POSTERN

Israel

B/5 investor visa. A business visa built for American citizens only, reserved by treaty reciprocity with the US E-2 visa: put real money into a business you will run in Israel, and you and your family can live there while you run it.

Free · The law behind every answer · Checked Sep 24, 2026

B/5 investor visa

A two-year, renewable B/5 visa to live in Israel and run the business; no automatic work rights outside it.

Who qualifies

You keep your U.S. citizenship.

1

Does it fit your family?

One question, from the program’s own rules.

Savings you could move or invest?

Not legal advice.

2

What it takes.

Investment
About $215,000.
Time
3–6 months for the committee recommendation and visa issuance once the business plan and investment are in place.
Cost
The investment itself (about $160,000–270,000) plus legal and accounting fees to structure the business, typically $10,000–25,000.
The hard part
Building a real, operating business plan that convinces the interagency committee the investment is genuine and will employ Israelis, not a shell.

Dollar figures are converted from the local currency at the rate the program’s research used; the official figure is in the local currency.

3

This door stops short of a passport.

  1. 2027
    First residence permit

    2 years, renewable for 1 year at a time.

Language
Some knowledge of Hebrew; the law sets no level or test.
Time away
In Israel for three of the five years right before applying, and in Israel on the day of applying. The applicant must already hold the right to live in Israel permanently and must have settled or mean to settle there.
Two passports
It depends on the rules at the time and on your home country.
  • Time on this program does not count toward permanent residence or citizenship; the family would need to switch to one that does.
  • A temporary business visa: it gives no right to permanent residence, which Israeli naturalisation requires first, so the years do not build toward a passport on their own.
  • Permanent residence for a foreigner with no Jewish or family tie is at the Interior Ministry's discretion, with no published number of years; a B/5 holder has no rule-based route to it, so permanence is shown as none.
  • The law asks naturalising applicants to give up their old citizenship, but the minister may waive that (s. 6(d)); how often the waiver is granted is not published.
  • The Population Authority's naturalisation page (gov.il) blocks automated reads; the conditions come from the statute text.
  • No official decision-time figure found.
The law behind these dates
4

Living there.

Time you must spend there
No fixed day count in the visa rules, but tax residence and renewal both assume the applicant is actually living in Israel and running the business.
Tax
Becoming an Israeli tax resident (generally 183+ days a year) brings worldwide income into Israeli tax, though new residents get a 10-year exemption on foreign-source income and reporting.

We never file a tax return. We tell you what applies and brief the professional who does.

5

Start today.

  1. Start with Israel's Population and Immigration Authority (PIBA).Open gov.il ↗
  2. Round up the papers.
    • Proof of the funds to invest: about $215,000, and where they came from
    • Request your FBI Identity History Summary
    • Health cover for the move
6

Or let us run it.

$900for your first year as a founding member. Then $399 a year, automatically.Standard first year: $1,200. Everyone renews at $399.One membership, the whole family. Accounts and activation included.

16 steps, from the first paper to every renewal. You do 4 of them: send what we ask for, sign, and show up. We run the rest, and keep every permit renewed on time. Accounts and activation are included, whether you move now or keep the plan ready. Accounts depend on provider availability. Government, record and approved third-party charges are extra.

Run it for my family →
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ISSUED TO

YOUR FAMILY

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