US Ambassador David Friedman
Photo: Reuven Castro
US Consular Agency in Haifa to close its doors in September
The Haifa agency, which provides services to thousands of American citizens living in northern Israel, will be closed until further notice. US citizens will have to turn to the Jerusalem Embassy or Tel Aviv Consulate for consular services.
The US Consular Agency in the northern city of Haifa will be closed until further notice starting September 1.
The agency, which is located on 26 Ben Gurion Boulevard, provides consular services to US citizens, including issuing and renewing passports, birth registration, notarial services, name changes, and more.
To receive those services, a US citizen in Israel had to set an appointment for a meeting with the American consul, who would come to Haifa.
US Consular Agency in Haifa (Photo: google earth)
The consular agency helped thousands of American citizens living in northern Israel, saving them the hassle of traveling to Tel Aviv or Jerusalem for these services.
But an announcement made by the US Embassy in Jerusalem said that "The US Consular Agency in Haifa will be closed for public services from September 1, 2018, until further notice. This includes appointments for American Citizen Services (passports, Consular Reports of Birth Abroad, notarial services, and other special consular services)."
American citizens will now have to turn to the US Embassy in Jerusalem or the consulate in Tel Aviv, and those who set appointments for September 1 and later would have to move their meetings to the Tel Aviv consulate.
An official at the US Embassy explained the "suspension of services is part of internal planning of the embassy and of administrative reasons."
