Visa policy of Israel
Visitors to Israel must obtain a visa unless they come from one of the visa-exempt countries and obtain an electronic travel authorization. Nationals of certain countries may obtain an electronic visa online, while others must obtain a visa from an Israeli diplomatic mission.
Visa exemption
Visa-exempt travellers with an electronic travel authorization (ETA-IL)
Holders of ordinary passports of the following countries do not need a visa for Israel for tourism, business or to study for up to 90 days, or culture or sport activities for up to 30 days.From 1 January 2025, they must obtain an electronic travel authorization before travelling to Israel. The ETA-IL costs ILS 25 and is valid for 2 years or until the passport expires, whichever occurs first.
| Date of visa changes |
Unknown: Andorra, Grenada, Monaco, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tuvalu
Unknown: Central African Republic, Nicaragua
|
Partial exemptions
- – Nationals of Egypt do not need a visa for stays of up to 14 days if entering through Taba and visiting up to Beersheba only.
- – Nationals of Turkey need a visa but may apply for touristic visa free of charge at Israeli diplomatic missions.
Proposed exemptions
- – On 19 August 2024, Israel and Kazakhstan discussed the possibility of establishing a visa exemption agreement.
- – On 11 January 2024, Israel and Seychelles signed a visa exemption agreement.
Reciprocity
The visa free policy of Israel is based on bilateral agreements which allows the entry of foreign visitors to Israel and Israeli visitors to countries which are counterparts of the bilateral agreements. Israel gave citizens of the United States and Australia a unilateral visa free to visit Israel. From 19 October 2023, citizens of Israel are allowed to visit the United States without a visa.Therefore nationals of Israel can travel without a visa to all countries whose nationals can travel without a visa to Israel, except Australia.
Some countries have decided to give unilateral visa free to Israeli nationals in order to boost tourism other reasons. Therefore Israel grants a visa exemption for nationals of all countries that grant a visa exemption or electronic travel authorization for nationals of Israel, except Angola, Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina, Central African Republic, Kazakhstan, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Nicaragua, Thailand, Turkey, Uzbekistan, and Vatican City.
Non-ordinary passports
Holders of diplomatic and service passports of all visa-exempt countries do not need a visa to Israel, except those of Australia, Belarus, Dominica, Russia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Taiwan, United States, and holders of service passports of South Africa.In addition, holders of diplomatic and service passports of Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burkina Faso, China, Gabon, Gambia, Guyana, India, Ivory Coast, Kazakhstan, Madagascar, Morocco, Nicaragua, Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone, Thailand, Togo, Turkey, Vatican City, and holders of diplomatic passports of Armenia, Kenya, Liberia, Nepal, Rwanda, and Vietnam do not need a visa to Israel.
D - Diplomatic passports
S - Service passports
History
In 1952 the Knesset passed the law "The entry law to Israel" which describes the first official entry policy of Israel. The law permits four types of visas for foreigners, transit visa, visit visa, temporary resident visa, and permanent visa. During the 50s' discussions on visa free took place as in 1955 the Israeli government decided to exempt visa fees from visitors from United States, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, and Luxemburg to boost the early tourism sector.Visa exempt countries in 1966
Ordinary passports: Uruguay, Iceland, Argentina, USA, Brazil, Denmark, Switzerland, UK, Liechtenstein, Norway, Finland, Chile, France, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, The Netherlands, and Luxemburg. Diplomatic and service passports: Austria, Italy, El Salvador, Belgium, Dahomey, The Netherlands, Switzerland, The Philippines, Brazil, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Tanganyika, Luxemburg, Liberia, Niger, France, Colombia, Costa Rica, Thailand, Togo, Honduras, Sierra Leone, and Congo Leopoldville.
1967 Israel started to consider the visa exemption of German diplomatic and service passports as Germany promised not to allow Germans with Nazi backgrounds to use the visa exemption. In the same year Israel also exempted German passport from visa. Israel signed visa exemption agreement for ordinary passports with the United Kingdom, Lichtenstein, and Switzerland in 1967. For the international tourism year of 1967 Israel called in the UN to other countries to extend their visa exemptions for tourist to boost tourism and the share of cultures.
Visa categories
Student visa
Student visa is categorized as A/2 visa and as multiple entry visa. Student visa is valid to one year with extension possibility. The visa is valid for one of the recognized academic institutions in Israel. Student with A/2 visa in general aren't allowed to work in Israel, but with some exceptions to students who work in the academic field or as part of the program, which are usually PhD students and in some cases also MA students.From 3,237 PhD students in Israel 2023, 1,824 where foreign PhD students and almost half of the foreign PhD students in Israel are Indians.
Electronic visa (e-Visa)
Nationals of the following countries may apply online for an electronic visa, valid for up to 90 days for tourism, business, short study or medical treatment:In 2025, the Israeli government planned to expand the e-Visa for nationals of more countries. In February 2025 Sri Lanka was also added to the list after India.
Work visa
Work visa is categorized as B/1 and can be given by different ways. B/1 is given differently, depending on the sector, Expert foreign workers, Foreign workers in the nursing care sector, or Foreign workers in the agriculture and construction sectors, and other types.Foreign High-Tech Experts Incentive Program visa
A special program provides work visas for nationals of countries that are exempt from the visitor visa requirement who are hired by an Israeli high-tech company with a salary at least double the average wage in Israel. Nationals of Ukraine are exempt from minimum salary requirement.Working holiday visa
Nationals of the following countries between the ages of 18 and 30 years may apply for a working holiday visa for 12 months in Israel.Tourist group visa
Israeli licensed travel agents may apply for visas for groups of 10 to 50 tourists. The agents must check the tourists' background, apply at least 10 days before their arrival, provide their itinerary, pay a fee of ₪95 per group plus ₪35 per tourist, and deposit a bank guarantee of ₪100,000.Israeli passport stamps
Visitors with an Israeli passport stamp are not allowed to enter a number of countries because of the Arab League boycott of Israel. Some countries, such as Austria, Canada, Germany, Russia, United Kingdom and United States, allow their nationals to hold two or more passports of their country to circumvent such travel restrictions, but some of these countries also restrict or forbid the holding of passports of more than one country.However, since 15 January 2013, Israel no longer stamps passports at airports and land border crossings with Jordan. Instead, the entry or departure record is printed on a small paper card, called an electronic gate pass, which includes the traveler's passport data, date, visa status, and other details. The card also includes a barcode which is used to pass through the gate out of the passport control hall.
Accepted travel documents
Israel accepts passports of all member states and observer states of the United Nations, Kosovo, Somaliland and Taiwan. Passports of Abkhazia, Northern Cyprus, South Ossetia, Transnistria and Western Sahara are not accepted.Visitors without an accepted passport must obtain a laissez-passer with a visa from an Israeli diplomatic mission.
The Haudenosaunee passport is a travel document with limited recognition issued by the Iroquois nation in Canada and the United States. For the 2018 World Lacrosse Championship, which was hosted by Israel, the Israeli government accepted the Haudenosaunee passports of the Iroquois team after communicating with the Canadian government.
Points of entry
Israel's crossing points. Main crossing points are bold.| Name of crossing point | District | Type of entry point | Description | Statistics of crossings |
| Rosh Hanikra crossing point | Northern District | Land | Israel - Lebanon border Closed to the general public. Serving mostly UN personal. Crossing only with special permit. | - |
| Quneitra crossing point | Northern District | Land | Israel - Syrian border Closed to the general public. Serving mostly UN personal. Crossing only with special permit. | |
| Fishing port at the Kishon | Haifa District | Sea | Serving arrivals by yachts | |
| Greater Haifa Port | Haifa District | Sea | International port | 2019: visitors: na - Israelis: 89.1 2022: visitors: na - Israelis: 130.6 |
| Haifa Airport | Haifa District | Air | Mostly domestic airport with some international flights | |
| Hadera port | Haifa District | Sea | Commercial ships only | |
| Jordan River crossing point | Northern District | Land | Israel - Jordan border crossing | 2019: visitors: 75.0 - Israelis: 106.5 2022: visitors: 23.9 - Israelis: 97.9 |
| Allenby Bridge crossing point | Judea and Samaria District | Land | Israel - Jordan border crossing Serving residents/citizens/visitors of the Palestinian Authority. | - |
| Ben Gurion Airport | Central District | Air | International airport and major point of entry | 2019: visitors: 3,853.7 - Israelis: 8,262.6 2022: visitors: 2,442.3 - Israelis: 7,472.5 |
| Herzliya Marina | Tel Aviv District | Sea | Serving arrivals by yachts | |
| Tel Aviv Marina | Tel Aviv District | Sea | Serving arrivals by yachts | |
| Ashdod Port | Southern District | Sea | International port | 2019: visitors: na - Israelis: 0.5 2022: visitors: na - Israelis: 0.3 |
| Ashkelon Marina | Southern District | Sea | Serving arrivals by yachts | |
| Ashkelon-Eilat pipeline | Southern District | Sea | Commercial ships only | |
| Erez crossing point | Southern District | Land | Israel - Gaza border Closed to the general public. Crossing only with special permit. | |
| Nitzana crossing point | Southern District | Land | Israel - Egypt border Closed to the general public. Commercial only | |
| Rabin (Arava) crossing point | Southern District | Land | Israel - Jordan border crossing | 2019: visitors: 128.4 - Israelis: 76.7 2022: visitors: 38.7 - Israelis: 89.7 |
| Ramon Airport | Southern District | Air | Mostly domestic airport with some international flights | 2019: visitors: 113.3 - Israelis: na 2022: visitors: 6.4 - Israelis: na |
| Eilat Port | Southern District | Sea | International port | |
| Taba border crossing point | Southern District | Land | Israel - Egypt border crossing | 2019: visitors: 93.3 - Israelis: 499.4 2022: visitors: 39.2 - Israelis: 565.6 |
West Bank and Gaza Strip
Foreign nationals who may travel to Israel without a visa or who hold an Israeli visa may also enter the West Bank on the same basis. Foreign nationals may also apply for an entry permit valid only for the West Bank. All foreign nationals need a permit to enter the Gaza Strip.Israeli citizens may enter West Bank Areas B and C, but not West Bank Area A or the Gaza Strip, without a permit.
Palestinians registered in the West Bank need a permit to enter Israel or the Gaza Strip, and Palestinians registered in the Gaza Strip need a permit to enter Israel or the West Bank. Palestinian men over age 55 and women over age 50 registered in the West Bank, without a security restriction, receive an automatic permit to enter Israel for up to 6 months. Palestinians who receive a permit to depart from an Israeli airport may also return in the same way.
Validity for other countries
Israeli visas or residency permits can be valid as substitute visas for the following countries:- – Holders of valid Israeli visas or residency permits may enter Georgia without an additional visa for 90 days every 180 days with the requirement to show evidence of a valid Israeli visa or residency permit.