Glossary · 33 terms
Expat visa and insurance terms, explained
By Covered Abroad Research Desk · Last verified July 2026
Moving abroad hands you a new vocabulary before it hands you anything else: VLS-TS, D7, NLV,
PUMa, AIMA, GKV. These are the 33 terms used across our eight destinations, defined
plainly and grouped by where you meet them — choosing a route, dealing with health systems,
or handling paperwork after you land.
Visa and permit routes
- VLS-TS · France
- France’s long-stay visa serving as a residence permit (visa long séjour valant titre de séjour). The route most US and UK movers use for a non-working move, and the one that requires private health cover for the full stay. Read more.
- ERV (elective residence visa) · Italy
- Italy’s route for people supporting themselves on income or savings rather than employment. It carries no right to work in Italy. Read more.
- NLV (non-lucrative visa) · Spain
- Spain’s residence route for people living on passive income without working in Spain. It carries the strictest published insurance rule of our eight destinations. Read more.
- D7 · Portugal
- Portugal’s income-based residency route, built for people living on passive or remote income rather than a Portuguese employment contract. Read more.
- D8 · Portugal
- Portugal’s digital nomad route, for remote workers earning from outside Portugal. Read more.
- FIP · Greece
- Financially Independent Person — Greece’s route for those moving on income or savings rather than employment. Applicants skew older, which affects both pricing and age caps. Read more.
- Nomad Residence Permit · Malta
- Malta’s permit for remote workers. Its insurance conditions are unusually specific: EU and UK cover, one full year, premium paid in advance. Read more.
- Red-White-Red Card · Austria
- Austria’s permit for skilled workers and self-employed applicants, named for the national colours. Read more.
- Settlement permit · Austria
- Austria’s route for establishing residence without employment — the retiree and independent-means path. Read more.
- National (D) visa · Germany, Greece
- A long-stay visa issued by one country for stays over 90 days, as opposed to a short-stay Schengen (C) visa. Each country sets its own conditions. Read more.
Health systems and insurance terms
- PUMa · France
- Protection universelle maladie — France’s universal healthcare scheme. Residents join after a waiting period, which is why private cover is the bridge for the visa year. Read more.
- SSN · Italy
- Servizio Sanitario Nazionale — Italy’s national health service. Some residents can register, others hold private cover instead. Read more.
- SNS · Portugal
- Serviço Nacional de Saúde — Portugal’s national health service. Registration with it is one of the two things AIMA accepts at the residence-permit stage. Read more.
- GKV · Germany
- Gesetzliche Krankenversicherung — Germany’s statutory health insurance. Contributions are income-based and set by the system, not quoted by insurers. Read more.
- PKV · Germany
- Private Krankenversicherung — Germany’s private health insurance. Premiums are individually underwritten by German insurers. Read more.
- §11 SGB V · Germany
- The section of Germany’s Social Code Book V listing the benefits statutory-insured people receive. German national visas benchmark your cover against it rather than against a euro figure. Read more.
- S1
- A form that lets some state-pensioner and posted-worker cases have their healthcare covered by their home country while living in another. Where it applies it counts as public cover and changes what you still need privately.
- Deductible (excess)
- The amount you pay before the policy pays. Ordinary in US and UK domestic plans and a common reason for refusal in France, and Italy commonly expects zero deductible in year one. Read more.
- Repatriation
- Cover for returning you — or your remains — to your home country. Named explicitly in the Greek and Portuguese rules, and the condition most often missing from otherwise adequate policies. Read more.
- Pre-existing condition
- A condition you had before the policy started. Excluded from the cover we arrange, including conditions you did not know about — we state that before you request a quote rather than at claim time. Read more.
Paperwork you will meet after arrival
- OFII · France
- Office français de l’immigration et de l’intégration — the office that validates your long-stay visa after you arrive in France. Read more.
- Permesso di soggiorno · Italy
- Italy’s residence permit, applied for after arrival and renewed periodically. Insurance is checked again at renewal. Read more.
- Codice fiscale · Italy
- Italy’s tax code, needed before most other administrative steps — banks, leases and insurers commonly ask for it first. Read more.
- NIF · Portugal
- Número de Identificação Fiscal — Portugal’s tax number. Needed early, since banks, landlords and insurers ask for it before dealing with you. Read more.
- AIMA · Portugal
- The agency handling residence permits after arrival. It reviews health cover a second time, and travel-grade insurance that satisfied the consulate is refused at this stage. Read more.
- Empadronamiento · Spain
- Registration on the local town-hall roll, the administrative step that establishes where you live in Spain. Read more.
- TIE · Spain
- Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero — the foreigner identity card issued after arrival on a Spanish residence visa. Read more.
- Anmeldung · Germany
- Germany’s address registration, done after you move in and required before several other steps. Read more.
- Meldezettel · Austria
- Austria’s residence registration form, filed with the local authority after you move in. Read more.
Travel and area terms
- Schengen area
- The group of European countries with shared external border rules. Several insurance rules require validity across the whole Schengen area, not just your destination — a Greece-only policy fails Greece’s own rule for that reason. Read more.
- Schengen (C) visa
- A short-stay visa for visits up to 90 days. It is not a residence route, and its insurance standard is not the standard a long-stay application is judged by. Read more.
- ETIAS
- A travel authorisation for short visits to the Schengen area. It does not replace a long-stay visa and does not change the health-insurance rule for residence. Read more.
- Introducer
- A firm that arranges cover with an insurer rather than underwriting it. Covered Abroad is an introducer, not an insurer, so we cannot extend cover beyond the policy wording. Read more.
Definitions are plain-English summaries to help you read the rest of the site, not legal or immigration advice. Requirements change and consulates keep discretion; each destination page carries the published rule and the date we last verified it.