ISRAEL – Ongoing Strike at Ministry of Foreign Affairs
A strike by workers at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs is causing significant processing delays for visa applicants and their employers. Israel’s Consular Department suspended operations in late June and, three weeks later, is still not processing any visa applications.
Exceptional Cases
The department is willing to process a limited number of visa applications for humanitarian reasons only.
Israelis Abroad
Israeli consular posts have also suspended passport services and emergency assistance to Israeli nationals abroad, including the renewal of passports – leaving some Israelis stranded overseas, with expired passports, unable to travel.
Action Items
- Note extended processing time for visas for Israel, and factor in several weeks’ additional lead time
- It is not yet known when the strike will end, and note that when it does, it will take some time for matters to get back to normal, as there will be a large backlog of cases.