The Knesset Finance Committee today approved a Ministry of the Interior proposal allowing the Population Registry Office at Ben Gurion Airport to reissue an expired passport. It will not issue a first passport, or replace a lost, or stolen passport. An Israeli passport expires after ten years.
The service will cost NIS 440, double the fee for issuing a passport at Ministry of the Interior regional offices. The double fee will be waived only in special humanitarian cases, such injury or death of a close relative abroad.
Minister of the Interior Ophir Pines-Paz argued that the high fee was necessary because the service required 24-hour service by the Population Registry Office at Ben Gurion Airport, which involves high salary costs, including night shifts, which were not included in the ministry’s budget.
Until now, the Population Registry Office at Ben Gurion Airport’s services were limited to extending a valid passport for up to ten years, for a NIS 290 fee. Ministry of the Interior regional offices charge no fee for extending a passport.
No date has been set for the new service to begin.
The Finance Committee also approved another proposal by Pines-Paz raising the age for a minor’s passport from 17 to 18. The fee for a minor’s passport will be NIS 75, and will be valid for five years, with no need for an extension or new picture.
Following the Finance Committee’s decision, Pines-Paz said this was another in a series of measures being undertaken by the Ministry of the Interior “to provide high-quality and accessible service for the general public.”
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on August 23, 2005