What You Need to Know about Visa-Free Countries to Israel
Joshua Pex
Joshua Pex
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
Yossi Montrose
Very knowledgeable and professional
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Shaltiel Devorah
Mr. Joshua Pex is knowledgeable and Professional. I really appreciate his courteous and direct approach.
Eden Weiss
Extrmely friendly, professional and helpful. A big thank you to Irina especially from the Jerusalem office. Highly Recommended.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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!
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.
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!
Halvor Ronning
Courteous, clear, efficient service.
lynn vonne
Excellent service, very friendly and helpful, fast responding and very patient. Highly recommend. I will choose them again next time if needed.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Lilian Granovsky
I can highly recommend these services!
Every time we turned to Joshua we always got a professional quick and helpful respond.
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
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.
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
What does the term visa-free countries to Israel mean? There are almost 100 countries whose citizens do not need visas to enter Israel. Ostensibly, a citizen of this country can freely enter Israel for three months on a B-2 Israeli tourist visa without worrying about obtaining a visa to Israel in advance. However, in practice things are more complicated.
In this article Advocate Joshua Pex, a lawyer from our law firm, will explain what the Israeli visa exemption program actually means and how entering into Israel might still be difficult for citizens of visa-free countries.
What Is a Visa-Free Country?
Citizens of countries that do not require visas to visit each other (for the most part, visa-exemption arrangements are mutual) can visit the other country without going through an application process for a visa in advance. Some visa-free countries with regard to Israel are visa exempt due to voting for the establishment of Israel in the UN vote of 1948. Others have friendly diplomatic or trade relationships with Israel. Others have no particular relationship with Israel but are members of the European Union, which has a visa-free policy with regard to travel to Israel.
Does This Mean That the Citizen of Any Visa-Free Country Can Visit Israel Freely at Any Time?
Not quite. Or even, not at all. In some ways, citizens of countries which require visas to visit Israel in advance are at an advantage here in comparison to citizens of visa-free countries. On the one hand, they have to pay the visa application fee and go through a long process with the Israeli Consulate in their home country. On the other hand, once they have passed the process and received their visa, it is highly unlikely that Israeli border control officers will deny entry or deport them, unless they act suspiciously at the border crossing into Israel.
On the other hand, a tourist from a visa-free country who just took a flight to visit Israel can (and possibly will) be held and deported by border control officials if they are suspicious. The Israeli border control authorities have very broad discretion and little need to justify their decision unless tasked to do so in court.
What Are the Concerns that May Prevent a Citizen of a Visa-Free Country from Entering Israel?
There are two main issues the Israeli border control authorities are focused on: security concerns and illegal immigration. The security concerns are obvious: Is the person entering Israel with the intent of causing harm? Recent legislation has broadened the definition of harm to ostensible intent to malign, defame, or cooperate in some way with organizations hostile to Israel.
However, suspicion of illegal immigration is a more frequent issue for those who are denied entry to Israel. In this case, the border control authorities believe that the person intends to enter Israel as a tourist, then stay in Israel and work illegally without acquiring a work visa. There are certain formal and informal criteria involved in evaluating the ostensible intent to stay and work in Israel.
What Are the Criteria the Israeli Border Control Authorities Consider When They Suspect That a Person Intends to Illegally Immigrate to or Work in Israel?
The formal criteria are rather obvious. Has the person been deported or denied entrance to Israel in the past? Does this person have enough money to provide for their stay in Israel? Do they have a place to reside in or is someone waiting for them in Israel and is willing to vouch for them? Do they have a home and place of employment back in their country of origin (or a steady financial situation)? In short, have they shown a good number of reasons why they would not just “fall off the grid” and work or stay illegally in Israel?
Sadly, the informal criteria are also obvious. The poorer the country of origin, and the poorer (younger) the person, the more likely they are to be suspected of intending to illegally work in Israel. A young person from Ukraine, Russia, or Georgia is far more likely to be viewed with suspicion than an elderly man from the United States, regardless of their respective documents and reasons for visiting Israel.
How Do I Make Sure I Am Allowed to Enter Israel?
Demonstrate that life in your home country is good and valuable. Bring along documents indicating that you own or rent a home, have a place of employment, as well as documents indicating your financial situation is good. On the Israeli side, present documents confirming you have a place to stay and enough money to support yourself in Israel. For example, if you are a part of a tour group, a respectable tour group operator will handle the “visa” applications for the entire group, even from a visa-free country.
If you are visiting on your own, have documents from and a way to contact the people you are planning to stay with. If necessary, they may be asked to vouch for you and provide a bank guarantee that will be forfeited should you illegally stay in Israel past the expiration date of your visa.
Appealing a Deportation Order
If your documents have failed to convince the border control authorities of your sincerity, you will be deported from Israel back to your state of origin. The process can be appealed, either urgently on the spot before the person is deported or after the deportation to the country of origin.
Contact Us
Our Israeli law firm has a few branches throughout the country, including Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, which is in the greater Tel Aviv area. We have a great deal of experience in the appeals process and in dealing with the Israeli Ministry of Interior and the border control authorities.
Please contact us for more information regarding Israeli visas and immigration procedures.
:
:
An Israel Work Visa : The B/1 Israeli Expert Visa