Quick Answer: New immigrants aged 17 and over can take one basic ulpan course in Israel without paying tuition. The Ministry of Aliyah and Integration describes the course as about 420 to 450 hours, usually five months of morning classes, five days a week. You get a referral from your local ministry branch or through your online personal area. The ministry currently lists the tuition exemption as available for up to ten years after aliyah, but the living allowance that makes full-time study affordable is paid only in the first year, so most people are better off starting within weeks of arrival.

Ulpan is the state-funded Hebrew course for new immigrants, run jointly by the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration (Misrad HaAliyah VeHaKlita), the Ministry of Education and the Jewish Agency. Many guides describe it as a fixed "500 hours" guaranteed by statute. Neither part is quite right, and the difference affects how you plan your first year.

This guide covers what you are entitled to, how long you have to use it, how to enroll, how the private ulpan voucher works, and what applies if you are still abroad or are not an oleh.

1. What you are entitled to

The entitlement is one tuition-free basic course, known as Ulpan Aleph or initial ulpan. The ministry's own description is roughly 420 to 450 study hours over about five months. The "500 hours" figure that circulates widely does not appear on the ministry's current information page.

  • Who: new immigrants aged 17 and above.
  • How many times: once. The ministry states that ulpan assistance is given on a one-time basis.
  • Cost: no tuition at state ulpans.
  • Where: ulpans operate around the country all year. A class opens when enough eligible immigrants in an area are waiting. If nothing is available nearby, you can be referred to another town.
Where the right comes from

No section of a Knesset statute fixes a number of ulpan hours. The entitlement is set out in Ministry of Aliyah and Integration procedures: the ulpan procedure (no. 12.191) and, for private ulpan vouchers, Temporary Directive 372. In practice this means the ministry can change the terms, and the voucher track is expressly subject to budget. Check the current rules with your branch before you plan around them.

2. How long you have, and why the first year matters

The ministry's page on public ulpans says new immigrants are eligible for tuition assistance for up to ten years after aliyah. Older guidance, still repeated on many websites, gave 18 months, or 24 months for immigrants receiving income support, with extensions for reasons such as illness, childbirth or a change of address. If you are past your second year and a clerk quotes the shorter period, ask to have your eligibility checked against the current procedure.

The tuition exemption is only part of what you get, and the financial support around it runs on a much shorter clock:

  • During the first six months after aliyah you receive the absorption basket (sal klita), which is meant to cover living costs while you study. Travel to ulpan is included in it.
  • In the second half of the first year, immigrants who are studying in ulpan may receive income assurance payments.
  • If you start ulpan after the first year, the ministry says you are eligible only for the tuition exemption. Any income support would have to come from the National Insurance Institute under its ordinary rules.

If your Ulpan Aleph runs long for reasons outside your control, such as a strike, a late class opening, illness or a family emergency, income support can be extended by up to two months. That extension depends on how soon after receiving immigrant status you began studying, so ask your absorption coordinator before the original period ends.

For the basket itself, see our guide to the sal klita absorption basket.

3. How to enroll

  1. Get your immigrant status documents. You need your teudat oleh and Israeli ID number. See teudat zehut for new immigrants.
  2. Ask for a referral. Contact the absorption coordinator at your local Ministry of Aliyah and Integration branch, or submit a referral request through your personal area on the ministry's website. The ministry's call centre is *2994 from an Israeli phone.
  3. Choose a class. The coordinator tells you which ulpans operate near you. Where several exist, the ministry suggests visiting them before you register.
  4. Register at the ulpan with the referral. The ulpan places you in a class at your level.
  5. Attend and sit the final exam. Keep the certificate. Passing the exam and holding the completion certificate can count toward seniority if you later work in a government ministry or certain public bodies, month for month of study.

Waiting lists have been a real problem in recent years because of teacher shortages at state ulpans. If you are told there is no class for you, read section 5 below: lack of availability is one of the grounds for getting a private ulpan voucher without completing state ulpan first.

4. Ulpan formats

Morning ulpan. The standard track. Five days a week for about five months.

Evening ulpan. For people who work. Classes typically meet three evenings a week and the course can take up to ten months.

Ulpan Etzion. A Jewish Agency programme of five months of intensive study with housing, for immigrants aged 22 to 35 who hold an academic degree. It takes singles and couples without children and has campuses in several cities.

Kibbutz ulpan. Also five months, splitting the week between Hebrew classes (18 to 24 classroom hours) and work on the kibbutz. The Jewish Agency lists it for ages 18 to 30, singles and couples without children, at a programme fee of NIS 6,200, and it requires a doctor's approval because the work is physical. It is open to tourists as well as immigrants.

Municipal ulpans. Under a reform the ministry announced in 2024, local authorities have begun opening ulpans that run at different hours of the day. Availability depends on your city.

Digital ulpan. The ministry runs an online ulpan called Da Ivrit. You may study in it alongside any other Hebrew framework, so it does not use up your state ulpan course.

Students and young immigrants headed for university have separate preparatory programmes through the ministry's Student Authority, which combine Hebrew with academic preparation.

5. Private ulpan with a ministry voucher

The voucher track reimburses a private Hebrew course at an institution on the ministry's approved list. It was designed as a follow-on to state ulpan. The details below are from the ministry's page as updated in February 2026.

Who qualifies

  • Immigrants who finished an initial Ministry of Education ulpan, and
  • fewer than 10 years have passed since they received immigrant status (15 years for immigrants from Ethiopia and Yemen and for Bnei Menashe), and
  • they were at least 17 on the day of aliyah.

Within the first two years after aliyah you can ask for an exception and go straight to a voucher course without state ulpan if no state class was available, or because of a health problem, caring for a child aged 0 to 3, or work, degree studies or a professional internship at hours that rule out ulpan. People who started state ulpan and dropped out need approval from the ministry's appeals committee.

What it covers

  • Courses of 150 to 200 hours, spread over up to eight months.
  • Groups of up to 12. The beginner and advanced 200-hour tracks can be in person or on Zoom. A 150-hour advanced track is in person only, with up to 8 students.
  • Reimbursement of the actual course fee, up to NIS 5,000.

How to claim it

  1. Get an eligibility approval from the ministry before you register for a course. It is valid for three months. Without advance approval there is no refund, and the ministry issues the approval only to the immigrant, not to a school.
  2. Register at an approved institution, take its level test, and pay the fee yourself. Keep the original receipt and the written registration confirmation.
  3. Submit both to your coordinator or through the personal area. The ministry pays 50% at this stage.
  4. After the course, submit proof that you sat the final exam and attended at least 80% of the lessons. The ministry then pays the remaining 50%. Immigrants over 60 are exempt from the exam.
  5. Claim within six months of the end of the course. After that the right to the refund lapses.

You cannot study in a state ulpan and a voucher ulpan at the same time. Using a voucher does not cancel a future state ulpan course and does not reduce your entitlement to a vocational training voucher. Vouchers do not cover the higher Hebrew levels that some licensed professions require.

6. If you are still abroad, or are not an oleh

You must be in Israel for voucher study. The ministry gives voucher assistance only to eligible immigrants who are physically in Israel during the course. Lessons you join by Zoom while abroad do not count toward the 80% attendance needed for the second payment. An immigrant who travels often for work should choose course dates carefully, because a few weeks away can cost half the refund.

Before aliyah. You cannot open the ulpan entitlement until you hold immigrant status. As part of the 2024 reform, the ministry announced online Hebrew study through the Campus IL portal that people can begin before they immigrate. Nefesh B'Nefesh also points future immigrants to online Hebrew programmes. None of this uses up your ulpan course in Israel.

If you leave Israel for a long period after aliyah. The ten-year period runs from your aliyah date whether or not you are in the country. Someone who makes aliyah, returns abroad for several years and comes back may still be inside the tuition window but well outside the period of living support.

Non-olim. Tourists, foreign workers, students and foreign spouses of Israelis who are in the family reunification process are not new immigrants for this purpose and do not get the ministry-funded course. They can enroll as paying students at private ulpans, at university ulpans, or on a kibbutz ulpan. Prices vary by school, so ask for a written quote.

Returning residents and other statuses. Israelis returning after years abroad, and people who hold a status such as immigrant citizen (ezrach oleh), should check individually. The ministry's page tells every applicant to confirm personal eligibility at a branch, and entitlements for these groups differ from those of a new immigrant. See returning resident status.

7. After the basic course

Five months of ulpan gives most people working everyday Hebrew, not professional fluency. Your funded options afterwards are the voucher course described above and the digital ulpan. Doctors, nurses, lawyers, teachers and others who need a licence usually need more Hebrew than either provides, and the licensing body sets its own language requirement. Ask about dedicated professional Hebrew courses when you open your licensing file.

If you receive income assurance while studying, keep your attendance records. Payments in the second half of the first year depend on being in ulpan.

Frequently Asked Questions

One basic course. The Ministry of Aliyah and Integration describes it as about 420 to 450 study hours, usually five months of morning classes five days a week, or up to ten months in an evening ulpan. The assistance is given once, to immigrants aged 17 and over.

The ministry's current page says the tuition exemption is available for up to ten years after aliyah. Older guidance gave 18 months, so confirm your own eligibility at a branch. Living support is much shorter: the absorption basket covers the first six months, and immigrants who start ulpan after the first year get the tuition exemption only.

Yes, through the voucher track. It is meant for immigrants who finished state ulpan and are within ten years of receiving immigrant status. It reimburses the actual course fee up to NIS 5,000 for a 150 to 200 hour course at an approved institution. You must get the ministry's eligibility approval before registering, attend at least 80% of lessons and sit the final exam.

Not on the ministry's account. Voucher assistance is given only to immigrants who are in Israel during the course, and Zoom lessons attended from abroad do not count toward the required attendance. Before aliyah you can use online Hebrew programmes, which do not use up your ulpan entitlement.

Yes, as paying students. Tourists, foreign workers, students and foreign spouses who are not new immigrants do not receive the ministry-funded course, but private ulpans, university ulpans and the kibbutz ulpan accept them. Fees differ between schools.

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