North America

Nefesh B’Nefesh provides the aliyah services and flights for North America; the Jewish Agency is the body that authorises eligibility. Each reviews your application and sends its own notification letter.

A letter from a recognised synagogue rabbi from a rabbinical organisation in North America, written within the past year, on official letterhead, stating how the rabbi knows you and that you are Jewish, born to a Jewish mother. The signature must be in ink; a digital signature is not accepted. A patrilineal case needs the rabbi to name the Jewish father or grandfather plus supporting certificates.

À vérifier :Converts face the hardest path: the conversion must be through a recognised community and stream, and Interior Ministry timelines around conversion have shifted, so verify the current requirement.

A passport valid at least a year past your aliyah date, a long-form birth certificate showing both parents (a hospital-issued one is not enough) with an apostille, a civil marriage certificate with an apostille (a ketuba or get is not sufficient), four photos per person aged 16 and up, a personal-status affidavit notarised and apostilled, and a criminal background check. Translation is required for documents not in English, French, Russian or Hebrew.

À vérifier :Canada joined the Hague Apostille Convention in January 2024; confirm that Canadian apostilles are now accepted in place of the older chain-of-signatures.

Start the paperwork six to ten months ahead. A Jewish Agency interview with a shaliach, a "Mazal Tov" approval, then a visa in roughly eighteen business days and a one-way Nefesh B’Nefesh flight benefit. A pilot trip four to eight months before is recommended.

Nefesh B’Nefesh group and charter flights sometimes issue your Teudat Oleh, and even a Teudat Zehut, mid-flight, so you land already an oleh.

À vérifier :This is a pilot arrangement on some flights, not guaranteed on every one.