Foreign
experts who have already departed Israel and their visa expired before return travel: Current regulations stipulate
that their visa extensions must be processed at Israeli consulates before
the expiry of their current visas. However, it's worth noting that several
Israeli consulates worldwide are not operating on a regular basis, and
some are even completely closed.
How to extend the B-1 Work Visa?
Work Visa Consular Processing: In the absence of a clear and general government guidelines for visa extensions during
the ongoing conflict, Kan-Tor & Acco specialists recommend to address each client's case on an individual basis.
This approach should involves professional understanding of the various options combined with careful evaluation of various factors, including the employee's nationality,
physical location, visa expiration date, dependents, and other relevant
considerations.
In some cases, at the company request, there is an option to submit a special request for waiver from the consular processing. If successful applied, the employee will be able to return to Israel skipping the consular processing abroad - and the process will be completed upon return Israel. This will save time and efforts from the employee, however the employee will NOT be able to work in Israel upon return until the visa process will be completed (processing time of1-2 work days).
Future Work Permit Extensions: KTA recommends that employers of foreign experts begin the application
process for visa extensions three months prior to their visa expiration date to
allow for flexible processing of the work visa.
What's next?
KTA is in active dialogue with senior officials from the Ministry of
Interior and Ministry of Foreign Affairs to establish guidelines concerning
foreign employees' visa extensions, whether they are in Israel or have
travelled abroad. These guidelines aim to streamline the process for issuing
new visas and extensions while also alleviating cumbersome bureaucratic
procedures at the consulates.
Important: It may be the case that in the next coming hours or days, the Ministry
of Interior will introduce guidelines regarding the extensions (as has already
been done in relation to foreign employees in the healthcare, agriculture, and
hospitality sectors). In such a case, KTA will update immediately in the KTA
Immigration War Post.
