What does emigrating to Israel cost?
Answer a few short questions and you have an honest range for your situation. For every item it says whether it's a checked rate or an estimate. The application itself is small on most routes: an ETA-IL for a scouting trip costs 25 shekels, an Israeli passport at the embassy 84 euros. The money is in the move by sea and the first months. One thing we state honestly. The consular fees, the customs levies on household goods and car and the purchase tax on a house are on gov.il, which we couldn't open. Those items are therefore shown without an amount, with the reason given.
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A rough indication for your situation
A few short questions, and you get a range instead of an amount. That's deliberate: an exact figure would suggest a precision nobody has.
Count on a total of
€ 3.500 – € 9.400
Where does that difference come from?
- The first months€ 3.000 – € 7.500
Below you'll find per item where the upper and the lower limit come from.
- Aanvraag en papieren
- € 150 – € 500
- De verhuizing
- € 150 – € 600
- De eerste maanden
- € 3.200 – € 8.300
Every item, one by onePer item the amount, the source and whether it's a rate or an estimate
Aanvraag en papieren
- The ETA-IL for a scouting trip€ 5 – € 10
- VOG, apostilles and translations(estimate)€ 150 – € 450
The amount depends on your route and the number of documents. For aliyah the Jewish Agency asks for legalised originals: birth certificate, the certificates of your marital status, a VOG and proof of your connection to Judaism. A VOG for a visa or immigration costs € 41.35 through the municipality. An apostille from the court costs € 27 per document; Israel has been party to the apostille convention since 14 August 1978. There's no fixed rate anywhere for a translation; count on a few tens of euros per document.
De verhuizing
- Flights(estimate)€ 150 – € 600
The spread sits in the season and the luggage: whoever travels with two extra suitcases pays the top. The amount is for one way from Amsterdam to Tel Aviv, direct or with a change. For eligible olim the Jewish Agency coordinates the flight; check whether that applies to you.
De eerste maanden
- The first months(estimate)€ 3.000 – € 7.500
This item consists of rent paid in advance and a deposit, furnishing what didn't come along, and the months in which you still have double costs. Rents vary widely: in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem you pay a different rate than in a smaller town. Also count the health contribution: without income it's 123 shekels a month at Bituach Leumi in 2026, with income a percentage. And count the currency risk: your income comes in euros, life runs in shekels.
- Bank, phone, adviser and the first counters(estimate)€ 200 – € 800
Small money, but it's here because it all comes at once in the first weeks. It's about an Israeli account, a local SIM card, the copies and translations you hand in at counters, and an Israeli tax adviser for the questions about your status as an oleh or returning resident. Registering with a health fund is free on the Bituach Leumi site; at the post office it costs money.
Deliberately no amount here
The fees for your visa or procedure
There's no amount here. The consular fees are in a table on gov.il, and we couldn't open that site. With a work visa the employer pays the fees with the application in Israel, according to the embassy. For a partner's procedure the Population and Immigration Authority charges fees we couldn't check. An Israeli pays 84 euros for a passport at the embassy, plus 11 euros if it goes by registered post.
Redeeming the waiting period for healthcare, for a returning Israeli
This item isn't in the total, because it only applies to an Israeli who lived abroad for 18 months or longer and paid no contributions for at least 12 months. They wait two to six months for healthcare, or redeem the waiting period for 16,860 shekels per person, about 4,850 euros. An oleh under the Law of Return and a child up to 18 have no waiting period. Whoever doesn't redeem it, or comes on a work visa and so isn't a resident, needs a policy of their own for the time in between. That premium depends on your age and your health.
An Israeli driving licence
There's no amount here. According to a guide of the Government Press Office of 14 March 2024, a foreign driving licence is valid in Israel for one year, from your first entry; after that you convert it. That guide names about 250 shekels for an Israeli licence for five years, and 50 shekels for the eye test, but writes it for foreign journalists. What converting costs for you is with the Ministry of Transport on gov.il, and we couldn't open that page.
An order of magnitude based on averages, not a quote. The real amounts depend on your occupation, your route, the season and dozens of choices you still have to make.
Rates checked on 16 October 2026.
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One thing you can sort out today
Closing down the Netherlands is the same work for everyone, wherever you're going. With the letter pack you enter your details once, and every cancellation and notification letter is ready: health insurance, rent, employer, bank, pension fund. Each comes with the date by which it has to go out. € 49 one-off, and it's also included in every plan.
In Vertrekklaar you get the complete picture of your own costs, with your route, your documents and your deadlines.
From range to your own budget
The calculator above works with a few questions, but the journey itself knows more. In Vertrekklaar the same model calculates with your real situation: who's coming, which route, and whether the household contents and the pet come along. It also watches the clocks: the three to six months of an aliyah file, the waiting period for healthcare, the one year for voluntary AOW insurance and the thirteen years of your Dutch passport. A one-off € 399, no subscription.
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Every step on one list, free
Not ready to start yet? Then you get the departure checklist for Israel: every step in order, to print and tick off. With it, five mails in a week and a half about the pitfalls and the real costs. If the rules for Israel change, you'll hear about it. After that we ask once where your plans stand, and now and then we send one thing that fits your moment. No newsletter, and you can switch it off at any time.
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