The end of queues? This is how you will issue a biometric passport without leaving your home

For several years now, the Ministry of the Interior has been trying all kinds of creative ways to deal with the plight of queues at passport issuing offices. The long lines, which started somewhere during the Corona epidemic, plagued many Israelis and caused many people to travel from one end of the country to another in search of free lines.

So after trying to alleviate the hardship with temporary passports and opening passport issuing complexes in several large cities, now comes the new solution: do it yourself.

Starting today (Tuesday), anyone who needs a new passport or identity card will be able to obtain them by applying on the website of the Ministry of the Interior, so that for the first time you will not have to physically come to the offices of the Population and Immigration Authority.

Of course there are terms and conditions, here is everything you need to know before you start the process:

1. The process will only be possible for those aged 18 and over.

2. Issuing a biometric passport from home will be possible for those who have been issued a biometric passport in the past and its validity has expired in the last six months, or it is valid a year ahead.

3. Issuance of a passport will be possible for those who submitted an application at the bureau for biometric documentation before, between the ages of 21-60. This means that those who have a biometric passport or identity card, who approved the storage of fingerprints in the database at the time of the previous issuance, will be able to submit an application remotely.

4. Submitting an application will only be granted to those who are in Israel at the time of submitting the application.

5. The identity card or passport that will be issued will be biometric and valid for a maximum of five years. This condition limits anyone who plans to issue a visa to the USA, since Americans are strict about visas valid for ten years.

6. As in the case of issuing a passport at the bureau, its arrival time will be about six weeks.