What is Israel's Aliyah under the Law of Return?

Jews, the children and grandchildren of Jews, and their spouses. The overwhelming majority of people who move to Israel do so this way. It lasts immediate and permanent — this is not a temporary status. It confers Israeli citizenship on or shortly after arrival, not residence. Israel permits dual nationality, so you generally keep your existing passport.

What is Israel's B/1 Expert work visa?

Foreign specialists whose expertise is not readily available in Israel, sponsored by an Israeli employer. The main route for anyone not eligible for Aliyah. It lasts typically granted for up to a year at a time and renewable while the employment and the salary threshold hold, but total time in B/1 status is capped at 63 months (five years and three months) except in exceptional cases. Very limited. The expert visa is explicitly temporary and does not lead to permanent residence or citizenship. Israel does not operate a points-based settlement route for non-Jewish migrants.

What is Israel's Spouse of an Israeli citizen (graduated A/5 process)?

Non-Jewish spouses and partners of Israeli citizens, who are not covered by the Law of Return in their own right. It lasts a multi-year graduated process, commonly cited at around four and a half years for married couples before permanent status. Permanent residence and then possible naturalisation at the end of the graduated process — but it is discretionary and the review at each stage is substantive.

What is Israel's A/2 student visa?

Students at Israeli universities, yeshivas and recognised programmes. It lasts course length, renewed annually. None. Study time does not lead to residence or citizenship for those not eligible for Aliyah.

GlobeQuest

Moving from France to Israel

What your passport gets you at the border — and what it takes to actually stay.

France

IsraelShort stay

Travel authorisation

France passport holders need an electronic travel authorisation before flying to Israel. It's an online form, usually approved quickly, and lighter than a full e-visa.

This is short-stay visitor policy only. It does not let you work, study or settle in Israel — that needs a residence permit.

Passport Index · updated 17 February 2026Israel's official immigration service

Long stay

How you actually move to Israel

FamilyHigh confidenceVerified August 2026

Aliyah under the Law of Return

Jews, the children and grandchildren of Jews, and their spouses. The overwhelming majority of people who move to Israel do so this way.

What you need

Eligibility under the Law of Return: being Jewish, or having a Jewish parent or grandparent, or being the spouse of someone eligible
Documentary proof of Jewish descent — typically birth, marriage and community records, often the hardest part
No criminal record that would trigger exclusion
Approval through the Jewish Agency and the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration

How long it lasts: Immediate and permanent — this is not a temporary status.
Path to permanent residence: It confers Israeli citizenship on or shortly after arrival, not residence. Israel permits dual nationality, so you generally keep your existing passport.
Cost: No government fee for the status itself. The Jewish Agency and associated organisations provide support, and new immigrants receive an absorption package.
Processing time: Months, driven almost entirely by assembling and verifying genealogical documentation.

Worth knowing

This is a citizenship route, which makes it categorically different from every other entry on this page — there is no residence permit to renew and no clock to run.
Documentation is the whole difficulty. Records destroyed or scattered across pre-war Europe or the former Soviet Union routinely take a year or more to reconstruct.
New immigrants receive substantial benefits — Hebrew instruction (ulpan), tax concessions, customs exemptions — administered by the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration.

Sources:Ministry of Aliyah and Integration Population and Immigration Authority

Work / sponsoredMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

B/1 Expert work visa

Foreign specialists whose expertise is not readily available in Israel, sponsored by an Israeli employer. The main route for anyone not eligible for Aliyah.

What you need

A work permit obtained by the employer from PIBA before the visa is issued — you cannot apply for yourself from a consulate
Salary of at least twice the average Israeli wage — the defining requirement of the expert category. The average wage is ₪13,566 from 1 January 2026, so the bar is ₪27,132 a month gross, and it is reindexed every January
Private medical insurance provided by the employer
Evidence that the specialist skills cannot readily be found among Israeli workers
Police clearance certificate and medical documentation

How long it lasts: Typically granted for up to a year at a time and renewable while the employment and the salary threshold hold, but total time in B/1 status is capped at 63 months (five years and three months) except in exceptional cases.
Path to permanent residence: Very limited. The expert visa is explicitly temporary and does not lead to permanent residence or citizenship. Israel does not operate a points-based settlement route for non-Jewish migrants.
Cost: Permit and visa fees, plus employer-side levies; usually employer-paid.
Processing time: Several weeks to a few months, front-loaded onto the employer's permit application.

Worth knowing

The double-average-wage requirement is an indexed number, not a guideline. It moves every January with the national average wage, so an offer that clears the bar when negotiated can fall below it by the time the permit is filed. Budget against the multiple, not against last year's shekel figure.
The route is capped at 63 months in total. Building a life on it is materially harder than on comparable expert visas in Europe, because there is no settlement destination at the end.
B/1 holders are not in the national health system. Olim are covered by a kupat holim from day one of Aliyah; work-visa holders are not, and the employer is required to provide private cover instead. This is a genuine and frequently missed asymmetry between the two tracks.
Israel has no digital nomad visa. Remote work for a foreign employer is not provided for by any visa category.

Sources:Population and Immigration Authority gov.il — Visas and permits

FamilyMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

Spouse of an Israeli citizen (graduated A/5 process)

Non-Jewish spouses and partners of Israeli citizens, who are not covered by the Law of Return in their own right.

What you need

A genuine, documented relationship with an Israeli citizen
A staged process: temporary permits, then A/5 temporary residence, reviewed annually
Centre-of-life evidence in Israel throughout
Interviews and periodic renewal at PIBA offices

How long it lasts: A multi-year graduated process, commonly cited at around four and a half years for married couples before permanent status.
Path to permanent residence: Permanent residence and then possible naturalisation at the end of the graduated process — but it is discretionary and the review at each stage is substantive.
Cost: Renewal fees at each stage; the real cost is legal representation, which most applicants use.
Processing time: Years by design, with annual renewals throughout.

Worth knowing

Note the asymmetry: the spouse of someone making Aliyah gets citizenship immediately under the Law of Return, while the spouse of an existing Israeli citizen goes through a multi-year graduated process. The order of events changes the outcome dramatically.
Unmarried partners follow a separate, longer track with a higher evidentiary burden.

Sources:Population and Immigration Authority

StudentMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

A/2 student visa

Students at Israeli universities, yeshivas and recognised programmes.

What you need

Acceptance from a recognised institution, which sponsors the visa
Proof of funds and health insurance
Police clearance for some programmes

How long it lasts: Course length, renewed annually.
Path to permanent residence: None. Study time does not lead to residence or citizenship for those not eligible for Aliyah.
Cost: Visa fees plus tuition and insurance.
Processing time: Weeks, once the institution has issued its documentation.

Worth knowing

A/2 holders may not work without separate permission.
Many Jewish students use a study programme as a precursor to Aliyah rather than as an end in itself, which is a very different plan from studying and then seeking work.

Sources:gov.il — Visas and permits

On the ground

Where you'd land in Israel

Tel Aviv

Mediterranean beaches, Bauhaus boulevards and the beating heart of Startup Nation — a sun-soaked, secular tech city where new immigrants get a 10-year tax holiday.

Full Tel Aviv guide

Jerusalem

Israel's hill capital — government, universities and a housing market segmented street by street.

Full Jerusalem guide

Haifa

Israel's port and industry city — the Technion, a genuinely mixed population, and buses on Shabbat.

Full Haifa guide