Your first week in Tel Aviv

Here is the order I would do things in during the first week. Most of it is national paperwork that is the same in every city; a few steps are specific to Tel Aviv-Yafo, and those are the ones people tend to miss.

The national steps, in order

Nefesh B'Nefesh lists the first steps after aliyah in this order (Nefesh B'Nefesh (opens in a new tab)):

1. Open an Israeli bank account. Your sal klita payments go into it.
2. Register with a kupat cholim (health fund), ideally within your first 90 days.
3. Submit the online eligibility request to the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, then go to the appointment where you get your benefits booklet.
4. Confirm your child allowance and choose a child savings plan within six months.
5. Convert your foreign driver's license, by appointment, within five years of your aliyah date.
6. Ask your municipality for the arnona (property tax) discount.
7. Register your children for school with a copy of your teudat zehut, including the sefach (the address page).
8. Apply for a teudat ma'avar travel document about 90 days after aliyah.

The health fund step is covered in Health funds, doctors and urgent care in Tel Aviv, and schools in Schools and gans in Tel Aviv.

Get in touch with the city's olim department

Tel Aviv-Yafo has its own Department for Immigration Absorption, which the city calls the Olim Resident Department. Its offices are at Balfour 14, in the old Strauss Building, and it also holds office hours in ulpanim; the general email is olim@tel-aviv.gov.il (Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality (opens in a new tab)). Staff work in English, French, Russian, Spanish and Portuguese, and help with ulpan placement, professional networks and career paths, and cultural and community life (Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality (opens in a new tab)). The same page links to the department's Facebook pages and to French, Russian and Spanish/Portuguese WhatsApp and Telegram groups. I list them on the groups page.

Claim the arnona discount

Nationally, new olim can get up to 90% off arnona on 100 square meters of their home for 12 months, and those 12 months must fall within the first 24 months after aliyah; each municipality sets its own percentage (Kol Zchut (opens in a new tab)). Nefesh B'Nefesh says the benefit is not retroactive, must be claimed by the end of the second year, and needs a lease of at least 12 months or proof of ownership (Nefesh B'Nefesh (opens in a new tab)).

In Tel Aviv, new immigrants are one of the groups the city lists for property tax discounts. Bring your documents to the Municipal Service Center at 69 Ibn Gvirol Street (Rabin Square), or call 03-7244444 (extension 1) or *3013 (Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality (opens in a new tab)). A tenant with a lease of 12 months or more can be the registered holder of the property, which is what you need before any discount applies (Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality (opens in a new tab)). Two Tel Aviv rules worth knowing: if you qualify for more than one discount you get only the highest, and the discount is cancelled if the year's arnona isn't paid in full (Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality, Hebrew (opens in a new tab)). I could not find the exact percentage Tel Aviv gives olim published on the city's site, so ask at the counter.

Save 106 and set up DigiTel

To report a problem in the street or ask the city a question, dial 106 from any phone; emergency numbers are 100 for police, 101 for an ambulance and 102 for the fire service (Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality (opens in a new tab)).

My DigiTel is the city's personal online account and app. You can join from age 14 if your Tel Aviv-Yafo address is registered with the Population Authority or you have an arnona account in your name, and you need an Israeli ID card (Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality (opens in a new tab)). You verify your identity online with your ID number and a credit card (which isn't charged), through the national digital ID login, or on a video call (Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality (opens in a new tab)). It handles arnona bills and discount requests, resident parking permits and tickets, street cleaning and garbage schedules, and event tickets and benefits (Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality (opens in a new tab)). Small savings add up: a beach chair costs 4 NIS with DigiTel instead of 10 NIS (Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality (opens in a new tab)).

Start Hebrew

The city lists two municipal ulpanim: Ulpan Gordon at 7 LaSalle Street (03-522-3181) and Ulpan Neve Tzedek at 7 Lilienblum Street (03-517-3670) (Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality (opens in a new tab)). The same page says olim usually register for ulpan through the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration. More options are in the ulpan directory.

Where to get help in English

• The Nefesh B'Nefesh Tel Aviv Center is on the 10th floor of the Azrieli Round Tower, 132 Derech Menachem Begin. It runs olim services (employment guidance, help with bureaucracy, social programs) and the Lone Soldiers Program (Nefesh B'Nefesh (opens in a new tab)).
• Secret Tel Aviv calls itself "Israel's largest English speaking community" and runs a Facebook group and an events calendar (Secret Tel Aviv (opens in a new tab)).
• The olim help directory and community directory list more.

When the paperwork is moving, read Tel Aviv neighborhoods compared and Getting around Tel Aviv.