Effective January 1, 2014, the annual government fee employers must pay for each foreign employee is 9,600 NIS (approximately $2,745 USD), up from 9,420 NIS. The government fee for Israeli work permit applications has been updated to 1,210 NIS (~$345 USD), and the B-1 visa/multiple entry visa currently costs 360 NIS (~ $103 USD). Total fees for B-1 work visas are now 11,170 NIS (~ $3,192 USD)
Prevailing Wage Increase
Israeli immigration law has set the prevailing wage for an expert B-1 work visa for 1 year as twice the average salary in the market. Effective January 1, 2014 the prevailing wage is now 17,910 NIS gross salary per month. (~$5,117 gross salary per month).
Foreign Expert Deportations 2013
According to the Head of Immigration Enforcement in the southern region of Israel, a total of 163 foreign experts were deported from Israel during 2013 (from the southern region only). Foreign experts from Singapore, the US, S. Korea, Ireland and Germany, among others, were deported. These foreign experts worked mostly in the high tech and energy sectors, including multinational companies: Micron, Lam and FE3+. Out of the 163 deportees, only 39 were allowed to return to Israel, while the others were barred from reentering Israel for the next 10 years. Harsh conditions and restrictions were placed on companies regarding the relocation of new foreign employees to Israel.
Action Items:
· This information was released to the public by the Israeli Immigration Authority as part of an effort to impede the illegal employment of foreign nationals in Israel, including misuse of the visitor visa scheme for the purpose of work. Further on-site inspections are planned by the authorities to take place on a monthly basis.
· We strongly recommend that all of our clients prepare foreign employees file folders to include all of the required supporting documentation required during inspections.
For more information on MSI’s Immigration Services or for any questions, please contact us at immigration@msimobility.com. This news alert was prepared using information provided by Kan-Tor & Acco.