Earlier today, the Israeli Minister of Interior, Ms. Ayelet
Shaked, instructed to ease the work visa process for the employment of foreign
national experts in Israel.
According to the announcement, the period of the SEA B-1 45
days visa which previously allowed experts to work for up to 45 days in a calendar
year, will be extended to a period of 90 days per calendar year.
The regulation is meant to ease the process for employers of
foreign nationals, allowing more flexibility while shortening the work visa processing
time.
Kan-Tor & Acco notes that a similar 90-day work visa (B-1
HIT 90) was previously allowed exclusively for Israeli High-Tech companies.
KTA expects that in the following days the new regulations
will be published and enforced. Information about the prevailing wage, process requirements,
time frames and the effect over those already got a SEA B-1 45 day visa in the
same calendar year still remains unclear.
KTA will follow up on the
topic in a Client Alert, and will advise accordingly.