By Yoav Noy, Partner |

Due to the Lockdown situation in Israel, On October 1 the Ministry of Interior announced that due to the current lockdown an automatic B-1 work visas will be automatically extended in accordance with the Emergency Regulations(Corona-virus).

Due to the complexity and often confusing terms of the new regulation, KTA has verified the following details with the Ministry before issuance of this alert.

An automatic 3 month extension will be granted to all foreign nationals holding a Foreign Expert B-1 work visa, with an expiration date between July 1 to September 30, 2020 (the “relevant period”). This will not apply for foreign nationals who hold a visa which was previously extended automatically.

An automatic 20 day extension will be granted to all foreign nationals holding a Foreign Expert B-1 work visa, with an original expiration date of up to August 31, 2020 (the “relevant period”) who hold a visa which was previously extended automatically. That means that the overall automatic extension will be up to 3months from its original expiration date.

An automatic 10 week extension will be granted to all foreign nationals holding a Foreign Expert B-1 work visa, with an expiration date between October 1, 2020 to November 30, 2020 (the “relevant period”). This will not apply to foreign nationals who previously had their visa extended automatically.

Specifically, the announcement provides that where the work permit and/or B-1 Expert Work Visa has expired or will expire in the relevant period, the Foreign Expert B-1 work visa will be automatically extended, pursuant to the time periods mentioned above. The extension will be registered within the system of the Ministry of Interior.  To benefit from the automatic extension, the foreign national must stay in Israel at the relevant period (mentioned above), prior to its original expiration.

For example: 

If a work visa expires on July 31, 2020, it will be automatically extended to Nov 30, 2020 (4 months), and recorded in the government system.  If a permit was originally valid until August 1, and had previously been automatically extended for 10 weeks (until October, 10), it will be further automatically extended to October 30, 2020 (20 days to complete full 3 months from its original expiration date), and recorded within the government systems.

If a permit expires on October 1 , 2020, it will be automatically extended to December 10, 2020 (10 weeks), and recorded within the government systems.  To avoid critical mistakes KTA invites you to contact our KTA 24/7 Help Desk or your Client Manager, to allow us to verify the extended validity of any specific visa in Israel.  This extension applies to all sub-categories of working visas for experts including 45 days visa (SEA), a 3-month visa (STEP) a 1-year visa, and Hi-Tech 365 visas.

It should be noted that where a foreign worker changes employers, it will be necessary to apply for a work permit under the normal procedures, with an application to transfer the employee to the new employer.

Kan-Tor &Acco (KTA) maintains its recommendation to apply for an extension of the work visa for those intending to remain in Israel beyond the automatic extension period as soon as possible.