Center for the Defence of the Individual - Following HaMoked's petition, the Interior Ministry grants permanent residency to the daughter of a Jerusalem resident: her three brothers await the decision of the Justice Ministry in their matter
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חזרה לעמוד הקודם
14.04.2011

Following HaMoked's petition, the Interior Ministry grants permanent residency to the daughter of a Jerusalem resident: her three brothers await the decision of the Justice Ministry in their matter

Background

After years of living in Hebron, a Jerusalemite mother returned with her five children to live in Jerusalem following her husband's death. All her children, including the eldest daughter who was born in Jerusalem, were registered in the population registry of the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). Upon their return to Jerusalem, the mother applied to obtain Israeli status for her children. 

At first it was revealed that the Interior Ministry had revoked the mother's residency. The court then ruled that the revocation had been illegal and that her status should be reinstated as of the revocation date. After the Interior Ministry and the National Insurance Institute (NII) reinstated her status, the mother applied to register her children in the Israeli population registry. The Interior Ministry accepted her application for the two youngest children – issuing them with temporary residency visas – but refused to register the three elder children, as they were over 12 years old by that time.  
The Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law (Temporary Order) (hereinafter: Temporary Order), originally prescribed that "OPT resident" children over the age of 12 cannot be entered in the Israeli population registry. In 2005, the Temporary Order was amended, raising the cutoff age to 14. Children older than 14 may receive stay permits from the District Coordination Offices (DCO).

The eldest daughter's case

In March 2006, HaMoked filed an administrative petition to compel the Interior Ministry to grant Israeli status to the three eldest children. In the petition, HaMoked argued that the mother of the family is a permanent Israeli resident, and that the entire family relocated to Jerusalem in 1999 following the death of the father. HaMoked claimed further, that objective of the Entry into Israel Law, inasmuch as it pertains to children, is to grant children the same status as their parents, and therefore in this case, the children must be given Israeli status. 

The court ruled that the mother must reapply for status for the two elder boys, as they were over 14 years old and may receive DCO permits in order to remain in Jerusalem legally, according to the amended Temporary Order. The issue of the eldest, Israeli-born daughter, remained pending. 

In August 2008, the court ruled that the eldest daughter's case must be considered under regulation 12 of the Entry into Israel Regulations, since she, unlike her siblings, was born in Israel. According to Regulation 12, a child born in Israel to a permanent resident is to receive the status of permanent resident, provided that he proves that he and his resident parent maintain their center of life together in Israel. The court ruled that the eldest daughter's application must be processed, as it had been filed before she turned 18. Furthermore, although she had lived most of her life in the OPT, if she proved she had been living in Israel on and around the date of filing the application, she must be granted status under Regulation 12. Judge Sobel thereby applied the ruling in the 'Aweisat case, handed down a week earlier.

But the court ruling was insufficient to resolve the girl's status. On the recommendation of the court, HaMoked reapplied in December 2008, for permanent residency for the eldest daughter and her two younger brothers. The Interior Ministry again refused, on the grounds that the daughter still maintained ties to the OPT, as she visits her uncles in Hebron. In September 2009, HaMoked appealed to the Appellate Committee for Foreigners against the refusal, arguing, inter alia, that the applicant refrains from visiting the said uncles, out of fear she would be denied to return to her home in Jerusalem. After 18 months without reply, HaMoked filed a petition in the matter to the Court for Administrative Affairs. This prompted the committee chair to finally issue a ruling in October 2010, instructing the Interior Ministry to grant permanent residency to the eldest daughter.

Conclusion

In January 2011, the Ministry decision was implemented at long last, and the eldest daughter was registered as a permanent resident of Israel. Yet, the family’s Interior Ministry case remains open – the youngest daughter is waiting for her upgrade to permanent residency, pending the Supreme Court's ruling in the Srur case. Proceedings in the matter of the boys, whose presence in Jerusalem has been regulated by renewable DCO permits, are still underway. In both instances, HaMoked argued that since none have ties to the OPT, and the Interior Ministry has no cause to determine otherwise – similarly to the already resolved issue of the eldest daughter's ties – so must they be regarded as foreign citizens and be given a two year temporary status to be later upgraded to permanent residency.

HaMoked calls on the Interior Ministry to give uniform status to all members of the family. Of this six-member household, only three are permanent residents, while the others are each in a different procedural stage.

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