B/1 Work Visa — expert chef

A foreign worker receives permission to work in Israel in one of the sectors open for employment of foreign workers, such as caregiving for the elderly or for the disabled, work as an aide in a long term care facility, hotel housekeeping, industry, agriculture, construction via manpower companies, construction as part of the staff of a foreign construction company, or as an expert ethnic chef or other type of expert. The sector for which the worker’s employment has been approved is stipulated in the worker's B/1 visa.

4) Without derogating from the above, and without derogating from the provisions of this procedure regarding experts receiving expert wages and employed in professions that do not require a higher academic education, for the purpose of an application to employ a foreign expert for expert wages as an expert chef, the following terms shall apply: a. A permit for the employment of a foreign chef for expert wages shall be issued only for restaurants serving purely ethnic Asian food (south-east Asia – China, Thailand, Japan, India) only (hereinafter: "**Asian Restaurants**"). The applicant employer shall be required to make a statement to this fact and attach updated menus of the restaurant. As a rule, decisions regarding such applications shall be made only after an inspection to the restaurant to ascertain the nature of the restaurant and its conditions.

Only employers who hold valid employment permits from the Population and Immigration Authority in the Ministry of the Interior (hereinafter: PIBA) may employ foreign workers, and only foreign workers with valid work visas and permits (hereinafter: B/1 visa) for the relevant sector as issued by PIBA may be employed by these licensed employers.

Visas for work in Israel (B/1) are issued by Israeli Consulates abroad, based on the requests received by PIBA from eligible permit holding employers using the services of licensed Israeli placement agencies, or as stipulated in a bilateral agreement between Israel and the worker’s country of origin - subject to the relevant procedures, checks and approvals of PIBA.

4) Without derogating from the above, and without derogating from the provisions of this procedure regarding experts receiving expert wages and employed in professions that do not require a higher academic education, for the purpose of an application to employ a foreign expert for expert wages as an expert chef, the following terms shall apply: a. A permit for the employment of a foreign chef for expert wages shall be issued only for restaurants serving purely ethnic Asian food (south-east Asia – China, Thailand, Japan, India) only (hereinafter: "**Asian Restaurants**"). The applicant employer shall be required to make a statement to this fact and attach updated menus of the restaurant. As a rule, decisions regarding such applications shall be made only after an inspection to the restaurant to ascertain the nature of the restaurant and its conditions.

**c.4.k. “Expert wages” expert** – with proven high level of expertise or essential knowledge for the service provided by the employer and unavailable in Israel, where the base monthly wages paid to such foreign expert is not lower than twice the average wages of a salaried employee. The commissioner may condition the issue of a permit upon an undertaking to pay higher wages than specified above, if the average normal wages in the industry in which such foreign expert is required is higher than the national average, at his sole discretion.

Foreign workers may only work for their current registered and licensed employer. They may not work for another employer, even during breaks from work, on holidays, rest days or after regular working hours.

Unemployed foreign workers who have not completed their maximum permitted stay in Israel, have up to 90 days from the date they leave their former employment to find and register for alternate employment with a licensed employer in the sector specified in the worker's B/1 visa.

## 3. Permitted Sectors A foreign worker receives permission to work in Israel in one of the sectors open for employment of foreign workers, such as caregiving for the elderly or for the disabled, work as an aide in a long term care facility, hotel housekeeping, industry, agriculture, construction via manpower companies, construction as part of the staff of a foreign construction company, or as an expert ethnic chef or other type of expert. The sector for which the worker’s employment has been approved is stipulated in the worker's B/1 visa. After arriving in Israel to work in one permitted sector, the foreign worker will not be allowed to change to a different permitted sector. Thus, for example, a worker who arrived 18 in Israel to provide home based caregiving will not be permitted to change employers in order to work as an expert chef, and a worker who arrived as an expert will not be permitted to work in the construction sector.

Foreign workers must be employed in a full-time position by their legal employer. Part time employment of a foreign worker is prohibited.

f. The holder of a permit may transfer the foreign chef for which the employment permit has been issued to work as a chef in other Asian restaurants owned by him, provided that such restaurants have a valid permit to employ foreign chefs, or in other restaurants in a chain of restaurants with a permit to employ such foreign experts, even if exceeding the number of

The length of each B/1 visa issued by PIBA to a foreign worker is limited to a maximum period of one year. Therefore, even if the employer’s permit is valid for a longer period, the foreign worker's B/1 visa will be issued for no more than a one-year period. Extension of the B/1 visa is subject to PIBA procedures and discretion, and with the exception of Caregivers (see below), the visa will not be extended for additional periods once 63 months have passed from the date of the worker's first entry to Israel.

Please note that the maximum temporary work period in Israel may be shorter for certain types of workers, such as seasonal workers, project related workers and workers arriving under special agreements, and in these cases the shorter work period will be in accordance with the circumstances of the worker’s arrival in Israel and the relevant PIBA procedures.

As set out in Israeli law, foreign workers are permitted to work in Israel for a temporary period only, after which they must leave the country promptly or be subject to detention and deportation.

**1. Foreign Agricultural Workers and Expert Chefs-**PIBA procedures allow foreign workers in the agricultural sector, as well as expert chefs who have completed their maximum legal periods of work in Israel, to remain in the country for an additional 60 days from the end of their last legal employment. The purpose of the additional grace period is to allow the worker to complete preparations for leaving Israel.