Israel Streamlines Application Process For Foreign Hi-Tech Experts

January 2, 2018 | Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority has announced that it will launch an online application form for foreign high-tech experts, in order to ease the process for those looking to enter the country, Yoel Lipovetsky, Head of Service Administration for Employers and Foreign Workers told Israel’s financial news site Globes. The form will be available “within a week,” Lipovetsky said. In the interview with Globes, he explained that the Population and Immigration Authority has created the interface with the Israel Innovation Authority. He reaffirmed that he will automatically give a permit to bring in experts if it’s from a recognized high-tech company, according to the report. A company will not have to apply in person or send an application by mail, he says. “He can file applications remotely and attach all the documents.” In the past, applicants had to file papers and wait for months for a response from the Foreign Trade Administration in the Ministry of Economics and sometimes from the Industrial Administration. Permits expire after a year, but foreign high-tech experts have been allowed two years, as long as the work permit is renewed each year, according to the country’s law of entry. In January 2017, the government approved the “National Program To Increase Skilled Personnel For The High-Tech Industry,” with the aim of addressing the estimated shortage of 10,000 high-tech workers in Israel. The program focuses mainly on returning Israelis but addresses and encourages the inclusion of foreign high-tech workers. The system is expected to be online in the coming days, according to the report.