Your next step is to go to www.nbn.org.il This is the Nefesh b'Nefesh website. It will answer questions you hadn't even thought of yet. Quite comprehensive. I suggest you visit it often and become familiar with the content.
I filled out my online application in late October. I'm not sure if the .pdf version can actually be downloaded....at least I was not able to do it. (It would always loop me back to the online link, even after 15+ attempts from different computers).
As you start your application, each page will pop up with a few questions. Most are the "click the correct bubble" kind, but there are a few boxes in which you will write your answers in your own words.
At the end of each questionnaire page, you will click SAVE AND CONTINUE. It's designed to be able to come back to that point and finish. However! I had problems with this. I don't want this to happen to you, so take note.
What happened to me, is that towards the end, they ask you for a supporting statement of how and why you decided to make Aliyah. (4,000 character limit). I thought I would take some time to organize my thoughts into a logical progression. So I clicked on "Save and Continue" and then logged out. I logged on a few days later, and filled out my supporting statement right there on the site. (As it turned out, that was not a good move.) I pushed "submit", and watched as each page went through a 'verifying' process....it went on for over a minute, when suddenly, a page pops up and says "you did not fill out this page"...oh! But, I had! So I filled it out again, and about 5-6 more pages popped up now blank that had been filled out just 72 hours before. The last page being my 3,998 character supporting statement that was now blank! WHAT?!??!
I re-write the statement as best I can remember. I push submit. Verifying process begins...then up pops that same first blank page of 6 stating I had not filled it out. (You cannot advance to the next set of questions without saving the page....if you inadvertently missed a question, it highlights the error...so you can't even get to the next page if you haven't saved your work.)
OK. We'll try this AGAIN. I fill out the info (Now for the 3rd time) and I get to the supporting statement section, and it too is blank. AGAIN.
Apparently NBN received my incomplete application, those blank pages still being blank when submitted for the 3rd time. Someone from the IT department called me to find out what had happened. Some Internet Browsers don't work well with the NBN site...Safari and Google Chrome being 2 of them. Surprisingly, Internet Explorer has the least amount of problems, so he was surprised that that is what I was using. He logged on to my account from Jerusalem, asked me the questions, and was able to upload the now completed document to NBN....minus the "essay", as some call the supporting statement.
I drafted the statement in Word, and sent it off to them a few days later, separately.
So, in a nutshell: Be prepared to do the Aliyah application in one fell swoop. Already have your '4,000 characters or less' statement prepared about why you want to make Aliyah, and then just copy and paste it into the box. Once they receive the completed application, you will be given a different site to log into. It's like having your own little private online file of what has been submitted, and what still is required. The missing items are highlighted in yellow. My first visit there almost blinded me, as the amount of yellow shone like the rays of the sun. But as each item is checked off the list, it gets more manageable. I now no longer have to wear sunglasses to view my page! :)
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