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Hi all!

I'm a Canadian who is currently working and living as an au pair in Spain. In November 2013, I took a weekend trip from Spain to Morocco. In September 2014, I am supposed to be entering Israel at Tel-Aviv to volunteer at a hostel for 3 months. (It's one of those work for a certain amount of hours/day in exchange for bed and food deals).

Anyways, I've heard that I could have some troubles entering the country if I have stamps from Morocco. Does anyone know if this is true? I'm just quite nervous about being deported over this and not even getting to enter the country at all. Any tips or advice or knowledge anyone could contribute would be so great!

Teresa

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1

You have heard wrong. Israel does not refuse entry to people just because of passport stamps. In any case, the Moroccan stamp is not problematic because (a) so many Europeans vacation in Morocco, and (b) even Israelis visit Morocco. Hundreds of tourists enter Israel daily from Jordan with stamps from various Arab and Muslim countries. My cousin recently entered Israel with Lebanese stamps in his passport and he wasn't really questioned ! You will have no problem if the purpose of your visit is tourism.

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2

I think you got it the wrong way around. Having visited an Arab country is not as such a reason for refusal of a visa by Israel. Several Arab countries however deny visas if you have visited Israel. As long as you are not considered a security threat and went to Morocco as a tourist rather than an army or terrorist fighter, chances are very high that you will be allowed into Israel. If you use the search functionality within this forum you will read multiple times that you will surely be questioned about your stay but that's it. And no, Israel does not seem to systematically deport anybody who has ever visited any country other than their country of origin... ;-)

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3

Hey guys, thanks for the replies. They've made me feel quite a bit better. Sounds like the most likely scenario is that I'll just be questioned and then sent on my way.

(I had done some initial research on this and found a few stories of people being denied entry into Israel based on some odd things, but I guess you have to take everything you read on the Internet with a grain of salt. Anyways, these were the stories that had initially got me a little frightened, so thanks for calming me down a little!)

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4

And just so you know, Israel no longer stamps passports at Ben-Gurion Airport, so if you fly in and out (rather than using a land border) you'll have no evidence in your passport if you want to visit countries that do deny entry to those with evidence of a visit to Israel.

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Anyways, I've heard that I could have some troubles entering the country if I have stamps from Morocco.

You heard very wrong. As mentioned above, Israelis themselves visit Morocco. I even doubt that security will question you because of the Moroccan stamp. C'mon over and enjoy! :)

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6

I entered Israel ok with numerous 'exotic' stamps (Afghanistan, Yemen etc.) and had no issues.

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7

Thanks for the replies!

I had e-mailed my the embassy to Israel in my country and asked a question (at the same time I started the thread here). I just got an answer, and it's pretty much in line with what's been said here: I could get questioned about my trip but it won't actually prevent me from entering the country.

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