Aliyah for British Jews: the Law of Return, the paperwork and your first year

If you're Jewish, or have a Jewish parent or grandparent, Israel will make you a citizen the day you land, give you money to settle in and teach you Hebrew for free. The catch is a fair bit of paperwork and a first year full of deadlines.

The short version

• The Law of Return covers Jews, the children and grandchildren of a Jew, and their spouses [1].
• You apply from the UK through the Jewish Agency, which says it usually takes three to six months from opening a file to the flight [1].
• In 2026 the absorption basket (sal klita) is ₪21,694 (about £5,030) for a single person and ₪41,359 (about £9,580) for a couple, paid over roughly seven months [2].
• You keep your British passport: the UK allows dual nationality. Keep it valid, because Israel won't issue you a passport in your first year [3].
• Some first-year benefits, like the council tax (arnona) discount, run against the clock, so diarise them [3].

Pound conversions use the Bank of England spot rate of 5 November 2026 (£1 = ILS 4.3162).

Who qualifies

The Law of Return of 1950 gives every Jew the right to immigrate to Israel [1]. For this purpose a Jew is someone born to a Jewish mother, or someone who converted and isn't a member of another religion [1]. The right is then extended to:

• the child and the grandchild of a Jew
• the spouse of a Jew
• the spouse of a child or grandchild of a Jew
• the widow or widower of any of them [1]

So a British grandchild with one Jewish grandparent on the father's side can qualify, even though they wouldn't count as Jewish under Orthodox rules. Two exclusions matter. Someone who was Jewish and voluntarily converted to another religion is out, and an immigrant visa can be refused to people with a criminal record that could endanger public peace, or who are judged a risk to public health or state security [1].

Your status also matters, because it decides your benefits. Nefesh B'Nefesh, which runs aliyah services alongside the Jewish Agency, separates an "oleh chadash" (a new immigrant, born abroad to non-Israeli parents) from an "ezrach oleh" (born abroad to an Israeli parent, so already a citizen) and a "katin chozer" (a returning minor who left Israel before 14) [4]. The Jewish Agency has the final say on which you are [4].

How to apply from the UK

The Jewish Agency's process has seven steps [1]:

1. Fill in the online questionnaire.
2. Have a consultation with an aliyah account manager, usually within two working days.
3. Build your online aliyah file and upload documents.
4. Go to an interview and show the originals.
5. Get the eligibility decision.
6. Finalise the move: aliyah visa, flight and shipping.
7. Join the welcome and integration activities in Israel.

The documents are a valid passport, a legalised birth certificate, marital status documents, a criminal record check and proof of your connection to Judaism, usually a letter from a rabbi or your conversion documents [1]. For Brits, "legalised" means an apostille from the FCDO's Legalisation Office, and the criminal record check is the police certificate from ACRO; the FCDO notes that UK good conduct certificates must be legalised [5]. If you've changed your name, make sure the name on your Israeli documents matches your British passport, as the FCDO warns [5].

Once approved you get an aliyah visa, which Nefesh B'Nefesh says can take 18 working days or more to issue and is valid for six months [6]. Your one-way flight is usually covered [6].

Landing day

At Ben Gurion you get a lot in one go [3]:

• the teudat oleh, your immigrant's booklet from the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration
• a temporary teudat zehut (ID card), valid for three months
• registration with a health fund (kupat holim)
• the first payment of your absorption basket, part in cash
• a "note of future bank account" for the bank to stamp

The absorption basket in 2026

The sal klita is a grant from the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration. These are the rates from 1 January 2026 [2]:

Children add more: ₪12,831 (about £2,970) for a child under four and ₪8,521 (about £1,970) for a child aged four to 17 [2]. There's also a payment when you open your bank account, and then six monthly instalments into it [2].

Read the conditions. You only qualify if you've spent less than 24 months in Israel in the three years before aliyah [2]. Payments stop automatically when you leave the country and restart 14 days after you come back within the first year, and if you leave and don't return within 12 months of your aliyah date, you lose the rest [2].

The first year, step by step

Nefesh B'Nefesh's checklist is the one most new arrivals use [3]. In order:

1. Biometric ID card. Book at the Population and Immigration Authority through govisit.gov.il. The first card is free, and the temporary one runs out after three months.
2. Bank account. Teudat oleh holders can often open one within 30 days of arrival even without the ID card. The bank stamps your note, which releases the rest of your basket. Expect forms about where you pay tax.
3. Ministry of Aliyah and Integration. One appointment per family (book on *2994) to set up payments and ulpan.
4. Health fund. Finish registering at your chosen fund's branch five to seven days after the airport. Join a supplementary plan within 90 days of aliyah and the waiting periods are waived.
5. Child benefit and school. Bituach Leumi pays a monthly allowance for children under 18, and the city's education department places the children.
6. Arnona discount. Olim get a council tax discount on up to 100 m² for any 12 months within the first 24, and it isn't backdated.
7. Driving licence. You have five years from your aliyah date to convert a UK licence, and the rules depend on how long you've held it.

Hebrew, housing and money

You get five months of free full-time ulpan, usually five hours a day, five days a week [7]. Our ulpan guide covers the options. Rental help from the Ministry of Construction and Housing starts from the eighth month after aliyah and can run for up to five years [1].

You can bring up to ₪50,000 (about £11,580) in cash without reporting it [8]. The Jewish Agency also lists income tax credits for olim, worth 4.5 years for anyone who made aliyah after 2022, plus breaks on income from abroad, which we explain in tax benefits for new immigrants [1].

Travel and the army

You can't get an Israeli passport in your first year, but you can apply for a teudat ma'avar, a five-year travel document, after 90 days or three full months, whichever is longer [3]. Tell Bituach Leumi if you'll be away for more than a month, or your residency can be cancelled [3].

Military service depends on your age, sex and family situation when you arrive. Many older olim are never called, but younger arrivals can be, so ask the Jewish Agency about your own case before you go.

The UK end

Becoming Israeli doesn't affect your British citizenship. File form P85 with HMRC and check split-year treatment for the year you go. Israel has a social security agreement with the UK, so your UK State Pension is uprated each year if you live there [9]. Retirees should also know that Bituach Leumi's own old-age pension depends on the age you arrive: men who immigrate before 62 may qualify for the full scheme [10].

Children born after you arrive are Israeli, and the FCDO says children with an Israeli parent must enter and leave Israel on an Israeli passport [11]. Register them as British too: see citizenship by descent.

Plenty of British olim have gone before you, and our community group for Brits in Israel is a good place to ask how their first year really went.

Sources

1. The Jewish Agency for Israel: Aliyah (last modified 13 October 2026)
2. Nefesh B'Nefesh: Sal Klita calculator and 2026 rates (last updated 18 March 2026)
3. Nefesh B'Nefesh: Your first steps after making aliyah (last updated 24 August 2026)
4. Nefesh B'Nefesh: Determining your aliyah status (10 May 2026)
5. GOV.UK (FCDO): Living in Israel and Palestine (last updated 14 November 2024)
6. Nefesh B'Nefesh: The aliyah process step by step (last updated 23 November 2025)
7. Nefesh B'Nefesh: Ulpan and Hebrew learning resources (last updated 28 October 2025)
8. Nefesh B'Nefesh: Aliyah rights and benefits (last updated 25 March 2026)
9. GOV.UK (DWP): Countries where we pay an annual increase in the State Pension
10. Nefesh B'Nefesh: Bituach Leumi (last modified 9 May 2026)
11. GOV.UK (FCDO): Israel travel advice – entry requirements

Keep reading

• Moving to Tel Aviv as a Brit: visa and residence routes
• Teudat zehut, Bituach Leumi and your first month in Israel
• Kupat holim: choosing a health fund in Israel
• Leaving the UK: telling HMRC (P85) and your last tax year