Income Support - While staying abroad

A recipient of an income support benefit or a recipient of an old-age pension with income supplement who goes abroad after January 2003, is not entitled to receive income support benefit for the period that he is abroad, subject to the following:

1.   For each full month (from the 1^st of the month to the 31^st or the 30^th  of the month)
     that he stays abroad, no benefit is paid.

2.   For the month in which he went abroad and the month of his return from abroad, the benefit is paid only if it is his first trip during that calendar year (from January 1^st of that year to December 31^st of the same year).

      If the recipient already went abroad during the same calendar year (from January 1^st of that year to December 31^st of the same year), no benefit is paid for the month in which he went abroad or for the month in which he returned from abroad for the second time.

3.   A trip abroad for a maximum of 3 weeks due to the death of an immediate family member (a spouse, parent, child or sibling) is not included in the calculation of the time spent abroad during one calendar year.

However, a person undergoing vocational training, a person undergoing a rehabilitation process or a person requesting work at the Employment Service who is absent due to a trip abroad is not entitled to income support benefit for all months in which he missed the days of participation.

A person who goes abroad to receive medical treatment that cannot be obtained in Israel, or a person accompanying a sick family member for the purpose of obtaining such medical treatment, and has received authorization from the Ministry of Health for the trip, continues to receive the benefits even for the time that he stays abroad, but for no more than 6 months.

A person who reaches retirement age is entitled to income support benefit, even during a stay abroad, provided that he went abroad no more than 3 times in the same calendar year, and remained abroad for a maximum of 72 days in the same calendar year.