Common-law spouses of Israeli citizens can apply for legal status in Israel by virtue of the Interior Ministry’s procedure for common-law spouses. Requests such as these are submitted mostly by people for whom there is a legal or religious impediment to marriage, such as same-sex couples, spouses of different religions and so on. It should be emphasized that permanent residence status which is obtained under the present procedure lasts for seven years, during which the Office issues the foreign spouse a yearly type B/1 visa which is good for one year. Every year the Interior Ministry will reconsider the continued processing of the application, and whether to grant an additional temporary license to the applicant