Visa for an elderly parent of an Israeli citizen

General Background:

“Procedure for an elderly parent” allows an Israeli citizen whose parent is an elderly foreigner, to apply for a residence and work permit in Israel for the parent, enabling his stay in the country legally, with all that implies. Needless to say that this procedure deals with a parent who is not Jewish, since if the parent is Jewish he does not need an “elderly parent Procedure” to get a residence permit in Israel, but he can obtain citizenship under the “Law of Return”.

As mentioned above, an Israeli citizen who has a foreigner elderly parent may, under the conditions described below, regulate the status of his parent in Israel. The Interior Ministry guidelines and the elderly parent procedure instructions, set the framework which states that an elderly parent will be recognized as such when it is a man over 67 years of age, or a woman over 65 years of age (In the past, the procedure did not distinguish between men and women and established one measure of relative age for elderly – over than 60 years).

 

History:

Section 1(b) to the Entry into Israel Law, 1952, states:

“Anyone who is not a citizen or has a newcomer visa or certificate will be sitting in Israel under a residency permit according to this law.”
The authority for granting visas and residency permits in Israel under the Law of Entry into Israel is granted to the Interior Minister, and he actually has a broad discretion using this authority. The “Procedure for an elderly parent”, which allows a foreigner parent to get a visa for permanent residence in Israel under the conditions stipulated in the procedure is, therefore, an exception to this policy. By virtue of the procedure the Interior Ministry allows a foreign resident who is a parent of an Israeli citizen, to receive a permanent residence permit, provided that he has no other children or a spouse abroad.

The rationale behind the procedure is humanitarian, to enable a parent that meets the prerequisites to be reunited with his son or daughter – Israeli citizens living in Israel, so they will support him at his advanced age, as needed. However, allowing son or daughter to take care of their elderly and alone parent is not the sole purpose of this procedure, since its humanitarian purpose is broader. This purpose designed to enable a parent, getting to an advanced age, to live near his son or daughter in order not to live the rest of his days alone and in another country, and it is aimed to allow the son or daughter of an elderly, to complete their natural need as the children of that parent to have him around even with his age, as stated above.

The exception allowing granting a status to an elderly and alone parent is implemented in the past decade. In the early years it was implemented there has not been set a minimum age as a prerequisite, but in practice the procedure then applied elderly and alone parents over the age of 65 years.

In 2003 it was decided to reduce the “elderly parent procedure” prerequisites age and place him on 60 years of age, and this was stated formally in the updated procedure from 2005. The procedure literally indicates that its purpose is to allow the parent meets the prerequisites to be reunited with his son or daughter who is an Israeli citizen living in Israel, so they will support him in his advanced age, as needed.

 

The situation today:

In 2011 it was decided to modify the guidelines for the “Procedure for an elderly parent”. According to the new guidelines, an elderly parent will be recognized as such when is is a woman of over 65 years old or a man over 67 years old.

B9 condition of procedure also determines in this regard that “the inviter should commit explicitly that he is able to attend his elderly parent’s needs, and indeed will do so when the application is approved”. However, it has been ruled that it is not required that the elderly parent needs care or nursing, since providing a response to the needs of the parent is just one of the purposes of the procedure, and therefore the need of the parent in nursing or therapy was not set as a prerequisite for the procedure.

Moreover, you can request a “procedure for an elderly parent” even when the parents continue to work and live independent life, since the visa granted to the parent under this procedure allows him to work in Israel as long as he can and wants to do so. Hence, we can conclude that the rationale behind the “procedures for an elderly parent” is to allow the parent, with his arrival to an advanced age, to live in the presence of or near his son or his daughter so he won’t live the rest of his days alone and in another country, and also it is aimed to allow your son or daughter, citizens of Israel, to fulfill their natural need as the children of that parent, to have them around even when reaching the age of sixty.

The purpose of this procedure, as mentioned above, is to determine the method and the rules for granting a status to an elderly and alone parent of an Israeli citizen. The procedure states that it will apply to “lone and elderly parent who has no other children abroad”. However, it was ruled in the Alborobh case, due to the purpose of the procedure, it should be interpreted in a manner which would also apply to elderly parents who have more children abroad, but do not have any connection with them and don’t get from them any support. Similar comments were made by the court in the Tatiana case:

“The question is how to interpret the terms ‘lone-parent’ and ‘the invitee has no more children abroad’. The petitioner was widowed from her husband, so she meets the criteria of a lone parent. How should we interpret the term ‘lack of children abroad?’ … the meaning of the invitee has no other children living abroad is that in the every-day, month or year level they have no one to turn to. There is no telephone connection; no celebration of holidays together, no joint celebrations, actually there is nothing in common … so the procedure should be interpreted as if it was read: ‘invitee has no other children living abroad with whom he has a connection”.

 

Common problems:

During the application for “procedure for an elderly parent” frequently arise many problems, both technical problems that the Interior Ministry gives the applicant, and procedural problems, for example, usually the committee examines the application claims that the applicant is not in need and that the case is not the a humanitarian case, and the common man has no ability to attack the authority’s decision. Therefore it is extremely important to have a legal advice through an attorney. For example, David Angel’s Law firm has handled cases in which the Interior Ministry was not convinced in the truth of those documents which the applicant sought to base his request on, and therefore rejected the request.

Another problem could arise when the elderly parent is not supposed to stay in Israel with a close family member who is a citizen or a resident. Another case handled by David Angel’s Law firm is a case in which the Interior Ministry declined the request claiming that the parent has family in his home country. As mentioned above, this argument is very common in the Interior Ministry and our office has led the rejection of the application to court, dealt with the various courts and managed to get the applicant into this procedure in the Interior Ministry.

David Angel’s Law Firm expertise:

As mentioned above, most scandals regarding the “procedures for an elderly parent” are complex, and therefore many are the problems that may occur when “the Interior Ministry/ Immigration and Population Ministry” does not help, to say the least. David Angel Law Firm has extensive experience in dealings with “the Interior Ministry/immigration and Population Ministry”, and in all courts, including the Supreme Court of Justice.

David Angel Law Firm knows how to handle and deal with the various problems that arise while regulating the status of an elderly parent. David Angel Law firm has great successes in the field. Attorney David Angel’s law firm has managed hundreds of cases of Palestinians elderly parents, both in government’s bureaus and in the courts. David Angel Law Firm deals with cases against the Immigration Department for over a decade and operates on behalf of its clients to maximize the same rights granted to them under the law.