Israel to enable passports for new immigrants only a year after aliyah 

Israel intends to cancel an amendment to the law that enables new immigrants to receive a passport immediately upon their arrival after proof of settlement, instead of waiting a year, an Israeli radio station reported Wednesday.

The reason for the change is “an apparently wide-ranging phenomenon of taking advantage of the possibility to obtain Israeli citizenship without having any other real connection to the state,” the report said

In 2017, the law was changed to enable a new immigrant who is entitled to Israeli citizenship to receive an Israeli passport at the same time. Israel is now being asked to change the situation.

In the past, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) warned that allowing the immediate issuing of passports could lead to abuse and that “Israeli passports would be used for the purpose of carrying out actions that harm the security of the state,” the report said.

The Population and Immigration Authority on Wednesday said there was no dramatic change in the policy. Israel was actually “returning the situation to the way it used to be since the 1960s, and as such, immigrants will be able to receive a permanent passport only after a year of settling in Israel, as part of their immigration to and desire to live here,” it said in a statement.

Amendment created loopholes

In 2017, the law was amended to enable any new immigrant to receive a passport on their first day in Israel, “even if they have not yet proved commitments to settle” in the country, the Population and Immigration Authority said.

The amendment “created loopholes that allowed abuse of the law, for those who did not intend to settle in Israel in the first place, as well as for criminal elements,” it said.

The loophole mainly concerns Jews and those who are eligible for aliyah from Former Soviet Union countries, many of whom have received Israeli passports and even a small sum of money without any intention of actually living in Israel.

Dozens of Israeli law firms focus on this service and charge large sums of money for the procedure.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many French Jews made aliyah to receive an Israeli passport since they wanted to visit their family members in Israel, but they had no intention to live in Israel within the next few years. Israel would not allow noncitizens to enter the country for long periods of time.