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Ah, the Misrad Hapnim.  Everyone’s favorite Israeli bureaucratic organization. If you are as unfortunate as I was to not get a Student Visa before you came to the country, and you’re staying in the country for more than 3 months, you’ll inevitably have to take on this daunting challenge.  And if you’ve talked to anyone who has dealt with Misrad Hapnim in the past, you’ve probably heard horror stories like my roommate who’s been 6 times with no luck.  And while you could attempt to forgo the whole visa step and live as an illegal immigrant, you may prefer to go by the book.  If that’s you, then you’ve come to the right place. This is ‘How To Get A Student Visa In Israel’ (specifically in Jerusalem).

1. Contact your program, as they will be able to help you with paperwork and likely have helped other students before
2. From your program, obtain a letter in Hebrew on official letterhead signed by the head of the program stating the following (Note: This definitely works with a Yeshiva.  Not as sure with other programs):
   1. Your name
   2. Your passport number
   3. A statement that you will be studying at the Yeshiva
   4. A statement confirming you are Jewish AND that your mother is Jewish (especially if you’ve converted, this is the easiest way to prove that you are Jewish.  Don’t go through the process of producing conversion documents and such.  What they don’t know won’t kill them.)
      1. If you’re not Jewish, you can still get a student visa.  Talk to your trip provider on the best way to do so
   5. A statement containing the start and end dates of your studies, as well as a statement of the hours and days of the week that you study (ie. 9-18:00)
      1. Make sure your dates are of the Gregorian calendar, not the Hebrew Calendar
   6. A signature from the Rosh Yeshiva
3. You’ll need to get a passport picture.  There are many places you can do this, including but not limited to photo places on Ben Yehuda and right next to the Jerusalem Misrad Hapnim.
4. There’s a form that you will need to fill out, but the form available online is slightly out of date and can just be filled in there.
5. Bring your Passport
6. You may need to pay, but it depends on the person you talk to.  I’ve seen it should cost 165 NIS.  I didn’t have to pay anything.
7. Find the location of the nearest Misrad Hapnim (you can’t go anywhere you want, you have to go in their district)
   1. In Jerusalem, this is Misrad Hapnim on 1 Sholmtsiyon HaMalka (NOTE the spelling.  Searching anything else in Google will either get you no results, or send you near the Knesset.  Trust me, I did it…)
8. Attempt to figure out their hours.  Expect to fail.
   1. At the time of this writing, Misrad Hapnim in Jerusalem is open for Visa acquisition on Sun-Tues, Thurs, from 8am-12pm.  That’s it.  Don’t try to go any time else.  This may change at their discretion
   2. If you get there right at 7:55, you can probably walk right in, and not have too long of a wait inside
9. Try to look as Jewish as possible. This sounds awful, but they do tend to profile, and have been known in the past to make it hard on the lives of those blond haired, blue eyed Jews
10. Once you get through security, make your way up to Kuma 1, the first floor. This is the Visa office
    1. To get your form, wait in line for the front desk. They’ll give you the proper form (you’ll want an A2 visa).  Fill it out
    2. I was told by others that I would need to make an appointment, but on arriving to get said appointment, they said just to go in and wait for the second desk to be open.  Even if you’re supposed to get an appointment, DON’T.  Read on
    3. When ready, wait in line for one of the desks.  It doesn’t really matter which one, but I had a great experience with the lady at desk 2. I would recommend waiting for her
    4. When it’s your turn, tell the person at the desk that you had been in there previously, and that they told you to come back once you updated your paperwork.  They do this frequently to most people, and they probably won’t remember you anyways.  This way, you’ll avoid having to have an appointment.
    5. If it happens to fail, feel free to try to go to another person your next time in
11. It’s very likely you won’t be successful on your first try, so don’t despair, I got it on my second try.  As I said earlier, my roommate is on try 6 and counting
12. Some notes
    1. Expect to be yelled at at least once. It’s part of the experience
    2. Feel free to try to game the system, especially as I described above
    3. Israeli bureaucracy sucks.  Expect to fail at least once, if not multiple times
    4. A smile goes a long way

That should be all you need.  Feel free to share your own stories below, and maybe they’ll help someone else as well! Best of luck!