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Starting the partnership visa process (also known as the gradual process) in Israel calls for the submission of “תיעוד עדכני של המוזמן, מקורי, מאומת ובמידת הצורך גם מתורגם”, or in English: “up-to-date documents of the invitee, original, authenticated and, if necessary, also translated”.
To begin the Israeli partner visa process, the foreign partner will have to provide specific official documents from their country of origin. These documents, known as “threshold documents,” are required for both married and non-married couples. Without them, the visa application will not be processed (unless exemptions apply).
The authenticated certificates required to start the partnership visa process in Israel are:
- Birth Certificate
- Name Change Certificate (if applicable) – Required only if the foreign partner has changed their first or last name.
- Personal Status Certificate (current and previous):
- For non-married couples: A single-status certificate or, if applicable, a divorce or widowhood certificate, issued in the last 6 months.
- For married couples:
- A certificate of previous personal status (single, divorced, or widowed) from before the marriage AND a recent certificate confirming current marital status, even if the marriage was not officially registered, issued in the last 6 months.
- Police Certificate (Certificate of Non-Criminal Record), issued in the last 6 months.
- Marriage Certificate (for married couples)
- Note: If the marriage was conducted in the foreign partner’s home country, the marriage certificate may already include the previous personal status.
This article focuses on the official certificates from abroad. For information on additional documents visit our List of Required Documents for the Partner Visa Application.
What if I’m a Dual Citizen/Lived in Multiple Countries?
If the non-Israeli partner has lived in a country other than their country of citizenship for more than 6 consecutive months, they must provide:
- Police Certificate from that country.
- Personal Status Certificate – this is not an official requirement in the protocols, but very often demanded by PIBA.
These requirements generally apply to individuals with dual citizenship as well, even if they haven’t lived in their country of additional citizenship.
What Does “Authenticated” Mean?
Every official certificate or document issued by a foreign country must be authenticated in order to be valid when presented outside of the issuing country. For example, a certificate issued in Germany will only be valid in Israel if it has been authenticated.
Authentication can ONLY be done by the issuing country! It CANNOT be done in Israel (only documents issued by Israel can be authenticated inIsrael).
Many countries have agreed on a standardized way to authenticate official certificates. This is known as an “apostille.” An apostille seal is the method used to authenticate documents between two countries that are signatories to the Hague Convention (Apostille). Israel is one of the convention countries, so it will accept authentication done by an apostille from fellow convention countries.
If the foreign country is not a member of the Hague Convention (Apostille), the authentication is done differently through a process called “signature chain” (שרשרת חתימות). The document must be signed by the issuing authority, then by the Ministry of Justice in the issuing country, then by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the issuing country, and finally by the Israeli consulate in the issuing country.
What if I’m missing a document?
If you are missing a document, translation, or authentication for any of the above certificates, PIBA will notify you about the missing documents and allow 45 days to provide them. As per the procedure, the notification should be sent by both email and registered mail.
If you fail to provide the missing document within the 45-day time frame, PIBA may close your file.
You can request an extension to the 45-day period. Keep in mind that PIBA will not continue processing your application until the missing documentation is provided
Attention! Some branches have been known to reject applications that are missing the Official Documentation without giving a 45-day period to complete them. It is highly advisable to not apply for the partner visa before you have all the necessary documentation ready.
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In an immense community effort, we’ve gathered information on how to obtain the required documentation from over 25 countries around the world! Find the instructions for your country below:
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Adv. Lior Beres
Articles: 13726 Comments
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Would love to have information about the acquisition of the required documents for Turkish citizens.
Thank you for your immense efforts and support for the community of international couples:)
Thank you for your support!
Definitely, we are working on getting information about as many countries as possible.
Hi, What is the expiration date of the birth certificate? thank you!!
There isn’t an official validity period for a birth ceritificate in the protocols of PIBA. Being a “static” document (the data cannot change), the expiry of a birth certificate is less strictly checked. A safe bet however would be 6 months since it was issued (unless it’s the original of course).
Are all of the documents above should be translated and appostiled?
All official certificates/documents from abroad must be authenticated by the issuing country (by apostille or in the consular authentication way, for countries who don’t use apostilles).
About translation, please read here in Step 2: https://aic.org.il/partner-visa-in-israel-step-by-step-guide-to-your-first-visa/
Is there a recommendation on how current the criminal background check should be at the time we start the gradual process? For the US the approximate wait time is 10-11 weeks. We’ll be starting the process sometime in the next 6 months-1 year and I’m currently in the US so I’m wondering if I should go ahead and get it done?
Not a recommendation, but a requirement. The criminal background certificate must be recent from the last 6 months.
Hy Lior. What if the criminal background is older than 6 months but meanwhile the person didn’t go back to e.g. Germany. Do I still have to apply for a new document?
Thank you for your response.
Hello Adrian, it’s a tricky situation. If the person did not leave Israel PIBA might agree to “push” the expiration and accept an older document, but I would not count on it. You can try to submit the application with the old certificate but at the same time do start working on issuing a recent certificate.
Hi, thank you for putting this together. The 6 month period is from the date you submitted the request online? Or should we take into consideration how long the process might take.
Appreciate your kind response
Hello, there aren’t clear instructions on this matter in the official policy and procedures. In theory the certificates should be up to 6 months old in the moment of submission, but we recommend submitting them as soon as possible to avoid claims by PIBA about their validity down the road.
A couple of questions:
– Does the criminal background certificate need to be at federal level or it can be more local? I’m asking because I’m in New York and we can also have a Certificate of Conduct proving no criminal history in the city.
– I’m married but I see that I also need a ‘previous single personal status certificate’ and I didn’t find a standard way of getting something like this here. Is this really necessary? Should I ask at clerk office to create some document confirming that I was single before getting married?
Have you checked our article about documentation from the United States? I believe you will find your answers there 🙂
https://aic.org.il/official-documentation-from-the-usa/
Hi! My partner and I are going to translate original documents in Israel.
Is confirmation of documents with an apostille in the partner’s country a prerequisite?
On the page https://aic.org.il/partner-visa-in-israel-step-by-step-guide-to-your-first-visa/ it says that “For notarized translations done abroad to be valid in Israel , they have to be apostilled themselves, which might complicate the process”.
We thought that we could not independently confirm the documents with an apostille if we translate them in Israel.
Thanks
All official certificates/documents from abroad must be authenticated by the issuing country (by apostille or in the consular authentication way, for countries who don’t use apostilles).
If you translate the documents in Israel, you will still need an apostille for the certificate itself, you will not need apostille for the translation. So in total: certificate + its apostille + translation (in Israel).
Thank you so much!
I am an Israeli. What documents do I need to provide? For example Personal Status Certificate
In general, as the Israeli side you don’t need to present the above personal certificates (PIBA has access to this information about you). You might be required to present a divorce certificate/agreement (if applicable).
Thanks!
Hey 🙂
For how long are the three documents valid?
Hi! The only document that has a “designated” validity according to the protocols is the police certificate which has to be from the last 6 months, as the article says. The rest of the certificates don’t have a required validity, the procedure calls for them being “up to date”. The usual enforced requirement would normally be 6 months as well. Pay attention that “static” documents such as birth certificate are more likely to be accepted even if older (and of course, the original will be accepted too).
Hi,
I’m from the UK and trying to get the partner visa with my boyfriend in Israel. I haven’t been married before and we don’t plan to get married soon, so is there an alternative document other than the ‘CNI’? (Personal Status Certificate) As the CNI is for if you are getting married in another country
Thanks
We suggest consulting this topic with fellow British-Israeli couples over on our FB community as it comes up quite frequently: https://www.facebook.com/groups/537939999618332/
Can you apostile on certified true copy of the document?
The eligibility for apostille depends on the policy of the issuing country. Normally, PIBA will not accept copies but only the original documents. A copy may be accepted if the original is unobtainable, like an old birth certificate.