Giving birth in Israel on an A/5 licence
Written by Alon, founder of IsraelVisa · Based on the procedures of the Population and Immigration Authority
Published: 5 November 2026
The short answer
A foreign partner on an A/5 licence who gives birth in Israel meets two separate bodies. The National Insurance Institute decides who pays the hospital, and asks a woman it has not yet recognised as a resident to check her entitlement at a branch before the birth. The Population and Immigration Authority registers the birth: a child born in Israel to an Israeli-citizen parent is a citizen by birth, but when the mother holds a temporary licence the registration is completed at the office, not at the hospital.
Sources: the Institute's pages, form BL/303 (07.2026), procedures 2.2.0001, 2.2.0008 and 5.2.0004, and procedures 5.2.0008 and 5.2.0009 (July 2026 editions). This is not medical advice.
Before the birth: the Institute's check and form BL/303
The Institute pays the mother's hospitalisation costs directly to the hospital. When the mother or her spouse is not an Israeli resident, its page says, she must come to a branch up to two months before the birth to have her entitlement checked; if she is entitled, the Institute sends a confirmation to the hospital after the birth. An A/5 licence allows the Institute to recognise its holder as a resident, but residency is examined separately, after the licence is granted, and the questionnaire for A/5 holders (form 625) speaks of a waiting period. Until that recognition exists, the branch-visit rule applies.
Form BL/303 goes from the hospital to the Institute's branch: the expectant mother's and her partner's details, the expected hospital and date, and a medical document; after the birth the hospital adds the birth details and a clerk completes the eligibility check. The form warns that a different hospital may not know of the entitlement; its document list assumes a married couple, so shared-life couples should ask the branch.
At the hospital: the birth notice and the payment question
The hospital is responsible for the birth notice. Procedure 2.2.0001 requires its registrar to see the parents in person with their identity documents; a mother on an A/5 licence is identified by her Israeli identity card.
The notice is not the registration, and when the mother is not an Israeli citizen it carries no identity number for the child. If you are not married, the paternity acknowledgement form is completed at the hospital only when both parents are citizens or residents; otherwise the hospital refers you to the Authority's office.
The official pages do not describe a deposit, and neither does this article; they say only that the Institute confirms entitlement to the hospital and pays it.
Registering the birth notice of a baby born in Israel (Kol Zchut)
After the birth: the grants and the allowance in outline
The maternity grant goes to a resident or the wife of a resident, and to a non-resident who worked in Israel during the pregnancy or whose partner was employed in Israel for at least six consecutive months before the birth, provided the birth took place in Israel. The hospitalisation grant follows it; the Institute's page gives the amount (19,028 shekels from 10.01.2026).
The maternity allowance replaces the wages of a woman who stopped working for the birth: a birth from week 22 plus one day, stopping work, and qualifying months of contributions before the day work stopped. 10 of the last 14 months, or 15 of the last 22, give 15 weeks; 6 of the last 14 give 8 weeks. The page says nothing specific about A/5 holders; check your months at a branch.
Registering the child and the child's status under the procedures
Procedures 5.2.0008 and 5.2.0009 have no clause for a child born in Israel to the couple; the accompanying minor they regulate is a child from the foreign partner's earlier relationship.
Under section 4(a)(1) of the Citizenship Law, a person born in Israel when the father or the mother was an Israeli citizen is a citizen by birth. Procedure 2.2.0001 applies this: when the mother is an Israeli citizen, or both parents are citizens or residents, the newborn is registered according to the parents' status. When the mother is not an Israeli citizen and status is sought because the father is a citizen or resident, the office acts under procedure 5.2.0004.
That procedure asks for the attendance of both parents, identity documents, the visa on which the mother entered Israel, and an application within three months of the birth. When the mother applied for status as the citizen's spouse, or received her licence as his common-law partner, before the pregnancy, with sufficient evidence of shared life, the paternity declaration is accepted and the child receives citizenship by birth. Otherwise objective evidence of a family unit before the pregnancy is required, and where it is insufficient or doubtful a court ruling on paternity, as a rule by a genetic test, is demanded.
Procedure 2.2.0001: registration of a birth in Israel (Hebrew)
The child's identity number and health fund
Only registration by an authorised registrar of the Authority gives the newborn an identity number. When the mother holds an A/5 licence, procedure 2.2.0008 says her details are copied to the notice without a number and she is referred to the Authority's office in her area, which determines the child's status; the birth certificate follows the registration.
The Institute attaches the child automatically to the health fund of the parent who receives the child allowance, once it receives the birth details from the Interior Ministry; a child under six months can be moved to the other parent's fund at once.
Registering children with a health fund (National Insurance Institute)
How IsraelVisa helps
IsraelVisa helps you keep in one place the documents the branch and the office will ask for, the licence dates and the dates of the branch visit and the registration, yourselves and at your own pace. IsraelVisa does not give legal or medical advice; if you wish, you can find independent lawyers through it.
Frequently asked questions
Do we have to go to the Institute before the birth?
If the Institute has not yet recognised the foreign partner as a resident, yes: its page says a woman who is not a resident, or whose spouse is not, comes to a branch up to two months before the birth. If she is entitled, the Institute confirms it to the hospital after the birth.
Our child was born in Israel. Is the child an Israeli citizen?
When the father or the mother was an Israeli citizen at the birth, yes, by birth under the Citizenship Law. When the mother holds the A/5 licence, the hospital cannot complete the registration; the Authority's office registers the child, for unmarried parents under procedure 5.2.0004.
Is the maternity allowance the same as the maternity grant?
No. The grant is paid after a birth in Israel to a resident, a resident's wife, or a non-resident who worked here during the pregnancy or whose partner was employed here for six consecutive months. The allowance replaces wages and depends on the months of contributions before work stopped.
When is the baby registered with a health fund?
Automatically, once the Authority has registered the birth and the Institute has received the details: the child is attached to the fund of the parent who receives the child allowance, and can be moved to the other parent's fund at once while under six months old.
Related guides
Sources
- National Insurance Institute - funding of the mother's hospitalisation (the hospitalisation grant), amount of 10.01.2026 (Hebrew)
- National Insurance Institute - form BL/303, claim for a hospitalisation grant with an insurance continuity check (07.2026) (Hebrew)
- Procedure 2.2.0008 - registration of newborns in Israel in the Population Registry (01.12.2020), sections 3, 4.8 and 4.13 (Hebrew)
- Procedure 5.2.0004 - status in Israel for minors born in Israel by acknowledgement of paternity (1.8.2005), sections B and C (Hebrew)
- Procedure 5.2.0008 - status for a foreign spouse married to an Israeli citizen (edition 16, 20.07.2026), definitions, sections A and G.2 (Hebrew)
Build my checklist – free, about 2 minutes
The information in this article is general and does not constitute legal advice. The procedures are updated from time to time; check the current version on the website of the Population and Immigration Authority.