Child born in Israel to one permanent-resident parent? A practical guide to Regulation 12 registration, the centre-of-life test, and appeals after refusal.
Your child was born in Israel, one of you is registered as a permanent resident — for example, a permanent resident of East Jerusalem — and your spouse is a resident of the Area, a foreign national, or someone with no status in Israel at all. The child grows up with you and studies in Israel, yet has no Israeli identity number and no regulated status. The situation does not resolve itself: birth in Israel, on its own, does not confer status on the child.
This guide explains the track set out in law for this situation — an application to register the child under Regulation 12 of the Entry into Israel Regulations, 5734-1974: what the conditions are, what licence the child will receive, how long the process takes, what to do if the application is refused, and what recent case law shows. The main points also apply, with the necessary changes, to a child born outside Israel.
Regulation 12 of the Entry into Israel Regulations, 5734-1974 provides that "a child born in Israel, to whom section 4 of the Law of Return does not apply, shall have the same status in Israel as his parents." Its purpose, as held in HCJ 979/99 Karlo v. Minister of Interior (1999), is to prevent a disconnect or gap between the status of the parent with status and the status of his or her child born in Israel. In Adm. Appeal (Supreme Court) 5569/05 Ministry of Interior v. Awisat (2008), the Supreme Court added that in examining such applications, "significant and considerable weight" must be given to the best interests of the child and to the integrity of the family unit.
Although the wording of the regulation appears to give precedence to the father's status, it has been held that the reference is to the parent with whom the child maintains a centre of life, without distinguishing between the parents (Adm. Appeal (Jerusalem) 53335-12-25 (13 Jan 2026)). And in the same breath, it has been held again and again that the mere fact of birth in Israel does not automatically confer status.
How the application is handled is governed by Procedure 5.2.0029 (Procedure for Handling an Application for a Residence Licence in Israel for a Minor Born in Israel Where Only One Parent Is Registered as a Permanent Resident under Regulation 12 of the Entry into Israel Regulations, 5734-1974), edition 6 of 8 January 2020. Alongside it stands Procedure 5.2.0030, its counterpart for a minor born outside Israel.
The Procedure, in clause ב.7, requires evidence of a centre of life in Israel for both the resident parent and the minor during the two years preceding the date the application is filed. Where the minor is under two years old, evidence is required of the resident parent's centre of life in Israel during the two years preceding the application, and of a centre of life in Israel with the minor from the date of the minor's birth.
The tribunals repeatedly emphasise that a shared centre of life in Israel of the parent with status together with his or her child is the principal and decisive condition for registration. Two practical points follow from this. First, the burden of proof rests on the applicant and not on the Authority: the Authority is not required to prove that the family lives outside Israel; it is enough for it to raise well-founded doubts that the applicant must then resolve. Second, objective evidence is required, not affidavits alone; even recognition by the National Insurance Institute of a parent as a resident of Israel does not bind the Authority, since the tests for granting status are stricter.
Clause ג.7.5 further provides that the minor's residence licence will not be extended if the minor does not permanently reside with his or her permanent-resident custodial parent in Israel.
Clause ג.5 of the Procedure lists the parameters for determining the type of licence: whether the minor was born in Israel; whether the minor is registered in another population registry or has permanently resided abroad; and whether the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law (Temporary Order), 5763-2003, applies to the minor. The table in clause ג.7 translates this into four situations.
A child born in Israel who has not yet been registered in any other registry will, after proving two years of centre of life in Israel, receive a permanent-residence licence. A child registered abroad or holding a foreign passport will first receive a temporary A/5 licence for two years and, at the end of that period, subject to a continued centre of life, permanent status. A child registered in, or residing in, the Area who is under 14 at the time of application will receive an A/5 licence for two years and permanent status thereafter, within the limits of the Temporary Order. Such a child who is over 14 at the time of application will receive only a District Coordination and Liaison Administration (DCL) permit, subject to the position of the police and security agencies, and the child's permit will not be upgraded.
Clause ב.9 further provides that no fee is to be charged for the grant of a permanent-residence licence, and that a fee will be charged only for an A/5 licence.
The Procedure requires an application form (Ash/3), the personal presence of the permanent-resident parent — mandatory — the original live-birth notification from the hospital, and identity cards or passports of both parents. For a minor over 14, a curriculum-vitae form will be required for security screening.
The Procedure's appendix specifies the centre-of-life evidence: a lease or ownership contract in the applying parent's name together with municipal-tax (arnona), electricity, water and telephone bills; a marriage or divorce certificate and a custody order concerning the children; a letter from the health fund and vaccination records; a bank statement showing receipt of National Insurance allowances; pay slips; and annual end-of-year certificates from the children's educational institutions. Anyone residing in a property not registered in their name is required to submit an affidavit.
The Authority sends queries to the National Insurance Institute and the Ministry of Education, and sometimes conducts interviews with the parents. The review period is generally six months from the date the application is filed, subject to submission of all documents and full cooperation, and it may be extended in certain circumstances. If the Authority itself is responsible for a delay beyond that period, clause ג.7.1.7 provides for the grant of a B/2 visitor's-residence licence in the interim.
An application may be filed even before two years of centre of life have been completed. In such a case, the parent is required to submit, within 45 days, threshold documents — a lease or purchase contract, the children's school-enrolment confirmations, and an affidavit detailing the periods of stay. If these are not submitted in time, the application will be denied. If they are submitted, the application will remain pending, and in the interim, permits will be granted for one year at a time (clause ג.7.7.3).
This is where a critical point arises. Clause ג.7.7.7 provides that an application previously refused for failure to prove two years of centre of life can be re-examined — if, close to the completion of two consecutive years of centre of life from the date of the refused application, the parent files a new application and proves the centre of life. Such an application will be examined according to the minor's age at the date of the previous, refused application. In other words, a person whose application was refused does not necessarily lose the "age anchor," but incorrect timing can actually harm the child's status. Clause ג.7.7.8 qualifies that applications refused because of false particulars or false documents will not be returned to this track.
In addition, when granting an A/5 licence, the Authority must give the parent written notice, in Hebrew and Arabic, stating that three months before the end of the two years, evidence of centre of life must be submitted (clause ג.7.4).
An internal appeal against a bureau's decision may be filed in writing, without delay and no later than 21 days from the date the decision is received, in accordance with Procedure 1.6.0001 (Procedure for Receiving Applications and Appeals against Decisions of the Bureaus and Headquarters of the Population and Immigration Authority). As a rule, only one internal appeal may be filed against a decision.
If the internal appeal is denied, an appeal may be filed with the Appeals Tribunal for immigration matters under the Entry into Israel Law, 5712-1952, within the time period fixed by the law. In child-registration cases, appeals are heard by the Appeals Tribunal in Jerusalem, and at the conclusion of the judgment a right of appeal to the District Court sitting as the Court for Administrative Affairs (an administrative appeal) is recorded, to be exercised within 45 days.
The State also makes use of this right. In Adm. Appeal (Jerusalem) 53335-12-25 (13 Jan 2026), the State's appeal against an Appeals Tribunal decision ordering the immediate grant of permanent status to a minor girl born in Israel and holding a foreign passport was accepted, and it was held that the Procedure's table must be followed — an A/5 licence for two years, with the two years counted from the date the temporary licence was granted.
In Appeal (Jerusalem) 1019-25 (4 Feb 2026), a permanent-resident mother's application to register four children was denied. It was held that the burden of proof lies on the applicant alone, and that water and electricity bills not in her name, lease contracts not shown to have been carried out, and cash payments without supporting records do not dispel the Authority's doubts. The lesson is that objective evidence linking specifically the parent and the child to an address in Israel must be gathered over time.
In Appeal (Jerusalem) 4022-23 (14 May 2025), a permanent-resident father sought to register his daughter, who lived with her mother five days a week and with him two days. The appeal was denied: fixed, scheduled visits do not establish a shared centre of life, and a different interpretation would empty the condition of content. Nevertheless, the Appeals Tribunal permitted the father to file a new application immediately, should circumstances change.
In Appeal (Jerusalem) 3846-22 (9 Jun 2026), an appeal was accepted concerning a daughter who had remained for years without permanent status while her siblings had received such status, because the Authority had not given the mother written notice of the duty to reapply at the end of the two years. The Appeals Tribunal regarded this as a root defect, held that the determining date was the date the original application was filed, and ordered the grant of an A/5 licence followed by a permanent-residence licence.
Finally, in Appeal (Jerusalem) 1007-24 (15 Oct 2025), the case of a minor who had grown up from birth with his permanent-resident grandmother was returned for renewed examination. It was held that Regulation 12 may, in exceptional cases, apply also on the strength of the status of a guardian who is not the parent.
Our office guides families through child-registration proceedings under Regulation 12 from the earliest stage: building a centre-of-life evidence file that will withstand scrutiny, preparing for interviews at the bureau, tracking timelines and the duty of written notice as the two years draw to a close, and representation in the internal appeal, the appeal to the Appeals Tribunal, and the administrative appeal. We routinely examine, at an early stage, the question of the minor's age and the determining date for examining the application, since both affect the type of licence no less than any other argument. Every case has its own circumstances, and nothing said above constitutes individual legal advice.
No. Regulation 12 provides that the status of a child born in Israel will be the same as that of the child's parents, but it has been held again and again that the mere fact of birth in Israel does not confer status by itself. An application must be filed under Procedure 5.2.0029, proving, among other things, a shared centre of life in Israel of the parent with status together with the child.
Under the Procedure, the review period until a response is given is generally six months from the date the application is filed, provided all required documents have been attached and the applicant fully cooperates in the centre-of-life review. The Procedure itself recognises that in certain circumstances — for example, the minor's age or the need for positions from additional agencies — the period is extended. If the delay is attributable to the Authority, there is an arrangement for granting a temporary visitor's licence in the interim.
The Procedure allows you to reapply. Close to the completion of two consecutive years of centre of life in Israel from the date of the refused application, a new application can be filed and the centre of life proved, and the application will be examined according to the minor's age at the date of the previous, refused application. Timing here is very important, so as a rule it is worth seeking advice before filing. Applications refused because of false documents or false particulars do not enter this track.
Age is assessed as of the date of applying to file the application. A minor over 14 is required to fill in a curriculum-vitae form for security screening, and the position of the police and security agencies is required before a permit is issued. For a minor registered in the Area who is over 14 at the time of application, the Procedure provides for the grant of a DCL permit only, which is not upgraded. By contrast, granting a licence to a minor under 14 is not conditioned on agency screening of the foreign parent or of siblings over 14.
Under clause ב.9 of the Procedure, no fee is to be charged for granting a permanent-residence licence. A fee will be charged only where the minor is granted a temporary A/5 residence licence — and then only the A/5 fee applies. It is advisable to confirm the updated fee amount with the bureau at the time of filing.