Israel has tightened the rules for issuing passports to new repatriates

The Israeli Parliament voted for the law, which from July 10 tightens the rules for issuing passports to new repatriates - they will need to live in the country for a year to confirmthat the country has become their main place of residence

The Israeli Knesset (parliament) approved a law according to which, from July 10, new repatriates will not be able to receive a passport (darkon) in the first year of residence in the country. Now, instead of a darkon, relocators will receive a special travel document for crossing the border (loesse passe), reports The Times of Israel.

The law cancels the agreement that the government concluded with the Yisrael Beytenu party in 2017 . The agreement allowed new Israelis who received citizenship under the “law of return” to immediately receive a full-fledged passport. As the newspaper notes, this decision was made following many hours of debate between representatives of the ruling coalition and opposition parties.

Darkon is an international passport of Israel, which allows citizens-residents of the country to travel abroad without issuing visas to 161 countries of the world, including the United States and the Schengen area.

Lesse Pass provides visa-free entry to 61 countries. The maximum duration of a darkon is 10 years, and a loess pass is 5 years.

The changes to the legislation were made against the backdrop of a powerful wave of repatriation from Russia and Ukraine, which began in February 2022, The Times of Israel notes. According to the 13tv channel, about 41% of Russians who were given Israeli citizenship returned to Russia.

According to the new version of the law, the Minister of the Interior can refuse to issue an Israeli foreign passport to a repatriate who does not live in Israel on a permanent basis. Instead of a darkon, such a person will receive a temporary travel document (loesse-passe). To receive the darkon, new immigrants will need to live in Israel for a year to confirm that the country has become their main place of residence.

In the 12 months since the start of Russia's military special operation in Ukraine , 159,100 Russian citizens have entered Israel, of which 50,900 are repatriates, the rest are tourists, the Israeli Interior Ministry said in the spring. According to the Jewish agency Sokhnut, which deals with repatriation issues, 70,000 people repatriated to Israel last year - a record for 23 years. More than 37 thousand of them are Russians , about 15 thousand more are Ukrainians, about 2 thousand are Belarusians.

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Last summer, the Ministry of Justice demanded the liquidation of the Russian division of the agency, without specifying the reasons for such a decision. According to lawyer Anton Grishaev, among the claims of the department was a violation of the law on personal data. Consideration of the claim of the Ministry of Justice was postponed several times; According to experts interviewed by RBC, the Russian authorities are not seeking to close the agency.