Haifa has its own municipal absorption authority, Beit Ole, and it's the first place I'd contact. This guide follows the order Beit Ole itself describes, with the government offices you'll need along the way.
Start with Beit Ole
Beit Ole (the Haifa Association for Immigrants Absorption) is at 20 Y.L. Peretz St in Hadar, open Sun-Thu 08:30-16:30 and Fri 08:30-12:30. Its website is in Hebrew, Russian, English and Portuguese, and its contact page lists coordinators for Russian, Spanish/Portuguese and French speakers.
The coordinators help with the first stages: booking the Interior Ministry appointment, enrolling children in gan or school, registering for ulpan and translating your rental agreement. That's on top of the Ministry of Aliyah staff at the local branch. Beit Ole says about 2,000 olim arrive in Haifa each year. See the Beit Ole listing.
The order of the first steps
Beit Ole describes this order:
- Interior Ministry for your temporary teudat zehut. The Population and Immigration Authority office is at 15 Palyam Blvd (Kiryat HaMemshala); book on *3450. You must show an ID card to be served: a driving licence is not accepted as ID.
- Open a bank account. Couples open a joint account, with both spouses present.
- Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, a few days later, so the absorption basket can be paid. The Haifa region branch is at 60 Shivat Zion St (03-9733333), open Sun-Thu mornings and also Mon and Wed 15:00-18:00. A Thursday-morning service point runs at 33 Degania Blvd in Kiryat Haim.
One honest warning: Beit Ole's integration page gives different addresses for these two offices ("Palyam St. 2a" and "Palyam St. 15, Grand Canyon"). I've used the gov.il branch locator, but confirm the address when you book.
Health fund and ulpan
Beit Ole says you pay a registration fee at the post office (about NIS 15 per family member) and then collect a magnetic card at your fund's branch. Children under 18 are registered with a parent. More in the health guide.
Olim are entitled to 500 free hours of ulpan, usable for 10 years after aliyah, with a referral from the Ministry of Aliyah. The ulpan listings include Ulpan Aba Hushi, Beit Erdshtain and Ulpan Etzion (for graduates aged 22-35).
What the city gives olim
Nefesh B'Nefesh lists these Haifa incentives (page updated 4 May 2026): a project manager on arrival, employment counselling, subsidised temporary rental apartments for 2-4 weeks, a 90% arnona discount on the first 100 sq m for 12 of your first 24 months, extra ulpan hours, free entry to municipal museums and libraries, and a free first visit to the Haifa Zoo.
Numbers and offices to keep
- Municipal hotline 106 (24 hours), or 04-8356356; from outside Haifa 04-8356860. Arnona and water: 1-700-700-060.
- Police 100, MDA 101, Fire 102, Electric Company 103, Home Front Command 104.
- The municipality runs an emergency-information site in Russian and Arabic.
- Bituach Leumi Haifa branch: 8 Palyam Blvd, in person by appointment only (Sun, Tue, Thu 08:30-13:00); *6050.
- Employment Service: 18 HaNevi'im St (Armon tower), 077-2718800.
- Government self-service kiosks are at Kiryat HaMemshala, 42 Derech Yafo, and in Super-Pharm at City Center, Auditorium and Neve Sha'anan.
Libraries, community centres and students
Haifa's 18 municipal libraries are free to join. The central Pevzner library in Hadar holds books in Hebrew, English, Russian, German, French and Yiddish. About 30 community centres run activities from early childhood to seniors. For students, see Technion International, the University of Haifa International School and Hillel.
What I couldn't find
AACI has no Haifa office: its Haifa page returned an error on 5 October 2026. The haifaaliyah.co.il site NBN links to didn't load either. If you know a working English-speakers' group or office in Haifa, please tell me with the correction button and I'll add it.
