Visa policy of Israel

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Israeli visa

Visitors to Israel must obtain a visa from one of the Israeli diplomatic missions unless they come from one of the visa exempt countries.^[1] All visitors must hold a passport that is valid for 6 months after the date of departure from Israel.^[2]

External image
Map of border crossings of Israel

Visa policy map[]

  Israel

  Countries with visa-free access to Israel

  Visa required for entry to Israel

  Confirmation from Israeli Foreign Ministry is required

Visa exemption[]

Holders of normal passports of the following 100 jurisdictions do not require a visa for Israel for a maximum stay of 3 months for tourism:^[3]

_{1 – German citizens born before January 1, 1928 need a visa which will be issued for free if one was not a member of the Nazi party or involved in crimes committed during the time of the Nazi Germany.^[4]
2 – visa exemption does not apply to official passport holders, e.g. American government officials. Russian official passport holders require confirmation from the Israeli government.
3 - Only for biometric passport}

Date of visa changes

This list is incomplete; you can help by . (July 2017) Unknown: Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Central African Republic, Chile, Croatia, Cyprus, El Salvador, Germany, Grenada, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Macao, Malta, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Palau, Paraguay, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Serbia, Slovenia, South Africa, Suriname, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Vatican. 1 October 1956: South Africa[5] (?) 8 December 1964: Belgium, Luxembourg and Netherlands[6] 1 April 1966: Denmark,[7] Iceland,[8] Finland,[9] Norway[10] and Sweden[7] 17 September 1966: Ecuador[7] 10 October 1966: Colombia[7] 1 June 1967: Liechtenstein and Switzerland[11] 4 March 1968: Jamaica[12] 1 May 1968: Peru[13] 5 July 1968: Costa Rica[13] 31 July 1968: Dominican Republic[13] 22 December 1968: Austria[14] 28 March 1969: Greece[15] 1 April 1969: Trinidad and Tobago[15] 13 August 1969: Mauritius[15] 18 September 1969: Barbados[16] 28 December 1969: France[17][15] 1 January 1970: Philippines[18][15] 1 March 1970: Lesotho[15] 29 July 1970: Eswatini[19] 1 October 1971: Japan[20] 8 September 1972: Guatemala[21] 15 December 1972: Fiji[22] 18 November 1974: Haiti[23] 16 May 1977: San Marino[24] 7 November 1984: Malawi[25] 21 December 1987: Dominica[26] 1 March 1994: Portugal[27] 31 July 1994: Spain[28] 15 May 1995: Vanuatu[29] 24 May 1995: South Korea[30] 19 July 1996: Czech Republic[31] 18 February 1997: Mongolia[32] 14 July 1997: Panama[33] 2 September 1997: Slovakia[34] 10 July 2000: Saint Lucia[35] 29 August 2000: Brazil[36] 26 March 2001: Micronesia[37] 11 May 2001: Latvia[38] and Lithuania[23] 7 October 2001: Estonia[39] 3 October 2005: Singapore[40] 15 July 2007: Bulgaria[41] 1 March 2008: Romania[42] 6 April 2008: Honduras[43] 27 July 2008: Albania[44] 20 September 2008: Russia[45] 28 September 2010: Nauru[46] 28 September 2010: Serbia[47] 2 September 2011[48]/9 February 2011:[49] Ukraine 10 August 2011: Taiwan[50] 27 November 2011: Belize[48] 18 April 2014: Georgia[46] 26 November 2015: Belarus[51] 8 September 2016: Botswana[46] 24 January 2017: Papua New Guinea 29 January 2017: Solomon Islands[46] April 2017: Tonga[52] 1 July 2021: United Arab Emirates Canceled: n/a: Nicaragua[53] August 2014: Bolivia[54] (Was applied from August 1972)

Visa is not required for nationals of  Egypt for stays up to 14 days if entering through Taba and visiting up to Beersheba only.^[55]

Holders of Palestinian Authority passports can obtain their visa on arrival in order to continue their journey to the Palestinian territories. Holders of a confirmation issued by the Israeli Ministry of Interior, traveling in a group of 10 or more, can obtain a visa on arrival (not applicable to nationals of Jordan).

A visa waiver agreement was signed with Samoa in March 2019 and it is yet to be implemented.^[56]

Reciprocity

Israeli citizens can enter visa free or receive a free visa on arrival to all of the countries that Israel gives visa free access to except Australia and the United States.

In return Israel grants visa free access to most countries that gives Israelis visa free access but Israel requires a visa for passports from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Jordan (with confirmation), Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Nicaragua, Samoa, Seychelles, Thailand, Turkey, and Uzbekistan

Non-ordinary passports[]

  Israel

  Visa free access for diplomatic and service category passports

  Visa free access for diplomatic passports

Holders of diplomatic and service category passports of Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burkina Faso, China, Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Gambia, Guyana, India, Madagascar, Morocco, Niger, Sierra Leone, Thailand, Togo, and Turkey and of diplomatic passports of Kenya, Nicaragua, Rwanda and Vietnam do not require a visa.^[55]

Holders of diplomatic or service category passports of Australia, Belarus, Dominica, Russia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, South Africa, Taiwan and United States require a visa. Russian diplomatic and service category passports require confirmation from the government before a visa can be issued.

Visa free agreement for diplomatic and special passports was signed with  Myanmar,^[57]  Bahrain,^[58] and  Morocco^[59] and they are yet to be ratified.

History

Israel and Democratic Republic of the Congo signed visa exemption agreement for diplomatic and service passports on 19 November 1963 and 14 April 1964, came into force on 28 July 1964. Date of cancellation is unknown.^[60] Israel and Liberia signed visa exemption agreement for diplomatic and service passports on 17 July and 3 August 1961, came into force on 1 November 1961. Date of cancellation is unknown.^[61] Israel and Tanganyika signed visa exemption agreement for diplomatic and service passports on 16 and 17 September 1963, came into force on 17 September 1963. Date of cancellation is unknown.^[62] Israel and Bolivia signed visa exemption agreement for diplomatic and service passports on 10 and 16 August 1972, came into force on 16 October 1972. Date of cancellation is unknown.^[63] Israel and Dominica signed visa exemptions for diplomatic and official passport holders in December 1987. Date of cancellation is unknown.^[64]

Israeli passport stamps[]

Visitors with a passport stamp from Israel are not allowed to enter a number of countries because of the Arab League boycott of Israel. Some countries, e.g. Austria, Canada, Germany, Russia, UK and the USA allow their citizens to hold two or more passports of their country to circumvent such travel restrictions, but some countries (including Austria and Germany) also restrict or forbid the holding of passports of two countries, i.e. dual citizenship. However for the past several years, stamps are no longer used at Ben Gurion airport (since January 15, 2013) and also land border crossings with Jordan. Instead, entry and departure records are printed on small slips of paper, which include the name of the traveller, the photo read from the epassport, the date, the visa status, and other details. The slips also include a 2D barcode which is used as a Gate Pass^[65] to pass through the gate out of the passport control hall.

Confirmation required[]

Holders of national and official passports of the following countries require a confirmation from the Israeli Foreign Ministry before a tourist visa is issued.^[55]

Visitor statistics[]

Most visitors arriving to Israel were from the following countries of nationality:^{[67][68][69][70][71][72]}

Country	2019**	2018*	2017	2016	2015	2014	2013
United States	890,000	676,000	778,600	672,100	637,200	622,100	622,800
France	338,200	253,100	308,700	293,000	300,100	298,600	315,500
Russia	296,000	272,500	330,500	284,600	414,700	555,900	603,100
Germany	268,900	189,000	218,200	180,100	197,800	194,200	254,000
United Kingdom	218,700	164,100	198,500	197,100	197,900	180,100	217,100
Ukraine		132,000	146,800	164,500	138,000	132,400	134,500
Poland		120,000	97,400	54,300	66,200	77,200	89,200
Italy		101,400	107,700	88,000	91,200	120,100	173,100
China	144,000	80,900	113,600	85,900	47,400	33,000	25,500
Romania		72,900	82,000	59,900	45,100	44,700	36,700
Canada		67,900	80,600	69,900	66,700	66,200	70,700
Netherlands		59,000	64,000	51,400	49,400	51,800	57,100
Spain		55,000	64,400	46,200	43,500	47,300	52,600
India		48,000	58,000	44,800	39,300	34,900	40,000
Brazil		44,200	56,700	35,500	43,900	51,900	56,400
Total	4,550,000	3,098,200	3,613,163	2,900,020	2,799,346	2,926,676	2,961,701

• *= 2018 data until September only.
• **=incomplete list

See also[]

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Israel.

• Visa requirements for Israeli citizens
• Israeli passport
• Israeli identity card
• Israeli permit system in the West Bank

References[]

External links[]

Media related to Visas of Israel at Wikimedia Commons

• Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel