Leaving a spouse in another country – or having a spouse stay in Israel without legal status – is often a mental and physical problem. The process of obtaining legal status in the State of Israel involves a great deal of bureaucracy and sometimes even obstacles, leading the couple to feel despair and incompetent.

The team of lawyers at our firm provide assistance to the firm’s client and their spouses in varied and complex proceedings needed to obtain legal status for the spouse, including preparation and guidance prior to meetings at the Ministry of the Interior, assistance in filling documents for various applications to the authorities, preparation before the interrogation process at the Ministry of the Interior as well as finding creative solutions to complex problems in this delicate field.

Our firm’s team provides legal advice and assistance to the elderly and people with disabilities in an effort to keep their caregivers in Israel, as their stay is usually limited to five years only.

In order to find suitable solutions and to try and prevent the separation of those individuals who bonded in the course of some difficult years, the firm’s team assists its clients – caregivers and patients together – through a variety of relevant procedures: from filing applications, preparing affidavits and expert opinions, to being present during the meetings at the Ministry of Interior Ministry and the submission of internal appeals.

Employing foreign workers and dealing with the relationship with foreign workers – employers require lawyers who are knowledgeable and experienced with various government ministries, including familiarity and expertise with the Ministry of Economy and Industry and the Ministry of the Interior (the two main ministries that deal with foreign workers).

The firm’s team provides legal assistance to its clients as well as solutions to complex problems related to this sensitive issue – both procedural and regulatory (with an emphasis on the rights of employers and employees) and represents its clients before the various courts in three different areas:

• Immigration law (release from house arrest and the regulatory component of work permits and the status of administrative petitions)
• Labor law (foreign workers’ claims against employers)
• Criminal justice (defense against indictments filed when a foreign worker is illegally employed)

Our firm provides legal counsel and assistance to asylum seekers who cross countries and continents to seek refugee status in the State of Israel.

The process of recognizing asylum seekers as refugees in the State of Israel is a Sisyphean and laborious one, often involving bitter disappointment. This is a complex bureaucratic procedure, which takes place before numerous government ministries and requires familiarity with treaties, bureaucratic procedures and a variety of laws.

In order to achieve the best results for our clients, the firm provides comprehensive legal support with respect to a variety of procedures with the different authorities, from the application stage to the Refugee Status Determination Unit (RSD) at the Ministry of the Interior; preparation for interviews; representation at the interview itself; submission of an application for reconsideration in the event that the application is rejected in the first instance; and the submission of an appeal to the various courts.

In addition to the provision of ongoing support, our firm represents its clients in claims against the Population and Immigration Authority, in an effort to exhaust the rights granted to our clients by law.

The process of arranging status in Israel involves complex procedures that vary from case to case and require extensive professional knowledge and familiarity with the legal system in Israel and on a global scale.

Our firm provides legal advice to individuals who are interested in coming to Israel using different procedural mechanisms before various government ministries, including legal assistance to invited foreign experts, assistance to students wishing to come to Israel to study in higher education institutions, volunteers, elderly parents who wish to join their children, etc.

As part of our legal assistance, our firm provides legal advice in all stages of the proceedings – from start to finish, from representation in the various Administrative Courts, the filing of the initial application with the relevant government ministry, submission of internal appeals and being physically present in the various hearings.

Individuals who have not yet settled their status in Israel are subject to various sanctions under the laws of the State of Israel, including detention in detention (Holot) and custody facilities (Givon, Saharonim and Yahalom).

We have a team of lawyers who provide legal support to the firm’s clients throughout the process of releasing detainees from detention and custody facilities, providing legal advice inside and outside the facilities, and helping them exercise their full rights in these difficult times of incarceration in facilities – which are more often than not accompanied by other problems (family, humanitarian, etc.).

As part of these activities, the firm’s team represents its clients in the various proceedings before judges in Detention Courts. Through extensive knowledge and experience our team works to have these clients released from detention, assists in satisfying various requests, and maintains close contact with the different government ministries. All, in an attempt to obtain temporary visas and permits for the regulation of their status in Israel, even temporarily.

Receiving status in the State of Israel is complex and has several stages – the procedures and laws are many and varied and the bureaucracy is complex and often requires experience, knowledge and expertise.

Individuals who lack status in Israel and have done everything in their power to try to obtain a status also have the option to apply to receive temporary status in Israel on humanitarian grounds.

The firm’s team provides legal counsel and guidance to individuals who wish to regulate their status in Israel by submitting an application on humanitarian grounds, including with respect to representation in claims against the Population and Immigration Authority and working tirelessly to exhaust the rights granted to them by law.

Experts who lack status in Israel are required to undergo a process to obtain permits and approvals from the Ministry of the Interior in order to arrange their stay and work visas in the State of Israel.

This process requires knowledge and experience with respect to the various government ministries.

Corporations and business owners often turn to our team for assistance with arranging visas for experts who are required to come to Israel from countries around the world and assist them throughout the entire process and the necessary stages, including representation before the Ministry of the Interior, the Immigration Administration and various legal instances.

Our firm also practice outwards emigration, specifically to the United States.

As a result of a newly established relationship with the prominent U.S. Immigration and Nationality Law firm, Wildes & Weinberg Immigration Law Offices, www.wildeslaw.com, our practice is expanded to also include Immigration to the United States. If you are looking for a work visa, green card or American citizenship, we can assist you with these areas.

Managing Partner Michael Wildes, our head counsel, brings to this collaboration an immeasurable sense of professionality and many years of experience. He and his staff will work hard to guarantee the best representation for our clients. Founded in 1960, by Michael’s father, Leon Wildes, whose best-known accomplishment was his successful representation of John Lennon in his widely publicized deportation proceedings, the circumstances of which have inspired several films and documentaries, Wildes & Weinberg has been helping a distinguished domestic and international clientele with employment and investment-based immigration, work permits, permanent residence for qualified individuals, family-based immigration, asylum applications, all temporary and permanent type visas, employer sanction work, and citizenship for nearly six decades.

Michael is an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York, a former Federal Prosecutor with the United States Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn, NY (1989-1993), a frequent participant on professional panels and commentator on network television and radio with regard to different aspects of immigration law, and served as Mayor of his hometown, Englewood, New Jersey (2004-2010).

Michael is also fluent in Hebrew, and together with his multi-lingual staff, they have successfully represented scores of performing artists, directors, writers, models, actors/actresses, athletes, race car drivers, fine artists, art dealers, curators, musicians, photographers, stylists, and literary agents. Some of his Israeli clients include Moti Giladi, Shlomo Artzi, Gad Elbaz, Sarit Hadad, Arkadi Duchin, Assi Cohen, Tzvika Hadar, Dov Glickman, Hanoch Daum, Shanee Zamir, Edan Alterman and Avi Granik. Michael has also represented famed artist Sarah Brightman, several Miss Universe winners, soccer icon Pele and Chef Jean-Georges, among many others.

Despite difficulties currently being encountered in dealing with U.S. immigration authorities, Michael and his firm has maintained an extraordinary track record for success for its cases. The firm is headquartered in New York City, and has additional offices in Englewood, New Jersey, Miami, Florida, and Los Angeles, California.