Sara Hamaoui
In-the-Aretz Correspondant
Via Sara Hamaoui
When we left off I, your In-the-Aretz correspondent, was working on the apostille of my birth certificate from my home in Montreal. (For those who may have forgotten, an apostille is a document that makes your current government documents valid in another country.) Now, after all of the headache involved with making aliyah, I am writing this as an Israeli citizen from my apartment in Jerusalem. So how did we get from there to here?
After the renewal and apostille of your birth certificate, there’s not much to do besides sitting and waiting. The apostille takes about 40 days to get done, and nothing else can be done until you’re within 6 months of your aliyah date. Once that date hits, it’s time to get your background check done from the police, specifically the RCMP if you’re Canadian. I recommend going to Identification Canada on St Catherine if you’re from Montreal. Regardless, the process is basically the same: you pay about $80 and your fingers get scanned, and then the service will send the scans to the RCMP themselves. You then go home and wait about 2 weeks to receive the all clear in the mail.
At this point, once everything has been submitted online to Nefesh B’Nefesh, you can begin preparations for your aliyah interview! In order to schedule this, you need to call the Jewish Agency Office in Israel and let them know that you have submitted all your documents and that you are ready for an interview. They will send you an email within a week telling you your next steps.
A woman named Veronica is the one who conducts and organizes all the interviews in Canada, and she will email you letting you know that you need to mail all your original documents to The Jewish Agency in Toronto before your interview can be scheduled. Since this includes your passport and original birth certificate, it may seem crazy (and it is), but I tried to get out of it and it’s not possible. You need to mail everything to her, and as soon as she sees the documents in person she will send them right back to you, and let you know when your interview will be.
Before your interview, you must make sure that one last thing is done. The background check requires an apostille as well. It isn’t required to schedule your interview, but it is required to make aliyah. Additionally, it cannot be done locally. It needs to be mailed, along with a completed form (very easy to find online) to Global Affairs Canada in Ottawa. There are often very long delays to get this done, so send this in as soon as you possibly can, in order to ensure that it comes back in time for your aliyah.
Now it is time for your interview. As intense as it sounds, it’s really nothing at all to be nervous about. It will most likely be a zoom with Veronica, during which she will ask you questions about yourself that are easy to answer. These questions include your marital status, religion, country of birth, criminal record, etc. Don’t worry, you won’t have to prepare a bunch of heartfelt reasons on why you want to make aliyah, Veronica doesn’t care.
After this is done, it’s time to wait again. A week to 2 months later, you will officially receive your mazal tov letter! This is very exciting, as it means that you have been approved to make aliyah, and are now allowed to get a visa. At this point, Veronica will reach out to congratulate you, and she will send you some forms to fill out. At the same time, make an appointment with the Israeli consulate wherever you are located. Veronica will send all your information over to the consulate so they know to expect you, and they are cleared to issue you a visa.
On the day of your appointment, you will need to arrive slightly early because you need to go through security in order to be let in. Additionally, you need to bring your passport and two passport pictures. Many people bring more documents just in case, but they have access to your NBN file, so it’s not really necessary. They will ask you a few questions, take your passport, slap a visa on it, and send you on your way. Nothing too painful.
Congratulations! It is now time to book your flight. After getting your visa, reach out to your aliyah advisor to let them know where you are at in your aliyah journey. Your advisor will contact the Nefesh B’Nefesh flight team, who will then contact you. They will send you a google form with many flight date options, and all you need to do is put in your information and choose the flight that you want. Many are group or charter flights. If you decide to fly on a different day without the help of NBN, all you have to do is send them the information and they should help you with the payments. That’s right, the flights are free!
Within a few weeks of filling out this google form, you will receive an email letting you know that a seat has been reserved for you on the flight that you requested. Depending on what type of flight you’re on, sometimes a team may contact you about an informational zoom or meeting. Everyone is there to help you, so take every opportunity to hear from them. They will guide you through every single detail of your flight day.
And remember, they only fly El Al, so if you’re in Montreal, you may need to get to New York for your flight.
Now all that’s left to do is pack up your things and say goodbye, because Israel is officially ready and waiting for you!
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