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.
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.
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.
Yossi Montrose
Very knowledgeable and professional
Eden Weiss
Extrmely friendly, professional and helpful. A big thank you to Irina especially from the Jerusalem office. Highly Recommended.
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.
Priscilla Moses
competent consulting, fast processing, reliable, warm & good team. highly recommended
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.
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.
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
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.
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!
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.
Lilian Granovsky
I can highly recommend these services!
Every time we turned to Joshua we always got a professional quick and helpful respond.
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!
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.
Shaltiel Devorah
Mr. Joshua Pex is knowledgeable and Professional. I really appreciate his courteous and direct approach.
lynn vonne
Excellent service, very friendly and helpful, fast responding and very patient. Highly recommend. I will choose them again next time if needed.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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!
Halvor Ronning
Courteous, clear, efficient service.
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.
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
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
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.
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.
The relationship sincerity interview is a critical stage in the procedure of obtaining legal status for foreign partners in Israel. What do you need to know and how can you prepare for the interview? In this article, attorney Michael Decker, an expert in Israeli immigration law, answers these questions.
Our law offices specialize in immigration to Israel. Our office is experienced in accompanying couples through the stages of obtaining legal status for foreign partners, and representing them before all the legal and administrative courts.
The relationship sincerity interview – a crucial stage in obtaining legal status in Israel
Couples in which one partner is a foreign citizen, are required to arrange legal status for the foreign partner in order to live in Israel together. Regulations differ for married couples and common-law couples. However, in both cases the couple must undergo an interview which examines their relationship closely. The interview, known as the “relationship sincerity interview”, is a crucial stage in the procedure of obtaining legal status in Israel. It is important to be informed about it, because it can be the deciding factor in whether a joint-life application is accepted or not.
For more information on the interview at the Interior Ministry, sometimes known as a hearing, see this article on our website.
The Entrance to Israel Law grants the Interior Minister broad discretionary powers in deciding who can immigrate to Israel. The official stance of the government authorities is that a marriage or a romantic partnership is only a starting point for proving the sincerity of the relationship. The procedure set out by Population and Immigration Authority regulations is meant to filter applications based on a “fictititous” relationship. Consequently, the interview is a central method for the Authority to verify the relationship is real, and the feelings between the couple “sincere”.
What does the interview look like in practice?
Despite the use of the singular term, do not be confused: Interior Ministry officials generally hold a series of interviews. In general, the partners are interviewed separately, and the interviews are held in a language that they understand (or alternatively, with an interpreter present). The interviews are sometimes held several months apart. Afterwards, the partners’ answers are compared, in order to identify contradictions. Contradictions may be, for instance, answers that turn out to be wrong or inconsistencies in answers between different interviews, even when the contradictions are caused by a partner’s misunderstanding of the questions.
Common questions in the Interior Ministry relationship sincerity interview
The questions fall into two categories. The first type of questions are technical and concern the life stories of the partners and their families. The couple may be asked questions regarding professions, names of family members, shared pastimes and the like. The second type of questions are more fundamental, and often build on previous answers. The partners may be asked about a shared experience, what occurred after it, what friends attended the event, etc. Questions may range from “What do you love about each other?” to the nature of the relationship between the partners. There is no set or prepared list of questions, and the questions may sometimes be experienced as highly invasive to the couple’s privacy. For more information on contradictions in relationship sincerity interviews in the Interior Ministry, see this article on our website.
How can a couple prepare for the interview?
Many couples who read the above questions may realize that they themselves do not know how to answer them. It is perfectly legitimate to occasionally give answers such as “I don’t know” or “I don’t remember”. Mental preparation is no less important. Some people may feel stressed by the interview and by the invasion of their privacy. Under stress, people may become confused or even forget answers. Therefore, it is important to prepare oneself mentally and to arrive at the interview as calm and confident as possible.
What can be done if the application is denied based on contradictions in the interview?
The Authority regulations mentioned above allow an internal appeal to be filed if an application is denied as a result of the relationship sincerity interview. Likewise, an appeal may be filed with the appellate court. The appellate court’s decision may even be appealed to the Court of Administrative Affairs. In many cases, the appellate courts will intervene. For example, in the case of a couple whose application was denied due to a 40-year age gap between the man and the woman, and whose relationship was deemed insincere based on the interviews, the couple appealed to the court. The court ruled that the denial was unreasonable, and the couple’s case was returned to the Authority for further examination.
Contact an attorney who specializes in immigration law
Legal guidance throughout the different stages of obtaining legal status in Israel, including the relationship sincerity interview, can maximize a couple’s chances of success. Our law offices have extensive experience in obtaining legal status for foreign partners in Israel. Contact us at the phone numbers or email addresses below, and we will be glad to help with any issue.
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Notarized translation of documents for filing a joint-life application to obtain legal status in Israel