The iSavta Team | 13.11.2019

March- April and December-January are months of Homecoming or Vacation Leave for Caregivers especially those who are from the Philippines for many, if not all, are Christians who wants to be with their families during Lenten Season, Christmas and New Year. March to April are also the months for parents who wants to be with their children when they receive their diplomas as graduates. 

Now, iSavta received some certain inquiries about what, when, why and how they can actually receive a return-visa when they decided to leave Israel temporarily for their much deserve vacation. 

In this article, we will try to explain to you the step by step process on how to obtain a re-entry visa to Israel if you are a Filipino Citizen who is planning a month or 45 days vacation to the Philippines. We are not sure if these procedures are the same for other nationalities.

1. First and foremost, you have to be a LEGAL migrant worker here in Israel. Which means, you have a VALID working visa and hired by an employer who has a VALID license to hire you once and for all. ​

2. Second, You must be currently registered to a legal recruitment agency here in Israel. Speaking of which, contacting your agency is the first thing that you'll do when you decided to go home for vacation. You have to inform your agency about your plan of going home and let them know the exact expiration of your current working visa. Only your agency can tell you exactly if you are allowed to go home on that Month or date you chose. There are talks about caregivers who were denied because they have less than 6 months of working visa by the time they requested for re-entry visa. There are some who claimed that these are all false since they went home with only 3 months working visa. Therefore, your agency is very important since they are knowledgeable about the legal procedures or rules. They will be the one to tell you if you need to renew your visa before or after going home.

3. Third, Talk to your employer or the Family. You cannot plan your vacation alone and you can't just go whenever you want. You are obliged to consider the condition and welfare of your employer. The family must be informed about your plan ahead of time and both sides should meet halfway. Remember, they also cannot deny you of your rights to take your vacation leave unless they have a valid reason not to let you go. Everyone must agree on certains conditions without compromising the interests of both parties.

4. Reliever. This is usually the problem of caregivers who wants to go home for vacation. Taking someone who is not a LEGAL migrant worker here in Israel to replace you is NOT permitted by law. If caught, your employer can lose his/her license to have a caregiver and you can lose your job too. 

Caregivers are always in deep pressure and stress because of this situation. They are obliged to find someone who has no visa and pay a huge amount of money just to have a chance to go home. This became a problem for caregivers to solve when in fact, it is the agency's or the employer's responsibility to find someone else to replace their current caregiver. 

A plain caregiver normally receive 3,200 - 3,600 NIS salary a month, 100 NIS allowance/week and 258-300 NIS for weekend stay. A reliever (who has no visa) would always demand for 4000 up to 6000 NIS for a month plus all the payments for the weekend. If you are receiving 3,200/month as salary, then you have to give 800 NIS (or more) from your own pocket. Some will even ask you to pay for the holidays covered on that particular month which your employer will not pay because they are giving you these days to go out and take a day off. But your reliever is not allowed to go out since s/he has no visa and s/he must stay with your employer for the whole month. This will cost you another 254-300 NIS per holiday. Sad to say, March, April, December and January are months of Philippine Holidays so you have no choice but pay more or less 3-4 holidays (x 254 NIS) to your reliever.

There are lucky caregivers who were spared with this kind of problem. These are caregivers who work in Beit Avot or Kibbutz. Normally, the Bituach, Agency or Social Worker assigned to these employers is taking the responsibility to replace the vacationing caregiver. Some employers also pay for the excess amount of money the reliever demands. But majority of legal caregivers here suffered the same fate as everyone else for all the same reason... NO CHOICE... EIN MALAASOT. 

There's an existing law about work replacement posted by Kav LaOved on their Facebook page. It is now allowed to take a reliever as long as s/he is here in Israel for 52-61 month and currently jobless. S/he can take a certain visa for replacement from Interior Ministry and she can legally replace you for a month or so. Here's the link posted last December 27, 2012:

Replacement during vacation with Re-Entry Visa (Intervisa) - New procedure

You also have to remember that during these vacation months, many caregivers are planning to go home. Many are having trouble looking for replacement since people with visa and no-visa alike already have their scheduled jobs in these particular months. You have to find someone at least 4 months before your planned date of going home. Unfortunately, some of these relievers are looking for someone who can offer them a much higher payment. So even if you already closed a deal with someone, there is no guarantee that the person will keep the deal with you. Sadly, most of the time, they backed out on the last minute ( 1 week or even 3 days before your scheduled flight).

5. While you are looking for a reliever, you might also want to secure your flight schedule. There are several travel agencies in Tachana Merkazit which can help you find a convenient and flexible flight in a very decent or cheap price. It's easier to fix a deal with your reliever if you already have your flight schedule and it also easier for your agency to prepare the necessary documents for you to have your re-entry visa.

6. Contact your agency and give them your detailed flight schedule. You can send your itinerary/ticket to your agency through fax and wait for them to send you all the documents needed before you go to Misrad Hafnim (Interior Ministry). Your agency will also inform you about the papers you need to secure from your employer as well as the amount you need to pay for your re-entry. 

Papers/Requirements needed for Interior Ministry:

• 2x2 recent ID picture

• Letter from Agency

• Photocopy of your Employer's ID

• Letter from Employer (some Interior Ministry offices does not require this) stating that s/he or the family is allowing you to have your vacation leave for a certain time and they are willing to retain you as their caregiver by the time you come back to Israel.

• Passport with Valid Visa

• 180-200 NIS for re-entry payment

• Application form for Visa Re-Entry from Interior Ministry, filled up and signed by you. You can ask for this form when you are in Misrad Hafnim. Don't forget to bring a ballpen. 

• Flight itinerary/ticket (photocopy)

 7. After Misrad Hafnim, you need to go to the Philippine Embassy for another set of requirements to avail the POEA-OEC or Overseas Employment Certificate. This will give you an excemption to pay for the Airport Fee in Manila before coming back to Israel.

Papers/Requirements needed for Philippine Embassy

• Passport: Re-Entry Visa given by Misrad Hafnim (photocopy)

• Employment Contract (most of the caregivers are not renewing their contract because it is not necessary to secure an employment visa from Misrad Hafnim. You can ask for a copy from Philippine Embassy, fill it up, sign and ask your employer and agency to sign it too); 2 copies.

• Photocopy of Passport front page and working visa. 

• Photocopy of Employer's ID; 2 copies

• money to pay for certain documents; OEC, OWWA, etc. (you probably need some few US dollars too)

• Secure and fill up necessary documents from the Philippine Embassy.

• Itinerary or ticket (photocopy)

• Ballpen

8. After securing all the necessary papers, you are set to go. Don't forget to check with your airline the number of luggages you are allowed to carry with you. Be at the airport at least 2 hours before your flight. You might also want to check the things that are allowed as well as prohibited to carry with you during your flight. You might also want to bring with you a copy of your employer's letter and photocopy of his/her ID just in case there will be some uncalled questioning at the airport. 

Though it seems complicated and tiring to even think about all these things that you have to go through before going home, nothing compares to the happiness you'll feel when you are already home with your loved ones. Treasure every moment with them for you will endure another 2-3 years without them by the time you get back to work. Enjoy your Vacation!