Jerusalem & Tel Aviv Visa Interviews Postponed as U.S. Consulates Operate in Crisis-Only Mode

Although first announced on February 27, the State Department’s suspension of routine visa interviews at Embassy Jerusalem and the Tel Aviv Branch Office became fully operational this week, with applicants originally booked for March 2-6 receiving cancellation e-mails and no indication of when normal scheduling will resume. The consular sections remain open only for emergency U.S.-citizen services as regional hostilities intensify. For global mobility managers, the blackout means that Israeli talent headed to U.S. headquarters—or executives planning quick B-1 troubleshooting trips—must now re-route to third-country embassies such as Athens, Bucharest or Dubai, where appointment backlogs already stretch 60-90 days. E-2 investors and O-1 artists caught in mid-process face especially acute uncertainty, because their petitions may expire or lose project viability before a new slot can be secured. Air-travel disruption adds another complication. Most U.S. and European carriers have suspended service into Ben Gurion Airport, forcing travelers to transit via Jordan or Egypt—routes that often lack U.S. Customs and Border Protection pre-clearance, thereby adding secondary screening risk on arrival in the United States. Companies should factor additional travel days and costs into mobility budgets and consider remote-onboarding solutions where possible. Immigration counsel note that USCIS premium processing inside the U.S. remains unaffected, so a change-of-status strategy may be viable for Israeli nationals already stateside. Employers must, however, watch the I-94 expiration clock to avoid unlawful-presence accrual. State will publish an update when security conditions permit limited reopening, but insiders warn that capacity is unlikely to normalize before the end of Q2 2026. Mobility stakeholders should therefore treat Israel-based visa issuance as effectively off-line for the immediate future.