Although Israel annexed East Jerusalem and imposed on its inhabitants the status of permanent Israeli residents, these residents are treated as if they were immigrants and their residency status is subject to conditions. Thus, for instance, the Ministry of the Interior revokes their residency status if they are naturalized in another country or if they live abroad for a continuous period exceeding seven years.
In 1985, a Palestinian woman who was born in Jerusalem moved to the United States with her husband, a Palestinian, resident of the Palestinian Occupied Territories (OPT), at his demand. During the first five years of their stay in the United States the spouses were "green card" holders, and were required to prove to the American authorities that their center of life was in the United States. Therefore, the woman refrained from visiting Jerusalem during that period. She was in a difficult mental state. She did not work, did not study and suffered from increasing loneliness.
In 1991 the spouses received American citizenship, and the demand to establish a center of life in the United States was removed. Consequently, the woman returned with her children to Jerusalem, but due to livelihood difficulties she returned to the United States. In 1996 she decided to return to Jerusalem with her four children and without her husband, and the five moved to live in her parents' home in Shu'fat. In 2001 the husband joined his family in Jerusalem, but eventually returned to the United States. The spouses separated and the connection with him was completely severed. The woman remained in Jerusalem with her five children, including a baby who was meanwhile born in Jerusalem.
In 2002 the woman found out that Israel revoked her status as an Israeli resident because she obtained foreign citizenship. Since then she has been trying to reinstate her status and arrange the status of her young son, who was born in Jerusalem.
On September 3, 2012, HaMoked turned to the Ministry of the Interior and requested to reinstate the residency status of the mother and arrange the status of the son. The application was denied and HaMoked appealed the decision. The Ministry of the Interior denied the appeal and HaMoked filed an appeal with the Appellate Committee for Foreigners. HaMoked pointed out that although, according to the law, residency may be revoked if citizenship was obtained in another country, the court held many times that when the case concerned a resident of East Jerusalem who wanted to return to his homeland, rather than an immigrant, the "burden of proof" imposed on such a person for the purpose of reinstating his residency was very light. HaMoked clarified that the woman proved, beyond any doubt, that she wanted to return to live in Jerusalem, since she has been living there continuously since 1996. Moreover, the woman declared that she was willing to renounce her American citizenship.
On May 27, 2014, more than a year and-a-half after the application was submitted, the Ministry of the Interior notified that it decided to reconsider the application and that a decision in the matter would be given within ninety days. The Ministry of the Interior requested the Appellate Committee for Foreigners to delete HaMoked's appeal, which was deleted without having given HaMoked an opportunity to contest it – inter alia in view of the fact that the request to delete the appeal was submitted on the same day on which the Appellate Committee was dissolved. As it became evident that the Ministry of the Interior was not making an effort to resolve the woman's case, and even failed to meet the generous schedule undertaken by it,
HaMoked filed an appeal with the Appeals Tribunal which was meanwhile established (and which replaced, inter alia, the Appellate Committee which was dissolved), and reiterated its demand to reinstate the residency status of the mother and arrange the status of the son.
In a notice to the Appeals Tribunal the Ministry of the Interior finally advised that the woman and her son would receive a temporary status in Israel for two years, following which the two would receive permanent residency in Israel. However, the Ministry of the Interior notified that the mother and her son should hold passports in which the residency visa in Israel would be stamped, despite the fact that the son has never been registered as an American citizen and did not have a passport in his possession. HaMoked objected to this senseless demand for passport, emphasized that the Israeli Ministry of the Interior could not obligate a person to register as a citizen in any country and insisted that the Appeals Tribunal resolved the issue.
On November 19, 2014
the Tribunal decided that the son did not have to hold a passport, as was required by the Ministry of the Interior. In addition, the Tribunal decided to obligate the Ministry of the Interior to pay costs of trial in the sum of NIS 2,000 and noted that the Ministry of the Interior should have already resolved the matter at an earlier stage when an appeal was filed by HaMoked.
