Where you are coming from
Same law, very different process.
The Law of Return is the same for everyone. Proving you qualify is not. Someone from the former Soviet Union documents a certified paper chain back to a Jewish grandparent, while a French applicant clears it with a community attestation. The body that decides, the documents and the apostille rules all change with origin. Pick yours.
The former Soviet Union
Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and other FSU countries, and FSU-born applicants living anywhere else
The heaviest documentary burden of any origin: a certified paper chain back to a Jewish parent or grandparent, decided by NATIV rather than the Jewish Agency.
Your process →France
French citizens and residents making aliyah from France
Among the lightest proof burdens: a Consistoire community attestation built on a ketubah, with the Jewish Agency deciding eligibility itself, no NATIV involved.
Your process →North America
The United States and Canada
The rabbi-letter standard: a recognised rabbi’s letter confirming you are Jewish, run through Nefesh B’Nefesh in partnership with the Jewish Agency.
Your process →The United Kingdom
British citizens and residents making aliyah from the UK
The same rabbi-letter proof standard as North America, but run through the Jewish Agency’s UK office rather than Nefesh B’Nefesh.
Your process →Latin America, Spain and Portugal
Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and other Latin American countries, plus Spain and Portugal
A community-registry culture: rabbinical or community attestation plus apostilled, translated civil documents, through the Jewish Agency’s Spanish and Portuguese operations, with La OLEI after arrival.
Your process →Ethiopia
Beta Israel and Falash Mura applicants from Ethiopia
A legally separate track: Beta Israel come under the Law of Return, but the Falash Mura are admitted only by specific, shifting government decisions, not the Law of Return.
Your process →
Eligibility rules are high-stakes and some shift with government policy. Every page shows the date we checked it and hedges anything we could not fully confirm, rather than stating it as certain.