Israel eases licensing barriers for new immigrant psychologists

The government has approved a plan to ease licensing requirements for immigrant psychologists, allowing officials to be more flexible in evaluating psychology degrees, clinical training and professional experience obtained outside Israel.

Under the decision, put forward by Health Minister Haim Katz and Immigration and Absorption Minister Ofir Sofer, licensing authorities will be able to consider differences in psychology training programs across countries and to recognize foreign qualifications as equivalent to Israeli requirements when they meet legal and professional standards.

About 50 psychologists from around the world have already applied this year to immigrate to Israel and practice their profession, the ministries say. The new policy will allow professional committees to begin reviewing their credentials even before they arrive in the country.

The move follows other recent efforts to remove licensing barriers for regulated professions and comes amid a widespread lack of psychologists to deal with the mental health crisis since October 7, 2023.

Immigrants have long complained that Israel’s lengthy licensing processes for professions like medicine, engineering, social work, education, and finance prevent them from finding jobs in their fields, and in some cases, discourage them from moving to Israel.

More than 1,000 immigrant physicians have joined Israel’s health system over the past two years through initiatives designed to streamline the process, the Immigration and Absorption Ministry says.