First steps after aliyah in 2026: the checklist, from the airport to the end of your first year

At the airport: what you receive

• The teudat oleh (immigrant certificate), the document behind every olim benefit for the first years. Keep it with your papers.
• The temporary teudat zehut, on paper, with the sefach (the appendix listing your address and family members’ ID numbers). It is valid for three months.
• The first sal klita payment, in cash. Later payments go through an Israeli bank account. Time abroad suspends them; keep the blue slip from passport control, it proves your return date.
• Registration with a kupat holim is often offered on the spot. If you have not decided which one, you can register later at the post office or online: the choice matters more than the speed. Our comparison of the four funds helps by city and language.

The first week

1. Open an Israeli bank account. The sal klita is only paid into an active Israeli account, so this is the most urgent step. Bring your temporary teudat zehut, teudat oleh and passport, ask for the olim package (account fees waived, often for 12 months) in writing, and set the overdraft to zero. The bank comparison lists branches that serve English speakers.
2. Send your Israeli account details to the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, for the rest of the sal klita and rent assistance (12 months of help paid in six instalments).
3. Choose and activate your kupat holim if not done yet, and register the children with a paediatrician.
4. Have a way to pay in shekels while the Israeli card arrives (one to two weeks): a Revolut account opened before you move pays at the interbank rate on weekdays.

The first month

• Arnona: municipal tax is registered at city hall in the occupant’s name. Olim get up to 90% off on 100 m², for 12 months chosen within the 24 months after registering in the Population Registry. The exact rate depends on the municipality; apply at the arnona department with your teudat zehut and teudat oleh.
• Bituach Leumi: registration is automatic at aliyah. With no income, an oleh is exempt from contributions for 12 months; once you work, contributions come off your payslip. Our Bituach Leumi guide has the 2026 rates and benefits.
• First job: Form 101. Filled in at every employer, it declares your aliyah date, children and degree. It is what triggers your olim credit points (1 point for months 1 to 12, 3 points for months 13 to 30, 2 for 31 to 42, 1 for 43 to 54, worth ₪242 per point per month in 2026). Our payslip guide shows where to find them on your tlush.
• Self-employed from day one? You open files with the Tax Authority, VAT and Bituach Leumi; the status choice is explained in osek patur or osek murshe.

Before three months

1. The biometric teudat zehut. The temporary card expires after three months. Book on GoVisit (an Israeli phone number is required), one appointment per family member; bring an apostilled birth certificate, marriage certificate if relevant, and passports. The card arrives by courier within 7 to 10 business days and is activated by SMS.
2. The adaptation year (shnat histaglut), to request within 90 days of arrival if you are not sure you will stay. It postpones the start of Israeli tax residency and changes what your home country can tax, so decide with an advisor, not after the fact. Details are in the oleh tax benefits guide.

During the first year

• The kupat holim supplementary plan: taken within 12 months of registration (90 days at Meuhedet), it starts with no waiting period. Later, some benefits wait up to two years. Compare with private health insurance before paying for both.
• Your driving licence: the foreign licence is valid for one year after arrival, and must be converted within five years of aliyah. With at least five years of licence history the process is expedited (eye test at an approved optician, medical form, online file, then an appointment at the licensing office); with two to five years, a conversion driving test is required; under two years, the theory test as well.
• Ulpan and Ministry of Aliyah rights (rent assistance, career guidance): not tax matters, but they have deadlines. Check them with your integration advisor.
• Housing: most olim rent in the first year. If you buy, the reduced olim purchase tax and mortgage conditions are covered on our sister site: buying as a new oleh and mortgages for olim.

Back home

Aliyah does not close your tax file in the country you leave.

• United States: citizens keep filing every year wherever they live, plus the FBAR for Israeli accounts. See the US–Israel tax guide.
• France: the year of departure is filed on the usual return with the departure date; France keeps taxing some French-source income, notably rent and property gains. Our France–Israel treaty guide (in French) goes through it income by income.
• United Kingdom and others: file for the year of departure and check whether home-country income (rent, pensions) stays taxable there; the relevant treaty decides.
• Transfers: moving your savings costs mostly through the exchange rate. The money transfer comparison gives the real cost per channel for your amount.

Six common mistakes

• Waiting to open the bank account: the sal klita stays blocked until there is an Israeli account.
• Filling in Form 101 without the aliyah date: olim points are not applied, and you then need a tax refund claim.
• Letting the 90-day adaptation-year window pass without deciding.
• Forgetting the arnona discount, which is not automatic in every municipality.
• Taking the supplementary health plan too late, and discovering waiting periods.
• Letting the bank convert your dollars: 1 to 3% margin, unannounced.

What changes in 2027

Sal klita amounts and benefits are revised every year, usually in January; this page will be updated as soon as the ministry publishes them. Credit points keep their schedule (tax brackets are frozen through 2027), though the point value may be revised. On the banking side, Revolut’s announced arrival in Israel could change how olim handle their first weeks. And the duty to report foreign income, which applies to olim arriving from 2026, will continue: plan for it from your first year.