Working in Israel

Israel belongs to no regional free-movement area, so it runs its own entry policy, and since 1 January 2025 every foreign national has to hold either a valid visa or an approved ETA-IL before boarding. Which one depends on the passport. Nationals of visa-exempt countries (the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany and the other European Union states, Australia and Japan among them) apply online to the Population and Immigration Authority for the ETA-IL: the fee is 25 shekels, the authorization is valid for up to two years or until the passport expires, and it covers visits of up to 90 days. Nationals of countries that are not visa-exempt need a B/2 visitor visa obtained beforehand from an Israeli consulate; Indian passport holders, for instance, fall in that band, and the online eVisa-B2 was opened first to Indian and Sri Lankan passport holders resident in India and Sri Lanka. The B/2 route covers tourist visits, family visits, short-term business, short non-academic study and medical treatment; the ETA-IL is issued for tourism and short business visits only. Arrivals at Ben Gurion Airport receive an entry card instead of a passport stamp, and at other entry points it may be either; the card is kept with the passport until departure.

Neither route allows you to work: a B/2 holder is not permitted to take employment in Israel, and the ETA-IL is not available to people entering for employment or study. Working or settling is a separate authorization, whatever your nationality, through the B/1 work visa (including its foreign expert stream), the A/2 student visa, the A/3 visa for clergy, the B/4 volunteer visa, or aliyah under the Law of Return. Categories, thresholds and processing times change, and each situation follows its own rules. This is general information rather than immigration advice; for a personal situation, a qualified professional is recommended.

The Law of Return provides a route with no equivalent in ordinary immigration law: Jewish people and certain eligible relatives (children, grandchildren and spouses, according to the criteria in force) can settle in Israel and acquire citizenship through a dedicated procedure, whatever passport they hold today. It accounts for a significant share of long-term arrivals, alongside the employer-sponsored work visas used by everyone else.

Eligibility criteria, supporting documents and steps are usually begun from abroad, through Israeli consular missions and dedicated organizations, and follow precise rules that change over time. The route also carries personal consequences worth anticipating: becoming an Israeli resident moves your tax residence, brings you into the National Health Insurance system, and interacts with the nationality rules of your country of origin, some of which restrict dual citizenship. This is general information rather than legal advice; a qualified professional is recommended before committing.

For anyone not eligible under the Law of Return, whatever their nationality, the usual route into salaried work is the B/1 visa. The Population and Immigration Authority describes it as granted for a limited period of work: the application is filed in Israel, with the Interior Ministry, by the employing person, company or corporation, and the approval is then sent to the consulate that issues the visa. The permit is tied to that employer and that role, so a change of employer normally means a new application.

Alongside the general B/1 for foreign workers in industry, welfare, construction and agriculture, there is a distinct foreign expert stream, covered by PIBA procedure 5.3.0041, for roles calling on expertise not readily available on the local market. Its defining condition is financial: the expert's monthly salary must reach at least twice the average wage in Israel, a threshold reset each year. The permit is granted for a limited period and is renewable within the maximum total set by the procedure in force. Thresholds and processing times change, so the framework applicable at the time of the project is the one to check. This is general information rather than immigration advice, and a qualified professional is recommended.

Israeli income tax is progressive. For 2026 the bands run from 10% on the first ILS 84,120 of annual taxable income up to 47% above ILS 560,280, with a 3% surtax on annual taxable income above ILS 721,560 that takes the top rate to 50%; since 2025 a further 2% surtax applies to high income from capital sources. Tax residence turns on the center of life test: presence of 183 days or more in a tax year, or of 30 days in the year together with 425 days across that year and the two preceding ones, creates a rebuttable presumption that the center of life is in Israel.

Which country taxes what is settled by the treaty between Israel and your own country of tax residence, not by any single bilateral agreement: Israel has double-taxation treaties with around sixty jurisdictions, among them the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, India, Ireland, Germany, Singapore, South Africa, Japan and China. Where no treaty applies, Israel grants a unilateral foreign tax credit capped at the Israeli tax due on the same income. Israel also runs its own schemes, notably a ten-year exemption on foreign-source income for new immigrants and qualifying returning residents. The exemption from reporting that used to accompany it no longer applies to people who become Israeli resident after 31 December 2025: the income stays exempt from tax, but it must still be declared to the Israel Tax Authority during the ten-year period, along with the foreign assets it comes from. Rates, thresholds and reporting duties change, and each situation is specific: this is general information rather than tax advice, and a qualified professional is recommended for up-to-date figures.

The cost of living in Israel is high by international standards, and Tel Aviv sits at the top of the domestic scale. Housing, to buy or to rent, and especially in the center and along the coast, is the dominant line item, ahead of food and, where relevant, international-school fees. Technology salaries are correspondingly high. Rather than fixed amounts, it is more reliable to reason in real purchasing power: net pay after Israeli tax and contributions, set against rent in the specific city you would live in.