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DansDeals commenter Eileen Greenspun posted,
“A warning to those who have sent documents to the consulate in New York — DON’T email to check if you’re approved. I did, and was notified that those who send emails go to the end of the list. So now I have to wait still longer to hear if I can leave the day after Shavuot! Oy!“
Could this be for real? That might be the most Israeli response I’ve ever heard!
But sure enough, DDF member cubicles shares that he applied for permission to travel to Israel back on April 20th. He is trying to visit his father in an old age home.
When he inquired on May 6th about the status of his application, he got back this auto-reply with the same warning,
“4. Do not send more than one email for the same application – every additional email that is sent for the same application resents [sic] the place of the application to the end of the line and prevents the department from processing your application on time”
Wow.
DDF member cubicles says that he had to reschedule his flight to Israel multiple times and still has not received permission to enter the country, some 3 weeks after applying!
It sure seems like having a relative in Israel go to the Misrad Hapnim is the best way to apply for permission to travel to Israel. But that’s not feasible if you’re just trying to visit an elderly parent in an old age home for the first time since before the pandemic. 🙁
Israel needs to rectify this situation. The hoops that people have to jump through in order to visit their first degree relatives are beyond absurd!
How long have you waited to get an ishur to enter Israel? How did you apply to enter?
I got my ishur after a few hours!
My relative went to misrad hapnim with all the documents, got approved on the spot and got the ishur a few hours later by email.
How can that relative go on my behalf??? They don’t need to be legally authorized to speak on my behalf ?
He is inviting me, and i gave him all my documents.
Does the relative who applies for permit in israel has to be your sister or brother? Can I visit my Aunt and Uncle?
No. Israeli is only allowing people in to visit first degree relatives at this time
good luck getting an appointment in the misrad hapnim, or camp out from 5am for a chance to get in
How long did he wait to get into the Misrad Hapnim though!!!
the NY consulate is arrogant I sent to Washington , was a pleasure, people also tried Miami
hotzlacha
consular@washington.mfa.gov.il
google the others…
If I live in NY can I use those consulates?
No, I tried
Me and my sister got exact same response.
I had to cancel my ticket this morning :(.
Going to miss my sisters wedding.
Instead of saying, “A warning to those who have sent documents to the consulate in New York — DON’T email to check if you’re approved….”
It should say, “A warning to those who have sent documents to the consulate in New York — PLEASE email to check if you’re approved, so your application gets moved back and mine gets bumped back up…”
Lol
Dan thanks for bringing this some attention. The whole process is insanity. Even if you go in person they only accept 20 people per day. And if you get there at 4am it’s too late. Some locations totally stopped in person applications. This needs to stop and it needs to stop NOW. Also, antibody testing needs to be set up at the airport. The entire process is 1,532 steps and it’s about time it changes.
Wow. You literally cannot get any more Israeli than this.
Wait and see… So far they exceeded all expectations!
This out-Israeli’s the to-date Israeliness. But you still never know what’s next…
Can you send the actual link to apply for permit?
You think Israel actually would make a simple portal like that?
LOL!
Beyond crazy. When will all this madness stop? When are they just going to let people travel to Israel without having to jump through all these hoops? Its bizarre.
Sounds like they use email threading, and sort their inbox by old to new. So sending a new email pushes the email to the top so it gets processed last. It may not be done maliciously – just how it works.
That’s what I speculated 😀
https://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=90920.msg2443601#msg2443601
Still, that’s a ridiculous system.
So here’s an idea – if you need to check on the status of an application, use a DIFFERENT email address and DIFFERENT subject line.
“Israel needs to rectify this situation. The hoops that people have to jump through in order to visit their first degree relatives are beyond absurd!”
The ENTIRE purpose of having all those hoops is to reduce the number of people coming to the country. They will make it easier when they WANT more people to come and not a day earlier.
It took my parents many months before they received permission to enter.
I applied through the NY consulate on 4/20 and finally arrived today!
It took several cancellations and extreme frustrations. Dozen documents in a PDF smaller than 5 mb. Resending because NY has their own version of isolation form, waiting, reference number, waiting yet again and finally ishur.
Now starts a whole new process. PCR within 72 hours. 2 forms within 24 hours, print and sort. Order Check2Fly, order Serology test.
Got to the airport. The United lady couldn’t read Hebrew but looked for the dates and started counting (24 hours).
Once I passed this stage everything else went smoothly.
Process at TLV runs extremely smooth. Takes minutes to go through all the hoops. PCR line to register and line for swab takes less than 5 minutes.
One final process awaits. Getting serology results and getting MOH to recognize it.
I sent mine in. They responded. Then I answered there question. Today I cancel my flight tomorrow evening because of this. There must be another to speak to them when time is short
I applied with all my docs 4 days ago. Got an immediate auto response as above, and haven’t heard anything yet
Also, has anyone had experience with emailing the NY consulate, not getting an answer and then emailing a different consulate and getting permission?
I know someone who’s son is to get married to an Israeli girl about a week after Shavuos, and the father, mother and Choson don’t have their permits yet. Needless to describe how nervous they are hoping they’ll be able to make it.
As an FYI there’s a warning about this on the Consulate’s landing page with all the instructions for the Ishur https://embassies.gov.il/new-york-he/Pages/covid19permits.aspx
So while it’s really terrible policy they do warn about it in advance.
That was just added yesterday
I applied to travel this Wednesday and still haven’t heard either way but I hear people line up at 5:00am for a place to receive one of 30 ishurim issued per day so those of us who applied online forget it we don’t stand a chance
are you saying they issue 30 per day period, or just to the people who line up?
Part of the miracle of Israel is they have a government that makes the current us government look normal yet they succeed as they do.
Yes, the great ho-tech start-up nation.
They’re good at starting up with just about everybody
I think it’s also funny that the documents need to be in one PDF “not exceeding 5MG” – that’s as much as a one year old takes of Motrin!!
I got my ishur through the consul in California. Originally they told me to apply in my state, which is NY. After waiting long enough & not getting any response I emailed to the consul in California again & got it within a few hours. They were very helpful.
Is that in Los Angeles or San Francisco?
There are two consulates in CA and I’m not really impressed with the one in LA.
Los Angeles.
do you have the email address ?
I just received a permit tonight for my husband whose flight is tomorrow (I was going online to cancel his flight at 5pm Pacific time, when our LA office closed, and saw the permit from that they had just sent)! BUT considering I only applied late on April 30th, which is less than the minimum 7 business days they require, I’m just happy I got it. The LA consulate has a Google form where you submit the info and a PDF of the documents. I never heard anything from them until I got the permit tonight. I did email them to check in last week just nicely asking if they needed any further info but never got a response either way. They did at least have a link with a form to easily submit everything so maybe an enterprising DDFer can set up a Google form for the other consulates?
I don’t feel bad for any of you
Sit like me in the us with first degree relative in Israel
It’s fine
Israel doesn’t need visitors at this time
And doesn’t owe you anything
The arrogance of “Israel need to do this ot that “ is yours.
wow! listen to you judging! Not that I owe you an explanation, but my elderly mother is having surgery and there is nobody to help her recover but me. So I need to get there. Not everyone trying to go is going on vacation or to tour
Refuah Shleima to your Mom.
It took us three months, four tries, one failed trip up to EWR from Atlanta and turned around…..and finally a lot of help from our son in Israel….and we finally got here. Our son needed surgery, and he was alone.
Try to get someone to send your application into the Misrad haPanim (Interior Department) here in Israel.
I wish you success. I fyou have any friends here, try to have them contact Dov Lipman, the ex-member of Knesset. He has personally helped many smooth the dysfunctional process.
Thank you for your kind words and advice
A good time to get an Israeli citizenship.
Very good. Just stay out of israel and do us a favor.
The Washington office was great.
They did NOT ask me why I don’t contact ny. Try the Washington consulate or maimi
Thanks. I just emailed them. Hope it doesn’t mess up my NY request, but based on the feedback above, I really have nothing to lose
where do you reside?
TY Aaron. I got my permission today from the Washington consulate. I ilve in NYC and sent it to NY over a week ago with no answer. I got the permission after 3 days from washington
I Live in NY and sent my documents to the NY and Washington embassies, and received permits from Washington after about 3 days and from NY after about 1 week.
How long ago was this?
2-3 weeks ago
are you Aaron?