Civil Marriage in Israel: Options Abroad and Registration

There is no civil marriage in Israel. The state hands exclusive control over marriage to fourteen recognized religious communities, and no government office performs or issues a secular ceremony on Israeli soil. If you cannot or will not marry through a recognized religious authority, the standard path is to marry abroad (Cyprus in person or Utah by video) and register the union with Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority, which the Supreme Court has ordered the state to accept.

Why No Secular Ceremony Exists Domestically

The arrangement traces back to the Ottoman-era Millet system, which assigned personal status matters to each religious community. Israel preserved that structure at independence. For Jewish citizens, the Rabbinical Courts Jurisdiction Law of 1953 gives Orthodox rabbinical courts sole authority over marriage and divorce, and only Orthodox rabbis may perform the ceremony.¹ Muslim citizens fall under Sharia courts, Druze under Druze courts, and Christians under their denominational courts.² No civil marriage license exists.

Who Cannot Marry Inside Israel

Because religious law governs every domestic wedding, the barriers are broad:

Interfaith couples. Jewish law prohibits marriage between a Jew and a non-Jew. The only interfaith combination permitted by any recognized religious court is a Muslim man marrying a Jewish or Christian woman under Sharia law.³
Same-sex couples. No recognized religious community in Israel performs same-sex marriages.
Religiously unaffiliated citizens. Immigrants who arrived without a recognized religious affiliation, especially from the former Soviet Union, have no religious court willing to marry them. This is the single largest affected group.³
Certain unions banned under Jewish law. A divorcee cannot marry a Cohen, and a Mamzer cannot marry someone who is not a Mamzer.

For every group on that list, the practical route to a legally recognized marriage runs through a foreign jurisdiction.

Marrying Abroad and Registering the Marriage in Israel

The Supreme Court settled the key principle in the Funk-Schlesinger case: the Population Registrar is a clerk, not a judge. When you present a valid foreign marriage certificate, the registrar has a duty to record it without asking whether the marriage would be permitted under Israeli religious law. A 2006 ruling extended the same duty to same-sex couples married abroad.

Registration is administrative. It updates the population registry, which is what tax authorities, the National Insurance Institute, and the Interior Ministry consult for benefits, residency, and inheritance. It does not change how religious courts view your marriage, which matters at the divorce stage. It does guarantee that the government treats you as married for every civil purpose.

The Cyprus Route

Cyprus has been the default destination for Israeli couples for decades. It is close, the ceremony can usually be arranged within a few days, and municipalities across the island handle the paperwork with slight local variations.

You will need valid passports, birth certificates, a certificate confirming your unmarried status (available free from the Interior Ministry), and notarized translations of all documents with apostille stamps.⁴ If either partner was previously married or widowed, bring the divorce or death certificate. Order several certified originals of your unmarried-status certificate before you fly. Couples routinely use their only copy in Cyprus and then have to return to the bureaucracy for another when they register the marriage back home.

The Utah Online Option

You can also marry without leaving the country. Utah permits marriage ceremonies conducted by video, and the Israeli Supreme Court has ruled that the Population and Immigration Authority must register these unions the same way it registers any other foreign civil marriage.⁵ If the marriage is valid where it was performed, the registrar records it.

Apply for a marriage license through the Utah County Clerk’s website, which costs roughly $72. Both partners verify identity by uploading a government-issued ID and a selfie. Book an officiant, hold the ceremony by video, and make sure two witnesses over 18 are on the call. The officiant registers the license and emails you a digital copy of the certificate. For use in Israel, the certificate must carry an apostille from the Utah Lieutenant Governor’s office, which involves an additional fee and processing time.

Total cost, including license, apostille, and international shipping, typically runs between $100 and $200. That is a fraction of a Cyprus trip, and the option has become particularly popular with same-sex couples and anyone who cannot travel.

Documents Needed to Register the Foreign Marriage

Registration happens at a regional office of the Population and Immigration Authority. Gather everything before you go:

The original foreign marriage certificate, authenticated with an apostille if the issuing country is a member of the Hague Apostille Convention.⁴
Valid passports or Israeli identification documents for both spouses.⁶
Proof of prior marital status if either spouse was previously married. That means a divorce certificate or the death certificate of the former spouse. When one spouse is a foreign citizen, a certified document from their country of origin confirming previous marital status is also required.⁶
The change of marital status form, available on the Population and Immigration Authority website. It asks for the exact date of the marriage, the city and country where it took place, and full legal names as they appear on official identification.⁵

If the marriage certificate is not in Hebrew or English, you need a certified translation with a translator’s declaration of fluency and faithfulness. That declaration must be authenticated by an authorized diplomatic representative, by a local notary with an apostille attached, or by an attorney in Israel.⁷

What Happens at the Registration Appointment

Both spouses appear in person if both are Israeli citizens. If only one is Israeli, only that spouse must attend.⁸ Couples living abroad can submit at an Israeli consulate or embassy.

A clerk reviews the apostille, the original certificate, and the completed form, then updates the population registry. You receive an updated Sefach, the paper attachment to the Israeli identity card that lists the spouse and confirms the registered marriage. The digital record updates within a few business days and propagates across government agencies. The clerk records that a valid marriage exists under foreign law. Nothing more.

The Narrow Domestic Civil Union for the Religiously Unaffiliated

In 2010, the Knesset created a domestic civil union open to one narrow group: citizens registered as having no religious affiliation.⁹ Both partners must be at least 18, residents of Israel, registered as having no religion, not currently married, and not closely related. If either partner belongs to a recognized religious community, the option is closed.

The process runs through a government-appointed registrar, who publishes the application and forwards it to all recognized religious courts. A 30-day objection period follows. If a religious court suspects one partner actually belongs to its community, registration is paused until that court rules. Assuming no successful objection, the registrar meets with the couple, explains the legal consequences, confirms consent, and signs the civil marriage contract.⁹ One notable restriction: for adoption and surrogacy purposes, couples registered under this law are treated as married only after 18 months from the date of registration.¹⁰

The bureaucratic weight and the religious court veto power have kept usage low. Many eligible couples fly to Cyprus instead.

Cohabitation as an Alternative: Yeduim BeTzibur

Not every couple wants a foreign wedding. Israeli law recognizes long-term cohabitating partners under the status of Yeduim BeTzibur, roughly “reputed spouses.” Courts have built the doctrine over decades to extend many marriage-like protections to couples who live together without marrying: inheritance rights, survivor benefits, and pension and social security payments. Government agencies apply their own criteria when benefits are claimed. Proving the status generally requires a shared household, financial interdependence, and public presentation as a family unit.

Property division is where the status shows its limits. Married couples fall under a statutory regime that generally splits assets accumulated during the marriage equally. Reputed spouses get no such automatic presumption. Courts rely on contract and property principles, requiring the claiming partner to prove an implied agreement to share. For a jointly used home or car, courts will usually infer that sharing agreement from the couple’s life together. For business assets or property one partner brought into the relationship, the claiming partner must show specific evidence that the owner intended to share that particular asset. Judges tend to emphasize that the couple chose not to marry.

If you plan to rely on this status, a written cohabitation agreement setting out property rights is worth serious consideration, especially if one partner owns significant assets.

The Divorce Complication

Marrying civilly abroad does not free you from the religious court system when the marriage ends. For Jewish citizens, the rabbinical court retains sole jurisdiction over dissolving the marriage, even one performed in a fully secular ceremony in Cyprus or Utah.¹¹

Dissolving a civil marriage does not always require a Get, the traditional Jewish divorce document. The rabbinical court first examines whether Jewish law considers the marriage valid enough to require one. If not, the court can issue a simple decree dissolving the union on the grounds that the relationship has broken down irretrievably, without requiring both parties to consent and without proof of fault.¹¹ If the court determines a Get is required, one spouse’s refusal to grant it can leave the other trapped in the marriage indefinitely. Courts have tools to pressure a refusing spouse, including financial sanctions, but enforcement is inconsistent.

Property division is handled separately and can go through either civil family courts or religious courts, since both have concurrent jurisdiction over financial matters. The forum where the dispute is heard can significantly affect the outcome. That is worth thinking about before the marriage begins, not after it ends.

1
Knesset. Rabbinical Courts Jurisdiction (Marriage and Divorce) Law, 5713-1953
2
U.S. Department of State. Israel and The Occupied Territories – International Religious Freedom Report
3
The Law Library of Congress. Israel – Spousal Agreements for Couples Not Belonging to Any Religion
4
The Israeli Judicial Authority. Apostille
5
Population and Immigration Authority. Update Your Marital Status in the Population Registry
6
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Notice of Change of Marital Status (Marriage/Divorce)
7
Gov.il. Notary Authorization
8
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Notice of Change of Marital Status (Marriage/Divorce)
9
Knesset. Civil Union Law for Citizens with no Religious Affiliation, 5770-2010
10
The Law Library of Congress. Israel – Spousal Agreements for Persons Without a Religion
11
Cardozo Israeli Supreme Court Project. A v. Tel-Aviv-Jaffa Regional Rabbinical Court