas of the State of Israel besides these cities. These permits are common among asylum seekers who arrived several years ago.
It is forbidden to employ asylum seekers whose residence permit has the stamp of “not allowed to work” (permits issued in recent years). Contrary to other restrictions on the employment of refugees, which the government undertook not to enforce before the High Court of Justice, the Population Authority claims to enforce this restriction.
The few asylum seekers who obtained the legal status of a refugee in Israel receive legal work permits (B-1 visa). Obviously, it is perfectly legal to employ the holder of such a permit, anywhere and in any occupation.
When legally employing asylum seekers in Israel:
Every worker in Israel is entitled to work under the same conditions. An asylum seeker, just like an Israeli worker or an expert foreign worker, is entitled to receive National Insurance, health insurance (with a deduction of up to one third of the cost of the insurance, and not more than NIS 1243 from the employee’s salary), severance pay, sick leave, pension funds, and other benefits.
It is important to remember that Israeli labor law does not distinguish a “gray” area between legal and illegal employment. If the employer of a foreign worker or asylum seeker deprives them of their rights in violation of labor laws, the same penalties will be expected as applied to those who deny rights to Israeli workers. If you employ a refugee while denying them their rights or failing to report their work and benefits, you will be subject to the same penalties as anyone employing a worker “off the record”.
However, asylum seekers usually will not retire in Israel, and thus won’t have normal usage of pension funds These moneys, which can accumulate to a considerable amount, enter into a special deposit. The asylum seeker may withdraw them before leaving the country. This is a complicated bureaucratic process for those who do not speak Hebrew, and may be advisable to consult an expert lawyer to succeed.
Contact us for legal information and assistance regarding immigration to Israel and employment laws.
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Asylum seekers in Israel – procedure for determining refugee status