Upon completion of the application process for your new Biometric Teudat Zehut at the Population and Immigration Authority, your new Biometric Teudat Zehut will be hand delivered to you via a courier, or possibly mailed directly to you via registered mail.

Below is the full rundown regarding the process of receiving and activating your new Biometric Teudat Zehut.

Personal code and passwords page

Click here to see an example of this page.

Upon completion of the application process you will receive a document which includes your personal code and passwords.

The Personal code will be used as identification for the courier upon receiving your Teudat Zehut. This code will also be sent to you via SMS for your use. This code is used to ensure the Teudat Zehut will be delivered only to you.

The Personal passwords will be used in order to access and use services on the government website www.gov.il or via the automated machines in the branches of the Population & Immigration Authority (Reshut HaOchlusin V’Hahagira).

Delivery of the Teudat Zehut into your possession

Your Teudat Zehut will be hand delivered by a courier as registered mail from the Population & Immigration Authority. The courier will arrive at the address that you supplied in your application when you met a service representative at the Population & Immigration Authority.

Upon delivery, the courier will ask you to:

• Identify yourself by presenting a Teudat Zehut, Passport, Driver’s License, Army Officer card*.
• Present the Personal Code presented on the Passwords document in the SMS you have received.

The courier will verify your Personal Code prior to handing over the Teudat Zehut.

Please Note: Without presenting your Personal Code, the Teudat Zehut will not be delivered.

If you are not home when the courier arrives, the courier will either leave a registered mail slip for picking up your Teudat Zehut at the nearest post office location, or you will receive an SMS with the address of the post office location in which your Teudat Zehut will be waiting for you.  The process for receiving your Teudat Zehut, including providing the personal code will apply at the post office upon pick up. Registered mail that is not picked up within 15 days will be returned to the Population & Immigration Authority branch in which you applied. You may then pick it up there, showing your ID and personal code.

Activation of your Teudat Zehut

After receiving your Teudat Zehut, you will be sent an SMS message from the Population & Immigration Authority (‘Activation SMS’) in order to verify the document was in fact received by you (the SMS may arrive a day or two later). If you do not have a cellphone, a voice message will be sent to the home phone number you provided upon application.
You will be asked to respond to the SMS or voice message in a simple fashion confirming whether or not you have received the Teudat Zehut (1= Yes, received 0=No, haven’t received).
Only after confirming receipt, your new Teudat Zehut will become valid in the Population & Immigration Authority’s registry. (This can take a couple of hours, and you will receive an additional SMS stating your ID has been activated). This will allow you to perform various actions on the government website and via the automated self-service machines.

If you do not receive an activation SMS or you didn’t reply to the SMS/phone call within 24 hours of receipt, you may activate the card on the Gov.il site. You will first need to be registered for a Gov.il account, as explained here step by step.

Once your account is open, log in to mygov. Go to Notifications and updates. 

You will see an activation message and button. Click on  the activation button. You’ll get a confirmation after activating!

If you did not activate your Teudat Zehut via SMS or gov.il you may walk into nearly any branch of the Population & Immigration Authority during reception hours, without an appointment, and they will activate it for you on the spot, once you provide your personal code.

Important Note! If you do not activate your new Teudat Zehut and your old Teudat Zehut expires, you will no longer be able to receive services from Public and Governmental entities.

Upon receipt of the new Teudat Zehut, you must shred your temporary Teudat Zehut. It is recommended that you don’t dispose of it while it is whole.

* Upon delivery of a first Teudat Zehut for an applicant under 18 years old, you must present to the courier the Teudat Zehut and Sefach (Addendum) of a parent on which the name of the applicant is presented.

You may find additional information in the Population & Immigration Authority’s website www.piba.gov.il or via their service and information center *3450.

* Last updated on July 16, 2023 *