An Israeli citizen and a Philippine national submitted an application to regularize her status in Israel based on their shared life as common-law partners. The foreign national entered Israel legally but resided there illegally for about twenty years after abandoning her lawful employer. The couple contended a long-standing romantic relationship but only recently applied to the Population and Immigration Authority to regularize the status. The Authority rejected the application due to substantial doubts regarding the sincerity of the relationship, after material contradictions were found in their interviews, including a commercial-style prenuptial agreement and support letters entirely handwritten by the Israeli partner.
The Court rejected the application of the woman for status in Israel. A foreign national who maintains a common-law relationship with an Israeli citizen is eligible to receive Israeli citizenship through naturalization in a gradual process, subject to the broad discretion of the Minister of Interior and a comprehensive examination of the sincerity of the relationship and the center of life in Israel. A prolonged illegal stay in Israel directly affects the evidentiary burden placed on status applicants, significantly increasing it, especially regarding common-law partners. Additionally, awareness of the illegal stay and the failure to regularize it for years constitutes unclean hands, which may in itself justify rejecting the application. Here, numerous contradictions were discovered in the information provided by the couple, and a commercial-style prenuptial agreement along with support letters handwritten by the Israeli partner were presented, alongside the foreign partner's lengthy illegal stay. Moreover, the couple demonstrated a continuous disregard for immigration laws and judicial decisions. Therefore, the woman's status application was rejected.