Non-Jewish Elderly Parents

Frequently, non-Jewish spouses arriving in Israel under the Law of Return have elderly non-Jewish parents that are not entitled to emigrate under this Law and are left behind in their country of origin. Often times, immigrating non-Jewish spouses are their parents' sole offspring and their children are their parents only grandchildren. When the non-Jewish spouse's parents become elderly and one of the parents dies in his/her country of origin, the other parent finds him/herself cut off from the family, with no close relatives to care for and financially support him/her during his/her final years.

Since these elderly non-Jewish parents are not entitled to immigrate to Israel under the Law of Return, until a few years ago they were not allowed to come to Israel and live with their families.  Former Interior Ministers instituted a regulation, which has been amended several times, which allows these elderly parents to join their families in Israel. According to the current wording of this regulation, a parent who is over 60 years old and has no other children other than those living in Israel can receive a temporary visa which allows him/her to work in Israel.  This visa is renewed on a yearly basis. At a later point, he/she will be granted temporary residency and, several years later, may even be entitled to permanent residency and later on Israeli citizenship.

Nevertheless, two main problems still exist with regard to the implementation of this regulation. The first is that during the time in which the elderly parent is residing in Israel on a temporary visa, he/she is not entitled to national health insurance. Private insurance companies will not agree to insure elderly individuals, thus leading to a situation in which elderly parents stay in Israel without any health insurance whatsoever. This situation can last several years if the parent is between the ages of 60-70, and suppose to last only one year if the parent is over the age of 70.

The second problem is that in spite of the existence of the above-mentioned regulation, many immigrant families are unable to resolve their elderly parent's legal civil status vis-?-vis the Ministry of Interior. Ministry officials frequently fail to inform immigrant families about the existence of this regulation and notify them that the parent should leave the country. In other cases, Ministry officials create various bureaucratic obstacles for these families, such as demanding non-existent documents from their country of origin. Sometimes, the Ministry is not satisfied with the descendants listing in the parent's foreign ID card, and requests that a document be provided which proves that the child living in Israel is the parent's sole offspring. Such a document does not exist in the former Soviet Union.

The combination of the Ministry's harsh policy and its lack of communication with immigrant families often creates many situations in which the elderly parents remain in Israel without any type of visa. According to estimates by AMF, there are approximately 400 elderly immigrants from the former Soviet Union who are residing in Israel with their families and who fall into this category. These elderly individuals have no health insurance and live in constant fear of deportation. Deportation to their countries of origin would relegate them to a lonely life far away from their only family.

Personal Story: The Pasenkov Family, Karmiel