Termination of the COVID-19 Entry Permit – July 1st [postponed to Aug 1st]

By Itzik Laniado, Senior Advocate | Update: 24 June, 2021

The Israeli Ministry of Interior announced on June 20, that as of July 1st, 2021, all vaccinated travelers will be able to enter Israel without any need for a re-entry permit.

In the next few days, the Ministry of Interior is expected to publish detailed regulations, that will specify among other issues, the list of COVID-19  vaccines that will be accepted as well as a list of banned-entry countries, based upon their COVID-19 infection rates.

From today until July 1, all inbound foreign nationals will still need to apply for pre-entry approval. The main deciding factors for the committee will be the foreign national’s COVID-19 vaccination status. Foreign nationals will not be permitted into the country from nations with high COVID-19 infection rates, including India, Russia, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, and Argentina.

However, new regulation to this effect is yet to be published, and some questions need to be answered, such as:

    1. Which vaccines will be accepted? (for example, will AstraZeneca/Johnson & Johnson/Cinovac/Sputnik be accepted?)
    2. When and how the vaccine cards should be presented?
    3. Will it be needed to be presented before the flight or upon arrival?
    4. To whom it should be presented (border control? Special Ministry employees?).
    5. How it should be presented  (will it be electronic submission before flight?  Will it be at the airport?
    6. Will copy be sufficient? Should it be original? How will the card authenticity be proven?
    7. What language will be acceptable? and what will be the translation requirements  (i.e. notarized? Apostiled?)

At the same time, there is a growing concern about the “Delta” variation of COVID-19, and this may push the July 1st implementation.

Employers and business travelers consider this instability of regulation.

In addition, the Ministry advised that effective today foreign nationals holding a 45 Days “SEA” work permit do not need a re-entry permit. They will only need to present a copy of the SEA work permit.

KTA will continue to follow and update as soon as new information becomes available.

More articles