Palestinian Workers Visa

Working Visa for Palestinian Employees in Israel

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In Israel, there are ca. 70,000 Palestinian Employees, who do not hold Israeli citizenship and come from either Gaza or the territory of the Palestinian National Authority. These staff-members usually work in the field of building projects, industry or the services sector. The number of Palestinian employees is limited to a fixed contingent for each employment sector; the total amount of granted permits is periodically adjusted by the competent Ministry.

 

Employers, who wish to employ Palestinian workers, need to apply for the opening of a respective employment file and the allocation of a part of the overall contingent of employees.

 

It is important to note that the work permits of Palestinian employees are limited to a certain employer. Therefore, the employment of Palestinian workers with a work permit for a different employee is illegal and will generate criminal charges against the employer and its responsible project manager (more on illegal employment).

 

Very often, Palestinian employees are brought in by local recruiting companies with considerable deviations from the legally prescribed standards. Therefore, an employer making use of Palestinian work force should check the visa of the Palestinian staff members daily in order to secure adherence to the legal requirements.

 

Upon request of the relevant Ministry, the employer must promptly produce conclusive and direct evidence that the legally fixed minimal salary has been regularly paid out to each employee and that the rules of Israeli labor law have been honored.

 

A recent adjustment in Israeli labor law, employers of Palestinian workers are committed to provide for adequate (Israeli) medical insurance for their Palestinian staff members. Such medical insurance is not easy to provide and this aspect should be treated with special care (for further details see here).