STEP #2: Send in the Signed Trip Waiver Form\
Next, you will need to sign and submit the official Taglit-Birthright Israel Trip Waiver Form. The form needs to be faxed, mailed, or emailed as a scanned attachment (use a scanner or a digital camera). If you decide to mail in your Trip Waiver Form, we will record the date it arrived according to the postmark on the envelope.

STEP #3: Choose Trip Dates
Use the Israel Outdoors Trip Date Selection Form to let us know your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choice of trip dates. You will be able to update your choices however often you want. You can also use the Trip Date Selection Form to let us know who you want to travel with and if you have any medical or food consideration that we should know about.

STEP #4: Submit a Refundable Deposit
All Taglit-Birthright Israel applicants must submit a USA$250 or CANADA$300 refundable deposit in order to be considered for a trip. The deposit can be submitted via check or credit card. If you plan to use a credit card, an additional $10 processing fee will apply. Your application will not be considered complete until your deposit has been received.
  
Option #1: Submit the deposit by check
If you are submitting the refundable deposit via check or money order, the payment should be made out to "Israel Outdoors" and sent to: Israel Outdoors / 5185 Macarthur Blvd, NW #640 / Washington, DC 20016

Option #2: Submit the deposit by credit card
If you are submitting the deposit via credit card, we have partnered with a service called Payoneer that will process your deposit online. A $10 non-refundable convenience fee applies for using this service. Use the following link to pay the refundable deposit via credit card:

SUBMIT YOUR REFUNDABLE DEPOSIT WITH PAYONEER
 
Is the deposit refundable? Yes! This is really a free trip. Your deposit will be refunded so long as you go on the trip...or so long as you withdraw before getting placed on a trip...or so long as you cancel off a confirmed trip before these deadlines:
 
December Trips - October 31st at 9:00am EST
January Trips - November 13th at 9:00am EST
February Trips - December 11th at 9:00am EST
March Trips - January 15th at 9:00am EST
 
You will only lose your deposit if you were confirmed on a trip and canceled after the deadline above or if you fail to abide by the basic rules of Taglit-Birthright Israel (see the Trip Waiver Form).
 
Why is a deposit even necessary? The Taglit-Birthright Israel gift requires all Trip Organizers to collect a refundable security deposit for each applicant. There is a good reason for this. Because the Taglit-Birthright Israel organization spends a lot of money purchasing plane tickets, the refundable deposit is required to ensure that you really do intend to board the plane with our group!  Of course, since the trip is trully free, the deposit will be fully refunded within two weeks following the end of the trip.

Your application will ONLY be considered complete after you have completed the three steps above. The sooner we get this documentation from you, the better your chances of getting on the trip that you want. You will only be able to submit these forms as of September 10th. Deposit/Waiver Forms submitted before September 10th will not be accepted.

STEP #5: Get Interviewed!
The last and final step before we can physically issue your ticket is to complete a brief telephone interview. The purpose of the interview is to make sure that you have chosen the correct program and to answer any and all of your questions. We are always happy to speak with family members as well if that is helpful. We will call you in order to complete the interview within 2-3 weeks of your registering.
 
Do not panic if you do not hear from us right away. The order that we complete your phone interview has nothing to do with the "first come / first serves" order in which we assign spots on the trips.
 
However, before we can issue you an actual ticket, the interview will need to be successfully completed, and we reserve the right to cancel you for a confirmed flight group if we are not able to conduct your phone interview after a certain amount of time (don't worry - we will always give you plenty of warning about these interview deadlines).

STEP #6: Submit a Copy of Your Passport
Although we can technically ticket you without first receiving a copy of your passport, you will not be allowed to board the plane unless we first have this copy on file at the Israel Outdoors offices. To fulfill this requirement, all we need is a copy of the inside cover of your passport (the page with your picture and the passport numbers). If it is available, we encourage you to send the passport copy along with your waiver, deposit, and trip date selections. If your passport is not currently available, that's ok too. It can be submitted as late as one week prior to your scheduled departure. Keep in mind that to travel to Israel, your passport must be valid for at least six months following the date you arrive in Israel.

STEP #7: Accept Your Spot on the Trip
Beginning in late September, we will begin to send out actual trip confirmations via email. To make your spot on the trip official, you will need to respond to our trip offer message and accept your spot on the trip in writing. As soon as you have officially accepted your spot on the trip we offer you, we will issue your ticket and begin sending you pre-trip prep messages. The actual itinerary for the trip will be released about a month prior to departure. If we offer you a spot on a trip that you do not want, you will have the chance to update your choices or swap trips with someone else on our Facebook trip swapping site (stay tuned for more details...).