top of page

Ten Years of Battling Red Tape

  • Noa Sattath
  • May 20
  • 3 min read

May 20, 2026



A love story should be epic because of the feelings involved. It should involve romance, excitement, and starry-eyed walks on moonlit nights. It should not be epic because of the amount of bureaucracy involved, or the number of court appearances, or the years until the couple can be certain that they will be allowed to remain together.  

 

Yael and Goiya met after Goiya arrived in Israel as a refugee from Sudan. In 2016, after four years together and in anticipation of many more, the couple decided to start the citizenship process for Goiya. As the partner of an Israeli citizen, there are processes that would allow Goiya to obtain citizenship. But although the Population and Immigration Authority determined that the relationship was genuine, it refused to allow Goiya to begin the process unless he produced a passport and authenticated documents from Sudan. This is, essentially, impossible: because of war and extreme political instability, any documents that do exist are not easily accessible, and because Sudan did not recognize the State of Israel at the time it would not have sent any documents anyway.  

 

This would be the start of a decade of legal battles with the Population and Immigration Authority to allow Goiya to become a citizen—and allow the couple to live securely in the knowledge that they could build a permanent home together in Israel. In spite of consistent court rulings in favor of Goiya’s requests for permanent residency and then citizenship, the Population and Immigration Authority has been relentless in its attempts to block Goiya’s path to citizenship, something he is entitled to as the partner of an Israeli. It is hard to imagine that the Population and Immigration Authority would be as invested in preventing Goiya from living his life in Israel with his Israeli partner if Goiya were white, if Goiya were from a country other than Sudan, and certainly not if Goiya were Jewish. Each attempt by the Population and Immigration Authority to impede the process means more time in court, and more living in uncertainty.  

At the end of April, after yet another attempt to condition any decision on Goiya’s citizenship status on receiving authenticated documents from Sudan, Judge Michal Agmon-Gonen ruled that the repeated requests for documents from Sudan were not made in good faith, and that the prolonged delays in rendering a decision, the attempt to drag the couple into additional court proceedings, and the repeated insistence on documents from Sudan were unfair. The judge ordered the Population and Immigration Authority to grant Goiya citizenship. She also ordered the Population and Immigration Authority to pay Yael and Goiya 40,000 NIS (about 14,000 USD): “...especially in light of the Authority’s outrageous conduct regarding the arguments against the partnership between Goiya and Yael.” 

 


 


This is where I wanted to end the story: with the news that Goiya is soon to become a citizen, and that he and Yael will live happily ever after. But the Population and Immigration Authority is appealing the decision, forcing Yael and Goiya back to court. The stability and comfort that we so often take for granted in finding a partner to share our life with is still being denied them. 

 

ACRI has been with Yael and Goiya through it all, and we will continue to fight on their behalf. After the most recent court victory, Yael wrote: “We are especially grateful to the amazing people at ACRI, foremost Attorney Oded Feller, who has accompanied us for years with endless generosity, professionalism, and sensitivity, and who has dedicatedly fought on our behalf and on behalf of couples like us.”  

 

We want to turn the epic story of Yael and Goiya vs. The Immigration and Population Authority into the epic love story of Yael and Goiya. They, and other couples like them, are entitled to one. Donate now.  


More News from ACRI

bottom of page