Population and Immigration Authority

Population and Immigration Authority

רשות האוכלוסין וההגירה
Agency overview
Formed	2009
Jurisdiction	Government of Israel
Headquarters	Mesilat Yesharim St 6, Jerusalem 31°46′52″N 35°12′52″E
Agency executive	Eyal Siso, Director-General
Parent agency	Ministry of Interior
Website	www.piba.gov.il

The Population and Immigration Authority (Hebrew: רשות האוכלוסין וההגירה; PIBA), is an Israeli government agency established on July 23, 2008 which is responsible for population registry and immigration topics.

History

On July 30, 2002, the 30th Prime Minister of Israel, Ariel Sharon, decided to establish an immigration department in the Israel Police, which would form the basis for the establishment of an immigration authority, with the aim of reducing the number of illegal residents, as well as the establishment of a support unit to handle foreign workers at the Ministry of Labor and Welfare. Gondar Rabbi (retired) Yaakov Ganot, former commander of the Border Guard (2001-2002) and commissioner of prisons (2003-2007), was entrusted with its establishment.

On April 4, 2004, the government decided on the establishment of the "Directorate of Population and Entry into Israel" in the Ministry of Interior, and determined that both the powers of the Israel Police in matters of border control and the authority unit for foreign workers in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would be transferred to the responsibility of the Director of Population. It was originally stipulated that the transfer would be made by November 1, 2004 , however this date was postponed to January 2006 and later to January 1, 2009.

On April 13, 2008, the thirty-first Israeli government headed by Ehud Olmert decided to establish the "Population, Immigration and Border Crossings Authority", which will replace the Population Manager and be responsible for the population sector and the treatment of foreign nationals. Among other things, it was decided to disband the immigration police (Hebrew: משטרת ההגירה) and transfer the authority to deal with illegal residents to the new authority. The task of establishment was entrusted to the head of the Population Administration (Hebrew: מנהל האוכלוסין) at the Ministry of the Interior, Ganot, who was appointed to his position in July 2007 by the Minister of the Interior Roni Bar-On. The Authority replaced the Population Manager on July 15, 2008.

Before the establishment of the Population and Immigration Authority, the head of Population Administration (Hebrew: מנהל אוכלוסין) was subordinated directly to the Director General of the Ministry of the Interior and it was divided into a Registration and Status Division which included the Registration and Passports Department (Hebrew: מחלקת מרשם ודרכונים), the Visas and Status Department (Hebrew: מחלקת מרשם ומעמד) (also known as Visas and Foreigners Department (Hebrew: מחלקת מרשם וזרים) and the Citizenship Department and the Chambers Division which was made up of territorial Population Administration Bureaus (Hebrew: לשכות מרשם אוכלוסין) located throughout the country, sub-offices and registration stations. In addition, the Population Administration included the border control and crossings department (Hebrew: המחלקה לביקורת גבולות ומעברים) which operated in cooperation with the border control department of the Israel Police and the enforcement unit for foreigners.

The new authority began its operation on July 1, 2009.

Responsibilities

The Population and Immigration Authority coordinates the various aspects of dealing with foreign residents in Israel who are not Israeli citizens, including applicants for aliyah and citizenship, permanent residents, temporary residents, clergy with foreign citizenship, students, volunteers, tourists and those denied entry to Israel, Palestinian workers, illegal residents, foreign workers and refugees. The authority has a number of employees in charge of enforcing immigration laws on employers (a position previously filled by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Employment), inspectors whose job it is to arrest illegal residents (which was previously the responsibility of the police) and employees of the population manager, who have the authority to order removal from the country. In addition, the Authority operates an interrogation unit, whose role is to manage the processing of the applications of asylum seekers in Israel, including interviewing the asylum seekers, authority to issue residence permits and recommending who should be recognized as a refugee. Dealing with these issues requires the exercise of discretion, which forces the Authority to deal with many petitions attacking the discretion exercised.

The employees of the Population Authority draw their authority from various laws as well as from certification regulations established by the Minister of the Interior (subsidiary legislation), in which he authorizes officials to carry out his powers.

Organization

• Directorate of Population (Hebrew: מנהל האוכלוסין) - responsible for all issues in the areas of the population registry and passports, citizenship and status, issuing and extending visas and more. The directorate includes 54 bureaus scattered throughout the country. The former director formed the basis for the establishment of the Population Authority. The population manager includes the following departments:
  • Registration and Biometrics Department (Hebrew: אגף מרשם וביומטרי) - (also called Registration and Status Department (Hebrew: אגף מרשם וביומטרי) and before that Immigration and Registration Department (Hebrew: מחלקת רישום) is a professional authority on the population registry laws, the Names Law and the Passport Law. The division is responsible for providing professional instructions on the issues of identity cards, travel documents, registering and correcting details in the population registry, dealing with issues of surrogacy abroad and registering a judicial parentage order.
  • Visa and Status Department (Hebrew: אגף אשרות ומעמד) - The department is the professional authority in the field of visas and status of new immigrants and foreigners in accordance with the provisions of the Law of Return and the Law of Entry to Israel. The Visas and Status Division is a professional authority on appeals and unusual and complex cases that are forwarded by the Offices of the Population Manager. In addition, the division is the professional authority regarding the graduated procedure for Israeli citizens who wish to live in Israel with their non-citizen spouses.)
  • Temporary Populations Department (Hebrew: אגף אוכלוסיות זמניות)- responsible for processing applications for entry visas (visas) and their extension for tourists, wage earners, volunteers, students, clergy, experts, etc. and also works with the Civil Administration regarding the entry of foreigners into the West Bank.
  • Citizenship Department (Hebrew: אגף אזרחות) - The division concentrates on the issue of handling the granting of Israeli citizenship by virtue of naturalization, granting and restoring citizenship as well as clarifying citizenship status and determining status, relinquishing and revocation of Israeli citizenship and providing documentation on the subject of citizenship including the citizenship of the Land of Israel. In addition, the division is a professional authority and responsible for writing procedures in the field of citizenship and providing answers to the Bureaus of the Population Administration and clarifying and making decisions in connection with requests submitted in Israeli consulates around the world regarding citizenship and status.
  • Bureau Operations Department (Hebrew: אגף תפעול לשכות) - The department is responsible for the Population Administration Bureaus (Hebrew: לשכות מנהל אוכלוסין) (previously called Immigration and Registration Bureaus (Hebrew: לשכות רישום והגירה), sub-bureaus and registration stations that are scattered throughout the country in 6 regions: Jerusalem, Haifa, Tel Aviv, Central, Norther and South and which provide daily answers to registration and status issues.
  • Directorate of Foreign Workers (Hebrew: מנהל עובדים זרים) - responsible for regulating the employment of foreign workers in accordance with government policy, in the following sectors: nursing, agriculture, construction and foreign experts and in national projects; as well as regulating the employment of Jordanian workers in the Eilat area and of Palestinian workers in industries authorized by the government and more. The manager deals with the implementation of bilateral agreements to bring in foreign workers from different countries, in granting permits for the employment of foreign workers and in issuing visas for foreign workers and in granting permits for the employment of Palestinian and Jordanian workers in accordance with the policies and employment quotas set by the government. Also, the department deals with granting licenses to manpower corporations and private bureaus in accordance with the law. The manager is also responsible for carrying out administrative enforcement in cases of violations of laws regulating the employment of Palestinian and Jordanian foreign workers.
  • Enforcement and Foreigners Directorate (Hebrew: מנהל אכיפה וזרים) - responsible for enforcing the laws relating to the stay of foreigners and the employment of foreigners. The directorate was established in July 2010 with the aim of uniting all the bodies involved in enforcement. The directorate works to reduce the number of illegal residents in Israel and at the same time also deals with safeguarding the rights of the foreign workers and their terms of employment. Also, the directorate is responsible for handling infiltrators and asylum seekers.

• Directorate of Border Control (Hebrew: מנהל ביקורת גבולות) - responsible for the operation of the border crossings and for carrying out border control at Israel's 22 international border crossings: six air crossings, eight sea crossings and nine land crossings. Border control is carried out through a front line, border controllers who conduct an initial questioning of foreign citizens and decide whether to grant an entry permit to the country and a back line where senior controllers and shift supervisors operate, whose duties are to conduct individual questioning if the controller in the front line was unable to determine the nature of the applicant to enter.

Criticism and controversies

The Head of the Administration, Yaacov Ganot, was appointed in 2007. At the time, Knesset members and human rights groups expressed concern. Ganot had served as prisons commissioner and prior to that as head of the Immigration authority, where his employees were known for engaging in violent altercations with migrant workers.

In November 2013 two employees of the agency were arrested and charged with extorting female foreign workers. Police alleged that the employees may have demanded sexual favors in return for granting residence permit extensions.

In May 2014 Lod District Court Vice President Avraham Yaakov ordered a Swedish tourist of Eritrean origin be released from detention and that the Population, Immigration and Border Authority pay her damages of 25,000 shekels. The judge offered a scathing critique of PIBA and suggested that racism was at work in PIBA's detaining a black Swedish citizen. In the proceeding PIBA had offered to release the tourist if she agreed to leave a deposit of 30,000 NIS. The judge called this proposal "scandalous" and ordered her immediate release. The judge commented on the implications of PIBA poor decision-making: “Officials of the respondent acted arbitrarily and in an extremely unreasonable manner,” he said. “Israel cannot be perceived in the world as preventing the entry of European citizens based solely on their ethnicity.”

In September 2014, PIBA issued its new year updates, and included information on the most common new baby names in Israel. However, PIBA only included the top names for Jewish babies and failed to note that the actual top new baby name in Israel for the previous year was "Mohammed." A spokesperson for PIBA denied that the deletion of Muslim names was racist or discriminatory and that it had simply released the information that people wanted.