Minimum Salary Level Increased

The situation

Effective January 1, 2020, the minimum monthly salary for foreign experts in Israel has increased to ILS 20,856, up 2.9 percent from 2019. The new salary level applies to B-1 Work Visas and Hi-Tech B-1 Work Visas (HIT Visas).

The exchange rate at the time of publication of this alert is 1 ILS to 0.29 USD.

A closer look

• Existing employees. Employers of foreign nationals currently under a work visa must increase foreign nationals’ salaries to comply with the new rule.
• Initial and renewal applications. Employers of foreign nationals seeking to obtain or renew a work visa on or after January 1, 2020 must increase foreign nationals’ salaries to comply with the new rule. Immigration applications that do not meet the minimum salary will be refused.
• Pending applications. Employers of foreign nationals with pending work visa applications as of January 1, 2020 must increase foreign nationals’ salaries to comply with the new rule. Immigration applications that do not meet the minimum salary will be refused.
• Unaffected categories. Salary levels for Short-Term Employment Authorization (SEA) or Short-Term Expedited Process (STEP) applications remain unchanged at ILS 5,300 per month.

 

Reminders on other requirements

• Allowances. As before, allowances can be included if guaranteed, paid via bank transfer, processed via payroll, paid monthly for the entire assignment or employment duration. The host entity must provide a housing allowance in addition to the basic salary. The employer may deduct fixed amounts of housing expenses and utilities from the foreign national's salary, within legal restrictions.
• Currency. As before, employers are required to guarantee that salary payments meet the threshold in ILS regardless of payroll location or currency fluctuations. ​​

 

Background

Salary increases between two and three percent are typical for Israel, in line with average market salary increases.

Fragomen worked closely with Kan-Tor & Acco Law Firm to prepare this alert. This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to [email protected].