Israel B/5 Investor Visa

Country

Israel

Program

Israel B/5 Investor Visa

Local name

אשרה ורישיון לישיבת ביקור מסוג ב/5 (משקיע זר)

Type

Investor visa

Status

Active

Renewable

Yes

Visitor visa and residence license for a US citizen who invests in order to develop and manage an active business in Israel. There is no published investment floor. The investor must own at least half of the venture or have operational control of it, and the venture must be more than a livelihood for the family. A spouse and children under 21 may receive linked visitor licenses. The holder is expected to leave Israel when the license expires.

Tax regime

Worldwide

Regime name

Israel progressive tax (10-50%)

Foreign income taxed

Yes

Capital gains taxed

Yes

Method

consulate, in country

Apply from abroad

Yes

Regulation 5A of the Entry into Israel Regulations, 5734-1974, is the legal basis. The only arrangement state in the Second Schedule is the United States. A citizen of an arrangement state includes a person who holds a valid passport of that state. The investor must, before applying, have actually committed a significant amount of capital to the venture. The capital must be enough to run it, must be at economic risk, must show an irrevocable commitment, and must have a lawful source that the investor owns and controls. The venture must be a company or business established in Israel, controlled and managed in Israel, and aimed at profit. It must be active, capable of economic growth and jobs, and not marginal. A marginal venture is one whose activity is expected only to support the investor and the family, unless it has a real prospect of a significant contribution to the Israeli economy within a reasonable time. No shekel or dollar minimum is published, so there is no investment option with an amount. The Minister of the Interior decides after an advisory committee. The committee is chaired by the Population and Immigration Authority and includes the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Labor, Welfare and Social Services. A recommendation needs at least three members. The B/5 license is only for developing and managing that venture. It is not a general work permit. Holders of the licenses in regulation 5A are exempt from the ordinary foreign-worker employment permit. A B/51 license is for an essential employee who is also a US citizen and who will advance the same venture. A B/52 spouse may live in Israel and work in any job, including outside the venture. A B/53 child must be under 21. Each of them must intend to leave when the license expires. The license is a visitor license. The Entry into Israel Law allows a visitor license of up to three months. The Minister may extend a visitor license, and the extension periods together may not exceed two years, unless a foreign-worker rule or the special-contribution rule applies. A 2018 regulation lists meeting the B/5, B/51 or B/52 conditions as a special contribution that can support further extensions of up to one year each. The Population and Immigration Authority procedure that sets the permit actually issued is number 5.3.0030, in force from 1 May 2019 and updated on 8 July 2021. Its PDF could not be opened, so no initial length or processing time is stored. From 1 January 2026 the fee for a first B/5, B/51, B/52 or B/53 visa and license is 830 NIS, and the fee for an extension is 710 NIS. At the Bank of Israel representative rate on 9 October 2026, 1 US dollar was 3.055 shekels, so 830 NIS is about $272 and 710 NIS is about $232. The same 830 NIS fee applies to the spouse and to the child, and is stored as the dependent fee. If the holder is an Israeli tax resident, tax is worldwide. Residence is the center of life, with a rebuttable presumption at 183 days in the tax year, or 30 days in that year when the total with the two preceding years is 425 days. A part of a day counts. Earned-income brackets for 2026 run from 10% to 47%, plus 3% above 721,560 NIS. The ten-year exemption for new immigrants does not come with this license. The license does not lead to permanent residence or citizenship.

• Tourist Visa B/2 (Remote Work Tolerance)digital nomad visa

1. Oct 10, 2026

   Added

   added the US B/5 investor visitor license from regulation 5A, as amended in 2018, with no published investment minimum and a first fee of 830 NIS, about $272 (https://www.btl.gov.il/Laws1/02_0057_100000.pdf) (https://olaw.org.il/takanot/takanot-12255.pdf).