Israeli Travel Document in Lieu of a National Passport

The document is a government-issued alternative to a regular Israeli passport, not a document for noncitizens. Under section 2(b)(2) of the Passports Law, the Minister of Interior may issue it to an Israeli citizen at the citizen’s written request in special cases. The official procedure calls it a “travel document in lieu of a national passport” (תעודת מעבר במקום דרכון לאומי; abbreviated תמבד״ל).[1]

The distinction matters for both eligibility and travel planning. A person may be an Israeli citizen and hold this document instead of a national passport, but destination-country entry and visa rules may differ. Holders are instructed to check the requirements of each destination and transit country. Israel’s tourist-visa table states that visa exemptions apply only to national and official passports, not to other travel documents.[1][3]

The detailed procedure places issuance within the Passports Law and treats the document as a special-case alternative for citizens. The law also authorizes a broader category of alternative travel documents for people who are not Israeli citizens or whose citizenship is undefined or in doubt.[1][2]

Israeli procedures distinguish among three types of travel document: one for foreigners, one issued to citizens in lieu of a national passport, and a one-time document generally used for return to Israel. The citizen document discussed here therefore should not be conflated with travel documents issued under separate arrangements to noncitizens.[2][4]

Historical reporting also uses related terms such as te’udat ma’avar and lesse-passe. In 2016, an amendment enabled a five-year validity period for a travel document used as a passport substitute. A 2008 report described a then-current one-year document for some people who had lost passports. Those reports describe policies at the time and do not establish current rules; the government procedure is the more direct source for present document features and criteria.[5][6]

The detailed procedure lists several circumstances in which an Israeli citizen may receive the document in Israel: dual citizenship; criminal convictions; loss or damage of more than three passports or travel documents; being a new immigrant who received a first passport but is not settling in Israel; or another case determined by the Population Administration’s headquarters. Applications at Israeli missions abroad may also be made by a citizen on a short visit who lost a passport overseas, or by a citizen being returned to Israel under section B of Government Resolution 303.[1]

The government’s public application page presents a related but not identical list for a first laissez-passer: dual citizenship or living outside Israel, three or more previous passports or laissez-passers lost or damaged, holding a valid passport, or qualification under another exception determined by the Authority. It calls for an Israeli identity card; adults apply in person, while applicants under 18 apply in person with a parent. Because the public page and detailed procedure frame eligibility differently, applicants need to confirm the applicable conditions with the Authority.[7][1]

Applications are made in person at a Population and Immigration Authority office in Israel or an Israeli mission abroad. Applicants must submit the designated form and identity documents, as well as any previously issued Israeli passport or travel document. The procedure provides for biometric processing and a fee and allows officials to request further evidence depending on the case.[1]

For a dual citizen who lives abroad and visits Israel using a foreign passport, the procedure describes a particular route: where the person intends to return to their residence abroad, an office director may, in most cases, approve a five-year travel document with reference code 58. The procedure also says the director may approve either a travel document or a passport in accordance with an adult applicant’s request.[1]

The document has a burgundy cover and 32 pages. On its personal-details page, the word “Provisional” appears beneath “Passport.” These features help distinguish it from a regular national passport, even though it serves as a travel document for its holder.[1]

The detailed procedure generally sets validity at five years but permits a shorter period, such as one or two years. A document issued for less than five years cannot be extended under that procedure; a new document must be issued instead. Validity therefore depends on the circumstances of issuance.[1]

The procedure also sets out a route for repeated loss or damage. If an applicant lost or damaged at least three travel documents during the previous ten years and had undertaken to safeguard the latest one, a new passport is not to be approved; instead, the applicant is to be notified that a five-year travel document will be issued. If that document remains undamaged and is not lost for a year, an Israeli passport may then be issued through the usual process. The procedure provides for an appeal to the official responsible for passports and the population registry.[1]

Israeli citizens must present an Israeli passport or Israeli travel document to border-control officers when entering or leaving Israel. Section 2A of the Passports Law permits the minister to authorize the use of another passport or travel document in special circumstances.[4]

Holding this document does not guarantee that a traveler can enter a destination without a visa or that another country will accept it. Intergovernmental visa-exemption agreements do not apply to travel documents, and holders are advised to check visitor and transit requirements with each destination. Israel’s tourist-visa table similarly limits the listed exemptions to national and official passports.[1][3]

For the United States, the visa table states that advance online registration in place of a visa is available to tourists holding a valid biometric passport—one valid for ten years for adults or five years for minors. Travelers using another type of document should confirm the applicable U.S. visa requirements before travel.[3]

New immigrants are among the groups for whom the distinction between a national passport and a travel document can be important. A July 2021 Population and Immigration Authority guidance sheet said an immigrant could receive a travel document valid for five years at any time instead of a national passport, without meeting its stated integration condition. It also gave an example in which an application for a first passport during the first year after registration as an immigrant resulted in a one-year passport.[8]

The same guidance used a benchmark of residence in Israel for 36 months out of a 60-month period when describing eligibility for a maximum-validity passport after five years from registration as an immigrant. During the first three months after aliyah, a new immigrant may travel using a passport from the country of origin together with a document from the Population and Immigration Authority; after that period, a travel document is needed for travel into and out of Israel. The latter guidance does not identify that document formally or specify its eligibility rules.[8][9]

Rules on new immigrants’ access to regular passports have changed over time. A 2017 amendment allowed new immigrants to receive a first Israeli passport without first completing a year of residence after acquiring citizenship. A law passed on June 13, 2023, again authorized the interior minister to refuse a passport to a new immigrant who had not settled in Israel while allowing issuance of a travel document instead. These changes should be distinguished from the criteria in the current case-specific procedure.[10][11]

Some Israeli travel documents are issued to residents or other people who are not Israeli citizens. These documents arise under separate legal and administrative arrangements and do not establish eligibility for the citizen document in lieu of a national passport. The broader statutory authority covers noncitizens and people whose citizenship is undefined or in doubt, while the procedure for the document covered here requires Israeli citizenship.[2][1]

Approximately 300,000 Palestinians living in East Jerusalem’s municipal territory were described in a 2015 estimate as Israeli permanent residents rather than citizens. They carried Israeli blue identity cards but were not eligible for an Israeli passport. Permanent-resident status provides an Israeli identity card and specified social benefits but not citizenship automatically; citizenship may be acquired through a naturalization application. These accounts do not specify whether, or on what terms, residents may receive a particular Israeli travel document.[12][13]

East Jerusalem Arabs had Jordanian citizenship before 1988. After Jordan’s disengagement from the West Bank—known by its original, indigenous Jewish name of Judea and Samaria—in 1988, many gradually lost full Jordanian citizenship, and most came to hold temporary Jordanian passports that functioned in effect as laissez-passer documents. Most East Jerusalem Arab residents consequently lacked full Israeli or Jordanian citizenship. The same study quotes resident Tareq Abu Hamed describing an Israeli travel document as a means of travel: “You leave here with an Israeli travel document, which also allows you to travel around the world.” His statement is an individual account, not a complete description of eligibility or international acceptance.[14]

A 2023 report said approximately 80 percent of an estimated 23,600 Druze residents of the Golan Heights who were eligible for Israeli citizenship had declined it. Their Syrian citizenship status was described as unclear, and their Israeli laissez-passer documents listed their nationality as “undefined.” A 2006 report gave an earlier estimate of approximately 20,000 non-Israeli residents, primarily Druze, who held Israeli travel documents and identity cards. These are noncitizen arrangements and should not be conflated with the citizen document in lieu of a national passport.[15][16]

Debate over new immigrants’ access to regular passports has involved competing concerns about equal treatment, security, and the standing of the Israeli passport. A 2017 account traced restrictions to an earlier cabinet decision and reported that court rulings and a 2002 amendment had supported withholding or not renewing passports for immigrants who had not put down roots in Israel. It also described exceptions for some people living abroad, including prominent figures in science, culture, the arts, or sports, as well as major investors and philanthropists.[10]

A 2020 Maariv investigation presented the 2017 change as disputed. It quoted an unnamed minister from the government at the time warning that the law could be misused, while an Israel Beiteinu spokesperson argued that an immigrant who had become a citizen should not have to wait a year for a passport. A 2023 account said the later amendment restored the minister’s authority to refuse a passport to a new immigrant who had not settled in Israel, citing concerns about passport standing and possible misuse of the Law of Return. These are arguments reported in the sources, not findings that any particular applicant misused the law or document.[17][11]

Historical reporting on lost passports also reflects a policy rationale rather than a current eligibility rule. In 2008, a news report described a one-year travel document for some people who had lost passports and said officials intended the measure to encourage care in safeguarding passports. The article also reported that some countries did not admit travelers holding that document. Because the account concerns a past procedure, it does not establish present validity periods or current foreign-entry decisions.[6]