Beware Mahalnikim

[Stan187]

If you were born in a country other than the one with which you hold citizenshipm when volunteering, get ready to be sent on a bureaucratic roller coaster. The Jewish Agency can't stamp your visa papers for you, and needs more information and forms and time to prove that you are Jewish. I've been bounced around from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the Jewish Agency to some other ministries. Point is, be ready for a headache. Luckily, I came 3 months prior to my date instead of the minimum 2.5 months, which I purposely did to have some leeway in case something took too long.

[rafi]

Stan,
I take it that you are endorsing following the instructions letter (email) that is sent to all applicants from this web site.

Sorry you are having a difficult time, but hopefully others can learn from this. And this is why going early so much better than going late.

Please keep us up to date on how your enlistment goes. In a short
while you are going to become our expert on the scene.

[Stan187]

Indeed I am endorsing it, in fact I think a bit more than 3 months would probably be optimal for some, but I guess only the individual can determine how much time they really need.