Divorce Documents
Divorce Documentation for Aliyah: The Civil Decree, the Get, and the Remarriage Question
Two documents end a Jewish marriage, and confusing them is the most common mistake divorced olim make. There's the civil divorce decree issued by a court, and the get issued by a recognised beit din. Your aliyah file is satisfied by the civil decree alone — but the get determines what becomes possible in Israel afterward.
The trap is treating the two as interchangeable. They aren't. They operate in entirely different legal universes, and the gap between them tends to surface years after aliyah, at the worst possible moment.
Two documents, two legal universes
A civil divorce dissolves a marriage in the eyes of the state. It's sufficient for the aliyah file — but it does not dissolve the marriage under halacha. That requires a get. And a get on its own does not satisfy the consulate.
AspectCivil divorce decreeGetIssued byCivil courtRecognised beit dinLegal effectDissolves in civil lawDissolves in halachaRequired for aliyah fileYes — universallyNoFor Rabbinate remarriageNot on its ownYesTypical costBuilt into legal feesUSD 500–2,000
Here's the part that catches people. Having only the civil decree does not get your aliyah rejected. The file proceeds, citizenship is granted, the move is unaffected. The problem surfaces later — when a divorced applicant wants to marry in Israel and discovers that the Rabbinate, which holds the monopoly on Jewish marriage for halakhically Jewish couples, requires a get first.
So for most divorced applicants planning to remarry, the practical answer is simple: obtain both before aliyah.
Which beit din is recognised?
Not every get is accepted by the Israeli Rabbinate. To be recognised, it generally needs to come from an Orthodox rabbinical court — for example the Israeli Chief Rabbinate's batei din, the Rabbinical Council of America beit din, the London Beth Din, or major Orthodox batei din in established communities (Toronto, Montreal, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Sydney, Melbourne, Paris).
Be cautious with the rest. Conservative/Masorti gittin face uncertain recognition; Reform and private-rabbi arrangements are generally not recognised, since a valid get requires three rabbis and two kosher witnesses. Verify before relying on a non-Orthodox get.
Five common scenarios
Your situation determines whether a get is essential, recommended, or simply not needed:
Jewish woman divorced from a Jewish man — the strongest get requirement. Without one she cannot remarry through the Rabbinate and may face the agunah situation described below.
Jewish man divorced from a Jewish woman — get recommended. A man without one is not in agunah-equivalent status, but the Rabbinate still requires it for a Jewish remarriage.
Jewish person divorced from a non-Jewish spouse — no get needed; the original marriage was not a halachic marriage. Civil decree only.
Bringing children from a previous marriage — the most documentation-heavy case (see below).
Divorced and remarried — you'll need both the prior and current marriage documentation, with a timeline the consulate can reconcile across both spouses.
When children come with the file
Bringing children from a previous marriage substantially expands the workstream. The file must establish two things: that you have legal authority to take the children to Israel — through custody with relocation rights, or specific authorisation in the decree — and that the other biological parent either consents or has been bypassed through proper legal process.
A notarised consent letter is the cleanest configuration, and often the single hardest item to obtain. Where consent isn't available, court orders take its place.
The Hague Convention applies. International child-relocation is governed by the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. A relocation that isn't properly authorised can trigger Hague proceedings on arrival in Israel — a serious situation no aliyah file should walk into unprepared. Where any complication exists, specialist family-law advice in both jurisdictions is the baseline.
The document set
For the civil side:
Certified copy of the final decree (not a photocopy) — all pages, including custody, property, and name-reversion annexures
Apostille on the decree
Hebrew translation where the decree is not in English
Full names of both parties, finalisation date, issuing court, case number, judge's signature, and court seal
For the religious side, where applicable:
Original get where retained, or the petor (confirmation) from the supervising beit din
Contact details for the beit din so the Rabbinate can verify
Original ketubah from the dissolved marriage, where available
Two situations worth knowing before you move
Agunah. An agunah — a "chained woman" — is a woman whose husband has not granted a get, whether because he refuses, has disappeared, or the marriage ended without religious dissolution. The civil divorce ends the marriage in civil law, but the absence of the get leaves her bound under halacha. She cannot remarry through the Rabbinate or in an Orthodox ceremony, and in the strictest view children from a subsequent partnership face serious halachic complications. Critically, agunah status does not affect immigration — citizenship, residence, and benefits all proceed. And since 1995, Israeli rabbinical courts can apply civil sanctions to a refusing husband resident in Israel — one reason difficult cases sometimes resolve more readily from inside Israel.
Kohen. A separate issue: traditional halacha prohibits a kohen (a man of priestly descent) from marrying a divorcee, regardless of whether a valid get was issued. The alternative is the non-Rabbinate marriage routes — worth knowing before aliyah rather than after.
Costs and timeline
ItemCost rangeCertified copy of civil decreeUSD 25–100Apostille on decreeUSD 15–75Hebrew translation (non-English)USD 75–150 per documentGet through recognised beit dinUSD 500–2,000Get through Israeli Rabbinate (post-aliyah)Often subsidised or free
Begin six to twelve months before aliyah — batei din can take three to six months end to end. Apostille and translate three to six months out, and submit the set organised chronologically with a cover letter mapping the timeline.
Two endings, two beginnings
One recommendation holds across every configuration: do not arrive in Israel and discover the get question for the first time. Either obtain it before — knowing the file is cleaner — or arrive consciously incomplete on the religious side with a plan for closing the gap from inside Israel. Both are defensible.
The configuration that fails is the one never thought through: the divorced applicant who assumed the civil decree was the entire question, and discovers years later, at the point of remarriage, that it was not.
From the first document to the first week in Israel, Olim Advice offers independent, vetted guidance for Anglo olim.
General information, not legal advice. Where children or any other complication is involved, seek specialist family-law advice in both jurisdictions.