Comparison · all ten destinations
Visa insurance rules compared: what each country actually tests
By Covered Abroad Research Desk · Last verified July 2026
The comparison
Summary cells compress the quoted rule shown for each country further down. Where a country publishes no figure, the cell says so rather than guessing one.
| Country | Published figure | What it actually tests | Territory required | Deductible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| France | None published | Private health cover for the full stay, medical and hospitalisation, valid in France | France, whole visa period | Commonly refused on core cover |
| Italy | €30,000 (widely handled to) | Hospitalisation and repatriation for the full visa year | Italy and the Schengen area | Zero commonly expected in year one |
| Spain | None published | Insurer authorized to operate in Spain — the registration line, not the benefits | Spain | None permitted (also no copay, waiting period or limit) |
| Portugal | €30,000 (practical bar) | Urgent medical care and repatriation at the consulate; full health cover later at AIMA | Schengen-wide | Not specified |
| Greece | €30,000 | Emergency care, hospitalisation and repatriation | Whole Schengen area, full duration of stay | Not specified |
| Malta | None published | One full year, premium paid in advance, applicant plus dependants | EU including Malta, and the UK | Not specified |
| Germany | None published | Equivalence with statutory benefits under §11(1–3) SGB V, on an open-ended contract | Germany | Not specified |
| Austria | None published | All risks, benefits provided in Austria, claims payable in Austria | Austria | Not specified |
| Netherlands | None published | No insurance document is asked for at application on the routes read; the duty is a post-arrival one | Netherlands | Not a visa test — the statutory excess applies to the Dutch basic policy itself |
| Belgium | €30,000 for family reunification travel medical insurance; no figure published for students or the single permit | Cover for all risks in Belgium — and what satisfies it changes by route | Belgium | Not specified |
The rule in each country's own words
Quoted so you can check the summary above against the source. “Official source” appears only where a citable official document states the rule; where the rule is assembled from consulate practice and documented applicant reports, it says “Based on”.
France
“For a long-stay visa (VLS-TS), you must hold private health insurance covering your full stay in France. Travel insurance and short-stay Schengen policies are not accepted.”
“Consulates commonly refuse policies with a deductible (excess) on the core cover. Applicants report rejections over deductible clauses; the certificate should show cover without a disqualifying deductible.”
In practice: Travel and short-stay Schengen policies are not accepted.
Official source: France-Visas (france-visas.gouv.fr) & FrenchEntrée long-stay guide — Last verified: · Routes: VLS-TS visitor (long-stay), Another long-stay visa, Visitor / retiree visa
Italy
“The elective residence visa is widely handled to the €30,000 Schengen insurance standard — hospitalisation and repatriation cover for the full visa year — though published consulate checklists vary: some ask for cover of 100% of medical expenses, and requirements differ by consulate.”
“For the first year, consulates commonly expect zero deductible or co-pay and repatriation cover — practice varies by consulate, and no published checklist states a deductible rule outright.”
In practice: Published consulate checklists vary — some ask for 100% of medical expenses.
Based on: Official esteri.it consulate checklists (Chicago, Boston et al., which vary) & widely-applied Schengen standard — Last verified: · Routes: Elective residence (ERV), Digital nomad, Retirement, Another long-stay visa
Spain
“Spain requires health insurance “contracted with an insurance entity authorized to operate in Spain” for the non-lucrative and digital-nomad visas — with no deductible, no copayment, no waiting period and no coverage limit. Most international policies fail this rule on registration grounds.”
In practice: The strictest published rule of the eight. Most international policies fail on registration alone.
Official source: Consulates General of Spain (Los Angeles & London) — official visa requirements — Last verified: · Routes: Non-lucrative visa (NLV), Digital nomad, Another long-stay visa
Portugal
“Portugal’s national-visa documentation page requires valid insurance covering urgent medical care and possible repatriation. In practice, consulates and visa centres commonly apply the €30,000 Schengen standard (Schengen-wide validity, urgent care, hospitalisation, repatriation), and some US visa centres ask for a full year of validity — treat €30,000 as the practical bar, with the published national-visa rule as the floor.”
“At the AIMA residence-permit appointment after arrival, travel-grade insurance is no longer enough: applicants show full health insurance valid in Portugal, or registration with the public SNS. Applicants consistently report this second stage catching them out.”
In practice: Two stages. Travel-grade cover that passed the consulate is refused at the AIMA appointment.
Official source: Portuguese MFA visa portal — national-visa documentation (vistos.mne.gov.pt); €30,000 = the MFA’s published Schengen-visa standard, commonly applied in practice — Last verified: · Routes: D7 (passive income / retiree), D8 (digital nomad), Another long-stay visa
Greece
“Greece’s national (type D) visas require travel medical insurance with minimum cover of €30,000, valid for the whole Schengen area and the full duration of stay, covering emergency care, hospitalisation, and repatriation.”
“The Greek visa is only the entry step. Financially Independent Person residence permits are issued under Article 163(8) of Law 5038/2023 — the Migration Code, applying from 31 March 2024 — as permit type I.8, and the supporting file requires an insurance policy from a private insurance company alongside proof of sufficient resources. That level is set at €3,500 per month of net income or capital, increased by 20% for a spouse and 15% for each child. The permit itself is an electronic residence card carrying biometric data.”
In practice: Four conditions in one sentence, and repatriation is the one most often missing. Also two stages: the Article 163(8) residence permit asks for private insurance again, in Greece.
Official source: Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs (mfa.gr) national-visa documentation — Last verified: · Routes: Financially independent (FIP), Digital nomad, Another long-stay visa
Malta
“Malta’s Nomad Residence Permit requires health insurance covering the EU (including Malta) and the UK, for one full year with the premium paid in advance. Travel insurance is not accepted — but a foreign health policy that meets the requirements is explicitly acceptable.”
“Malta checks the policy AFTER approving the application, not with it. A successful application receives a Letter of Approval in Principle; proof of accommodation and the health insurance policy must then be submitted within 30 working days. The policy must cover the applicant and any dependants in Malta and be fully pre-paid for one full year. Only once it satisfies the programme requirements is a Letter of Final Approval issued, after which you travel to Malta for biometrics and the residence card follows.”
In practice: Two stages, and the insurance sits in the SECOND. The policy is submitted after the Letter of Approval in Principle, on a 30-working-day clock — so do not buy it with the initial file. A foreign policy is explicitly acceptable; monthly billing fails the paid-in-advance condition.
Official source: Residency Malta Agency — Nomad Residence Permit health-insurance policy — Last verified: · Routes: Nomad Residence Permit, Another residence route
Germany
“For Germany’s national visa, health insurance must include the benefits statutory-insured persons are entitled to under §11(1–3) SGB V, and the contract must be open-ended — no expiry or cancellation clauses tied to age, employment, or residence status. Travel insurance is insufficient.”
In practice: No figure at all — it benchmarks against its own public system. The contract clause fails more files than the benefits do.
Official source: German Federal Foreign Office — health insurance in the national visa procedure — Last verified: · Routes: Freelance / self-employment, EU Blue Card / work, Another national visa
Austria
“Austrian residence permits require health insurance that provides benefits in Austria and covers all risks, with claims payable in Austria — a stricter standard than a Schengen travel policy.”
In practice: A scope and settlement test rather than a figure. Raising a limit buys no compliance.
Official source: migration.gv.at & oesterreich.gv.at — residence-permit general conditions — Last verified: · Routes: Settlement permit, Another residence permit
Netherlands
“Anyone insured by operation of law under the Wlz — in practice residents of the Netherlands, and non-residents taxed on employment performed there — must take out a Dutch zorgverzekering. Residence or Dutch-taxed work is the trigger, not nationality and not the residence permit. A non-working spouse who becomes resident is caught with no Dutch income at all.”
“The well-known "four months" is a retroactivity window, not a grace period. The obligation bites the day it arises; a policy taken out within four months back-dates to that day, so no gap exists and the intervening premiums are still owed.”
In practice: The odd one out here, because the Dutch requirement sits after the visa rather than inside it. Health insurance is not listed as an application condition on the IND pages for highly skilled migrant, Blue Card, self-employed, orientation year, study or partner, and form 7524 does not request proof of cover. IND’s own general-requirements page omits it too, while its work brochure lists it — and reads as the post-arrival obligation restated, not a document to file. What is certain is what happens next: once you live or are taxed here you must hold a Dutch basic policy, and no international plan discharges it.
Official source: Zorgverzekeringswet Article 2(1), read with Wlz Article 2.1.1 — Last verified: · Routes:
Belgium
“Affiliation to a mutualité, or to the CAAMI/HZIV, is compulsory in Belgium. The route in for most new arrivals is the resident category: people entered in the Registre national des personnes physiques. The trigger is commune registration on legal residence of more than three months, not employment. A resident with no Belgian professional income is inside the obligation and pays a personal contribution instead of paying through social contributions.”
“The Belgian Immigration Office asks for insurance at application stage, separately from the post-arrival affiliation duty. Its wording on the student visa D route is "proof that they have or will have health insurance covering all risks in Belgium during their stay" — qualitative, naming a territory and a scope, with no minimum amount or duration stated on that page as read on 20 August 2026. The family reunification Insurance page is the exception: it accepts travel medical insurance covering the risks in Belgium of minimum €30,000 for a minimum of 3 months, as an alternative to a fund certificate.”
In practice: The only destination here where the answer genuinely differs route by route. Students must show cover for all risks in Belgium with no figure attached. Family reunification takes either a health-fund certificate or travel medical insurance at a minimum €30,000 for at least three months, and the travel policy becomes mandatory in named cases such as a registered partnership or a child over 25. The single permit accepts the employer’s commitment to enrol you in a mutual fund, but only at first application — at renewal it takes a mutual-fund certificate or a private health insurance contract, which is the one place a private policy is named outright.
Official source: Loi coordonnée du 14 juillet 1994, art. 32, al. 1er, 15°, read with INAMI circular to the mutualités no. 2023/15 of 23 January 2023 and socialsecurity.be — Last verified: · Routes:
What this means when you choose a policy
The practical lesson of the table is that shopping on cover amount alone only works in a minority of these countries, and even there it is the floor rather than the answer. Everywhere else the deciding factor is structural: who underwrites the policy, what category of product it is, whether the contract expires, where claims are paid, or how you paid for it.
That is why a policy can be refused in one country and accepted in another with no change to its benefits. It also means moving your plan between destinations is not automatic — a policy bought for a Greek application is not a policy that satisfies Spain.
If you already hold something, the free policy check reads it against the published rule for your destination. If you are starting from scratch, find your level or see real prices by age. To print what your certificate must say, use the visa checklist.
Consulates keep discretion, and requirements can change. We show the published rule and its source; the final decision is the consulate’s. Covered Abroad is an insurance introducer, not an insurer. We cannot extend cover beyond the policy wording. We log rule changes as we find them on updates.