How healthcare works for expats moving to Greece

Greece's national health system, ESY, serves people who are registered with Greek social security. New arrivals on the FIP visa or the digital nomad visa sit outside that system at the point they apply, which is exactly why the visa stage runs on private cover rather than the public one.

This isn't a gap in the system, it's a sequencing question. New arrivals sit outside ESY at the point they apply, and the bridge months after arrival are carried by private cover too, which is why our expat health insurance guidance for Greece starts from private cover as the default for new residents.

The first check is at the visa stage. Greece's national (type D) visas require travel medical insurance of at least €30,000, valid for the whole Schengen area and for your full duration of stay, covering emergency care, hospitalisation, and repatriation.

The second check comes at the residence permit stage. Applicants report decentralised administration offices expecting fuller health cover valid in Greece. This is office-discretionary, not a single published line; we treat it as a case question, not a checkbox. Because offices differ, a person confirms the certificate for your office before you buy, a step you can start on our policy check.

We arrange residence-grade cover that clears the €30,000 line with room to spare, with annual limits between US$1,000,000 and US$2,000,000. Cover starts the same day, with no medical exam and a 14-day cooling-off period; children aged 0 to 17 are covered at a flat rate. Pre-existing conditions are excluded and treatment in the US isn't covered; new applicants are accepted up to age 70, or 80 on the Essential plan.

Whether you're arriving on the FIP visa or a digital nomad visa, the path is the same: private cover carries you from visa application through to residency. Compare stages on our cost page, or get a quote to see options.