Status in Israel for Foreign Spouses
Recognition of Utah marriage — Now it’s official (Legal information)
An appeal to the Jerusalem court led to the official recognition of Utah marriages, which are civil marriages conducted through online virtual conferences and which can be conducted remotely. The result of this legal precedent is that couples can now marry using this method, and then have their marriage officially registered in Israel. This legal…
Read MoreInviting foreign citizens to visit Israel
In what cases must an application be submitted to invite foreign citizens to visit Israel? If someone wishes to invite a foreign citizen from a country for whose citizens require a visa to visit Israel, that person must file an application with the Israeli Ministry of Interior. There are also other exceptional cases in which…
Read MoreWhat are the ways that a non-Jew can obtain Israeli citizenship?
What are the options for a non-Jew who wants to obtain Israeli citizenship? Israeli law offers several tracks for foreigners who are interested in obtaining this citizenship. One of these tracks is to arrange legal status for a foreign spouse and א minor children, if the foreign citizen’s partner is an Israeli citizen (and the…
Read MoreStamka v. Minister of the Interior
As part of our office’s project of summarizing and explicating key Israeli Supreme Court decisions, this article summarizes Stamka v. the Minister of Interior, an HCJ case which determined that Facts Petitioners, who are intermarried, challenged the Ministry of the Interior’s 1995 interpretation of the Law of Return. They also challenged the Ministry of the…
Read MoreCivil Marriage in Georgia (legal information)
Did you know that Israelis have the right to marry in a civil wedding in Georgia? This is a country that is relatively close and has low prices, enabling a couple who are not Georgian citizens or residents to get married on its territory rapidly and easily. Beyond the wedding ceremony, the legal process requires…
Read MoreHow Do You Obtain Israeli Citizenship for a Foreign Spouse? (Legal Information)
The process of obtaining Israeli citizenship for a foreign spouse may be long and complicated, fraught with many bureaucratic obstacles. Our law office deals regularly with requests to arrange the Israeli legal status of foreign citizens who are married or in a romantic relationship with Israeli partners and who wish to live together with their…
Read MoreArranging the Israeli Legal Status of a Foreign Spouse After Divorce
There are many cases in which marriage relationships are cut, and the gradual process (family unification) for arranging the legal status of the foreign spouse cannot continue after divorce. In such a case, the Israeli legal status of a divorced foreign spouse will be decided by an inter-office committee based on humanitarian reasons, subject to…
Read MoreArranging Legal Status in Israel – May Common-Law Couples Shorten the Process By Becoming Formally Married?
Can mixed (Israeli and foreign) common-law couples shorten the process of obtaining Israeli legal status for the foreign spouse by becoming formally married? The answer to how marriage can shorten the legal-status process is complex and depends on various factors, which are explained below by lawyer Michael Decker, an expert on immigration to Israel. Our…
Read MoreTermination of Legal-Status Procedures When There Is Violence in the Family
Unfortunately, domestic violence is on the rise in Israel, and is especially problematic for foreign spouses who are applying for Israeli legal status through the graduated procedure. This is because victims of domestic violence fear that they will be deported from the country, which makes these battered wives dependent on their violent husbands for obtaining…
Read MoreLegal Precedents that Will Help You Arrange the Israeli Legal Status of a Foreign Spouse
Israeli courts and appeals tribunals intervene in many cases of foreign spouses who wish to arrange their legal status in Israel when the law or Interior Ministry regulations are unclear. In this article, lawyer Joshua Pex, who specializes in immigration to Israel, discusses several main legal precedents that you should know about regarding immigration of…
Read More