Comments

• thiefcrazy98

  Hi, friends! I need some advice. My grandfather on my father's side was Jewish, born in the 1930s, I have his birth certificate, where his nationality is "Jewish". I have been thinking about moving to Israel for a long time, but I am scared of the bureaucracy and ambiguities. I started reading about the Law of Return, it seems like it should apply to me too, but I still have a lot of questions. I saw that there is a company called WelcomeIsrael that helps with the paperwork, but I don't know if it is worth bothering with at all. Has anyone already gone through the Law of Return through them? What are the most common problems? And is it really possible to prove Jewishness if you do not live in Israel, and all your documents are somewhere in the USSR archives?

  Apr 22nd, 4:52 am
• EvanDuke

  I understand very well what you are talking about, I went through all this myself literally a year and a half ago. My case was also on my grandfather's side (on my mother's side), and at first everything seemed incredibly confusing. The Law of Return, at first glance, sounds simple - "if you are a descendant of Jews, you can repatriate", but in practice there are so many nuances that without sensible support you can really get stuck at each stage. I also worked with https://welcome-israel.com/documents/law-of-return - I can tell you step by step how it all happened for me. To begin with, they simply asked me to send all the available documents. I had a photocopy of my grandfather's birth certificate and a couple of old family photos. That's all. I didn't even know where to start, but the lawyer laid everything out for me very clearly: where to apply, what requests to send to the archive, what documents can be replaced with alternatives. A couple of weeks later, I had a whole package prepared, which included not only documents about my grandfather, but also proof of kinship (mother → me), translations, notarizations, etc. Then came the consulate. Here, to be honest, I would have definitely messed something up myself. They sent me instructions: how to dress, how to answer questions, even what not to say so as not to harm the case. Because, as it turned out, repatriation is not just “submitted documents and received a passport.” This is a process where you are really assessed: do you want to live in Israel, what do you know about the country, about traditions, and even how do you see your future.

  Apr 22nd, 1:33 pm
• Tobias

  Very interesting topic. I just read about the Law of Return, but only theoretically so far. I didn't know that there are companies like WelcomeIsrael that help you get through the whole process. Thank you for the real examples - it really helps you understand.

  Apr 23rd, 4:10 am