How do I get an Israeli population registry extract (tamtzit rishum) from abroad?

Israeli institutions ask for it constantly and almost nobody outside Israel has heard of it. The tamtzit rishum is a one-page extract from the Population Registry, and it is the document that quietly resolves half the identity problems foreign heirs and applicants run into, because it links parents to children and old names to new ones on a single official page.

---

Detailed Answer

The Population Registry Law 1965 requires the state to maintain a register of the particulars listed in Section 2: identity number, name and any previous names, date and place of birth, parents' names, citizenship, marital status, spouse and children, and address. The tamtzit rishum is the certified extract of those particulars for one person. The basic version shows the current position. The extended version (tamtzit rishum murchevet) shows the registration history, which is what you actually want for legal purposes, because it carries previous surnames, earlier marriages, the immigration date, and the full list of registered children. Section 3 gives the registration prima facie evidential weight for most of those particulars, though notably not for nationality, religion or marital status, where the register records what was reported rather than proving it. Both versions are issued free of charge.

Four situations account for most requests from abroad. Proving descent for Israeli citizenship, where the extended extract of a parent or grandparent shows the child registered against them. Proving relationship to a deceased Israeli when applying to the Inheritance Registrar, where the extract does in one page what three foreign birth certificates and a translated marriage record do badly. Establishing single status for a marriage abroad. And resolving a name that appears three different ways across Hebrew and Latin documents, the problem covered in our article on name discrepancies between Israeli and foreign documents. One limitation catches people out: only Israeli citizens and residents appear in the register, so a non-Israeli parent or spouse will simply not be there, and their side of the relationship has to be evidenced conventionally.

In Practice: Section 3 of the Population Registry Law 1965 makes the extract prima facie evidence of the particulars in Section 2(1) to (4) and (9) to (11), which is why the Inheritance Registrar (Rasham HaYerushot) and the Land Registry accept it in place of a stack of foreign certificates. It is issued free of charge by the Population and Immigration Authority (Rashut HaOchlusin VeHaHagira). Consular requests from abroad typically return in 2 to 6 weeks. For foreign use it must then be apostilled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem rather than by a court, because it is an administrative document, at roughly NIS 35 per certificate, same day in person and 5 to 10 business days by post.

There are three ways to obtain one without being in Israel, and they differ in speed rather than in outcome. The first is to apply at the Israeli consular mission in your country, which takes the request and identity documents and has the extract issued by the Authority. The second, and usually the fastest, is to have a first-degree relative in Israel collect it for you, which the Authority permits on production of your signed power of attorney together with copies of both identity documents. Where the person named on the extract has died and you need it for an estate, or where the registered person cannot consent, the route is a court order directing the Authority to release the record. Whichever route you use, deal with the apostille and translation in the same instruction rather than as an afterthought. The apostille goes on the extract before any translation is made, and if the receiving authority abroad requires the translation to be certified, an Israeli notary's tariff for certifying a translation starts at about NIS 251 for the first hundred words under the Notaries (Fees) Regulations 1977. Which Israeli body apostilles which document is a recurring source of wasted trips, and our answer on which Israeli authority issues the apostille for each document type sets out the routing.

When to Consult a Lawyer

• The extract contradicts your foreign documents, showing a different spelling, a different birth date, or a parent recorded under a name you do not recognise. Correcting the register is a separate procedure and the inconsistency will block an inheritance or citizenship file until it is resolved.
• You need the record of someone who has died and has no surviving first-degree relative able to request it. This requires a court order, and framing the application around the estate rather than around curiosity is what gets it granted.
• A child was born abroad and never registered against the Israeli parent. The extract will not show them, and registering the birth is a prerequisite before the extract becomes useful for a citizenship or succession claim.

---

Speak With an Israeli Attorney

The tamtzit rishum is cheap, quick and frequently decisive, but only if you request the right version, route the apostille through the right authority and fix any discrepancy before it reaches the Inheritance Registrar. We obtain extracts, arrange apostilles and certified translations, and correct register entries that no longer match your documents.

Contact us for a confidential initial consultation.