Do I need an Israeli Passport for my child?

Marion

Sun, Mar 10 2013, 1:04 pm

If your DH is an Israeli citizen then so is your daughter. I'd call the consulate to confirm, and to get her a passport if they say it's necessary. (If they say it's NOT necessary, I'd ask them for a letter to that effect...she *should* need a passport and you're going to want to show passport control at the airport that it was the consulate that told you otherwise.)

shabbatiscoming

Sun, Mar 10 2013, 1:32 pm

Didi wrote:

Marian I think you are wrong, I can be the wrong one but from my understanding is it goes by the mother not the father when it comes to needing a passport and citizenship.

I think that marion meant that if ONE parent has israeli citizenship,then the child automatically has that citizenship (at least with israeli)

im my kids ima

Sun, Mar 10 2013, 1:39 pm

my dh is isreali. my kids and I are all american, I never asked and never got isreali passports for them. every time I come in with them they ask me if the father is isreali I say yes but we are not living here just come for a visit, they stamp are passports and thats all. I have been in and out of isreal with my kids tons of times. u dont need to do it just yet! unless u plan on living there. but if u dont do it now and u decide one day that u want to move to israel u get a lot more money if shes not isreali. have a safe flight.

yo'ma

Sun, Mar 10 2013, 2:48 pm

im my kids ima wrote:

Same here, except my dh went with them, not me. He has an israeli passpot and doesn't live there.

hbf

Sun, Mar 10 2013, 3:28 pm

I've gone to Israel several times this year. My husband is Israeli and each and every time I go through with my baby, they interrogate me (he goes through separately). Unless you want your children called up to the army when they're older, I'd skip getting an Israeli passport. Once they have Israeli citizenship/passport, it's not so easy if your trying to avoid the army.

RachelB

Mon, Mar 11 2013, 1:06 pm

This question is twofold. 1. yes, if one parent is Israeli, so is the child. 2 . Is the child required to travel with Israeli passport? According to the law, yes. It is not always enforced, however, but Ministry of Interior (Misrad Hapnim) representative might prevent the child from leaving Israel without Israeli passport. It has happened many times, but they are usually quiet lax with US and EU citizens. Hope that helps.
For the record, if you travel with your child and you are an Israeli citizen, chances are your child's info is already in Misrad Hapnim's system and they are well aware of his age and eligibility for army service.

Pandabeer

Mon, Mar 11 2013, 2:16 pm

In Israel, If one parent is an Israeli, the kids automatically get citizenship whether you do or don't want.
I know of a few families when they come to passport control into and out of Israel, Father goes separate and mother with kids go in the foreigner line - they shouldn't find out that one parent is Israeli.

Marion

Tue, Mar 12 2013, 9:52 am

Pandabeer wrote:

It's not about "finding out", it's the law.

mvp

Mon, Mar 18 2013, 10:05 am

im my kids ima wrote:

What do you mean by "get a lot more money if shes not Israeli" ?

Also, to get a US passport I need to pay close to $200 apperantely. ($60 for expedited service since it takes 4-6 weeks).

Will they let me daughter back into US if she will have, say, only an Israeli Passport?

Thanks for all the help.

Pandabeer

Mon, Mar 18 2013, 1:13 pm

Marion wrote:

Pandabeer wrote:

It's not about "finding out", it's the law.

what "law"? she doesn't live there

Peanut2

Wed, Mar 27 2013, 5:46 am

Israel requires citizens of Israel to enter and exit Israel with an Israeli passport. IT does not matter one bit whether the citizen resides in Israel or abroad.

Children of Israelis are Israeli and require a passport. It does not matter where they reside. That is the law.

Thankfully for all who don't follow this law, the state of Israel is a bit lax about this. They do stamp the children's passport with a little stamp that tells them that this is a child of an Israeli and thus an Israeli citizen. Just FYI.

The US of A is not so lax. OP, you must get a US passport for your daughter. I'm not saying that they won't let her in, but it will not be pleasant (and they may not let her in.)

And when one makes aliyah as an Israeli citizen (which is what the child of an Israeli is) then the government does know about it. They require copies of everyone's passports and they will know what the status of the kids is. It really does not matter whether you got them passports of not, except that by not doing it you are breaking the law. Oh, and that when an Israeli citizen makes aliyah (s)he first has to get an Israeli passport.

So if Chaim (Israeli) and Mindy (America) have six children in the US, visit Israel six times, and never get the kids Israeli passports and now want to make aliyah, they will first need to get all six kids their Israeli passports. Fact. You can call NBN/the Jewish Agency/the Israeli government.

Thank you and have a nice day.

Peanut2

Wed, Mar 27 2013, 12:22 pm

Just to explain a bit more, an Israeli child who resides abroad and left Israel before a certain age (I think 13 or 14) or never lived there to begin with is NOT required to serve in the army. There is a pretty straightforward process to receive a deferment that becomes an exemption after a short while.

An Israeli child who comes to Israel at around the age of 18 and has not taken care of the deferment may be stopped at the airport and prevented from leaving. I know many people this has happened to. It's a good thing Israelis aren't uptight and will generally let people go, at least girls, but it's a good idea to get this all taken care of properly.

It is also possible to give up Israeli citizenship. You can contact your local consulate for more information.

ROFL

Wed, Mar 27 2013, 10:38 pm

My father lived in Israel from 1946-1964. We then moved to the US. When he went back to Israel in the 80's he traveled on an American passport. About two years ago ( when he was over 80 years old) he was stopped at the airport and was told he needed an Israeli passport to leave the country. They had finally put all the past info into the computer database.