Guides
Moving-abroad guides, written straight
The paperwork, the order to do it in, and the insurance trap that refuses more visas than anything else. Concrete, sourced, and honest about the limits.
The order to do it in
Your move, month by month
-
Open your visa window
Start months ahead. Apply through the official portal and book your consulate slot.
-
Arrange the insurance certificaterefuses the most visas
The step families get wrong most — travel cover is refused. Get a policy structured for residence.
Read the insurance trap -
The consulate appointment
Bring the full file, insurance certificate included. A compliant certificate removes a common refusal reason.
-
Arrive & register
Validate the visa, complete OFII (France) or the questura (Italy). Keep private cover through the bridge months.
Start here
Cover built around your situation, then the two guides for mission staff.
Health insurance for retirees abroad
Moving to Europe on a long-stay retirement visa. See the age caps, 2026 rates by age, and what the visa file actually needs before you apply.
Expat health insurance for seniors moving to Europe
Moving to Europe after 55? See real 2026 prices by cover level, the age caps that matter, and how the no-obligation quote call works.
Digital nomad health insurance for visa and permit applications
Residence files ask for annual cover, not a trip policy. Essential from $392 per year at age 18, arranged via a no-obligation quote call.
International health insurance for families
Every child age 0 to 17 pays one flat rate per year, the same at every plan level. Price the whole household before your no-obligation quote call.
Freelancer health insurance for Europe
Self-employed and moving to Europe on a freelance visa? Compare cover levels built for visa insurance tests, then get your exact rate on a quote call.
Health insurance for UN consultants, NGO and aid workers
Portable international health cover for humanitarian and NGO workers on ICA/IICA contracts with no staff plan.
Health insurance for UN, UNDP, and UNOPS consultants
UN, UNDP, and UNOPS contractors arrange their own medical cover and lose it between contracts. What proof of insurance to expect, and how portable cover helps.
Medical evacuation insurance by UN duty station
UN duty stations are graded by hardship (A to E), and harder postings often require medical evacuation cover. What medevac is, and when it's required.
By country
Country-specific reading; each country hub holds the full requirement pages.
Spain
- The Spain visa insurance trap: why international policies get refused
- Retiring in Spain: the insurance rule that trips up US and UK retirees
- Spain non-lucrative visa requirements, in order
- Retiring in Spain vs Portugal: the insurance rules compared
- Cost of living in Spain vs the USA: how to actually budget it
- All Spain pages
Portugal
- Portugal D7 visa health insurance requirements, explained
- Retiring in Portugal: the D7 visa insurance rules to plan around
- D7 visa Portugal requirements 2026: the order that matters
- Cost of living in Portugal for expats: a budgeting framework
- Banks in Portugal for expats: how account setup works
- All Portugal pages
Netherlands
- Moving to the Netherlands from the UK: what actually works after Brexit
- Retiring to the Netherlands: the route does not exist, and here is the proof
- What Dutch health insurance covers: the 2026 basic package, item by item
- The Dutch-American Friendship Treaty: the American route into the Netherlands
- Moving to the Netherlands from the US: what the rules actually allow
- The highly skilled migrant route: one salary test, and everything attached to it
- The eigen risico: how the Dutch health insurance excess actually works
- Netherlands visa processing times: the published clocks, route by route
- All Netherlands pages
Belgium
- Belgium's retirement visa: how the B17 rentier route actually works
- Moving to Belgium from the UK: the post-Brexit map
- Moving to Belgium from the US: the routes, the paperwork, and what starts on arrival
- Belgium's single permit: one application, two authorities, and a two-stage insurance rule
- Netherlands vs Belgium: what actually differs when you compare them honestly
- All Belgium pages
Living there: care & costs
After the visa: how care actually works where you land, quoted from each country’s own health service.
Registering with the health system
Getting into the public system as a new resident, country by country.
- AMKA: how to get your Greek social security number
- How to get an e-card in Austria
- How to get a family doctor in Portugal
- Getting a French social security number as a foreigner
- What is a medecin traitant, and why it changes what you get back
- What is a medico de cabecera in Spain?
- How to get a numero de utente and register with the SNS
- How to register for healthcare in Spain
- How to register with the Italian health service
Finding a doctor who speaks English
Official directories and how far they actually reach.
- English-speaking doctors in Amsterdam: the real map for internationals
- English-speaking doctors in Athens: how to find one
- English-speaking doctors in Berlin: how to search
- How to find an English-speaking doctor in France
- English-speaking doctors in Greece
- How to find an English-speaking doctor in Italy
- English-speaking GP in Lisbon: where to look first
- English-speaking doctors in Madrid: the official lists
- Finding an English-speaking doctor in the Netherlands: easier than the real problem
- English-speaking doctors in Paris: where to look first
- English-speaking doctors in Portugal: how to find one
- English-speaking doctors in Rome: where to start
- How to find an English-speaking doctor in Spain
- English-speaking doctors in Vienna: how to find one
Dentists and dental costs
What the public system pays for, and what it does not.
- Is the dentist free in Austria?
- Does French health insurance cover dental care?
- Does German health insurance cover dental care?
- Is dental care covered in Italy?
- Dentist prices in Austria: what is covered and what you pay for
- How much is a dentist in France?
- How much does a dentist cost in Germany?
- How much is a dentist in Italy, and who pays for it?
- How much does a dentist cost in Malta?
- How much is a dentist in Portugal?
- Dentist costs in the Netherlands: the prices are set by the state, and here they are
- How much is a dentist in Spain?
- Emergency dentist in Austria: where to go with tooth pain
- Emergency dentist in France: who to call and when
- Emergency dentist in Germany: who to call when a tooth goes wrong
- Emergency dentist in Italy: where to go with dental pain
- Emergency dentist in Malta: where to go with dental pain
- Emergency dentist in Spain: where to go with tooth pain
- Free dental care in Spain: who actually qualifies
- How much does a crown cost in Germany, and what does your insurer pay?
- What is 100% Santé, and what does it actually pay for?
Medication and prescriptions
Bringing medicines in, getting a local prescription, what you pay.
- Banned medication in Greece: what is actually restricted
- Bringing medication into Austria: what the rules actually say
- Bringing medication to Belgium: three months, a certificate, and one hard prohibition
- Bringing prescription medication to France
- Can I bring my medication to Germany?
- Taking medication to Greece: bringing it in and refilling it
- Can I bring my prescriptions to Italy?
- Bringing medication to the Netherlands: what needs paperwork and what does not
- Taking medication to Portugal: bringing it in and refilling it
- Taking medication into Spain: what the rules actually say
- Bringing ADHD medication to Italy: the controlled-medicine rules
- Bringing ADHD medication to Spain: the controlled-medicine route
- How to get a prescription in Greece
- How much is a prescription in Austria?
- How much are prescriptions in Germany?
- What does a prescription cost in Greece?
- Cost of prescriptions in Spain: what you actually pay
- The Schengen certificate for medication, explained
Emergencies and urgent care
Who to call, where to go, and who pays before your cover starts.
- Ambulance cost in Greece: what is free and what is not
- How to call an ambulance in Portugal: 112, SNS 24 and what happens next
- Emergency numbers in Austria: 144 for an ambulance, and the three other numbers to know
- Emergency numbers in Belgium: four numbers, each with its own job
- What is the emergency number in France?
- Emergency numbers in Greece: calling an ambulance on 112 or 166
- The emergency number in Italy: 112, 118 and which one to dial
- Emergency numbers in the Netherlands: which number, for what, verified
- The emergency number in Spain: 112 and what sits behind it
- Going to A&E in France: what to expect at les urgences
- Out of hours doctor in France: who to call at night and at weekends
- Out of hours doctor in Germany: how 116117 and the Bereitschaftsdienst work
Having a baby
Entitlements, the process, and what a birth costs.
- The cost of giving birth in Austria
- How much does it cost to give birth in Germany?
- How much does it cost to give birth in Italy
- The cost of giving birth in the Netherlands: covered, with two named exceptions
- The cost of having a baby in France
- The cost of having a baby in Spain
- Giving birth in Austria as a foreigner
- Kraamzorg: the Dutch postnatal care system, explained for newcomers
- Giving birth in Germany as a foreigner
- Giving birth in Spain as a foreigner
- Having a baby in Italy as a foreign resident
- Having a baby in Portugal as a foreigner
ID numbers and first paperwork
NIE, NIF, codice fiscale, BSN, Steuer-ID — each from the authority that issues it, with what it is NOT made plain.
- The NIE: Spain's foreigner number, and the thing it expressly is not
- The NIF: Portugal's everything-number, and the honest way to get it
- The codice fiscale: Italy's everything-code, from the agency that issues it
- The BSN: the Dutch number you never apply for
- The Steuer-ID: Germany's eleven-digit constant
What care costs
Published user fees and what sits outside them.
What care costs
Consultation and buy-in prices from statutory tariff schedules — and honest absences where no official list exists.
Safety, by the numbers
Homicide is the one crime statistic that compares across borders — Eurostat on one side, the CDC on the other.
Money and daily costs
Grocery, power and benefit numbers from Eurostat and the agencies that pay them — never crowd-sourced.
- Grocery prices in Europe by country: the official table, with its surprises
- Grocery prices in Spain: officially the cheapest trolley we cover
- Grocery prices in Portugal: cheap country, average trolley
- Electricity prices in Europe: the threefold spread nobody budgets for
- Collecting US Social Security while living in Europe: what the SSA itself says
Families and children
What each child adds to the file, what states pay back, and which systems children enter — all from published figures.
- Moving to Europe with kids: what the family actually files, receives and enters
- Moving to Spain with kids: the family file, by the numbers
- Moving to Portugal with a family: the cheapest published family file in the West
- Kindergeld: Germany's €259-a-month child benefit, explained for movers
- Childcare costs in the Netherlands: capped rates, a big allowance, real numbers
Driving in Europe
License clocks, exchange lists and test routes — from each country’s licensing authority, never forums.
Moving with pets
The EU pet rulebook, sourced from the Commission and the regulation itself — not forum lore.
- Moving to Europe with a dog: one rulebook, five steps, no quarantine
- The EU pet passport: what it is, and the mistake Americans make about it
- Dog quarantine in Europe: mostly a memory, and here is what replaced it
- Bringing a dog to Spain from the USA: the sequence that works
- Bringing a dog to France from the USA: the sequence that works
- Bringing a dog to Portugal from the USA: the sequence that works
Insurance words, explained
Deductible, coinsurance, annual limit, network, cooling-off — each term defined, then shown as it works on the plans we arrange.
- Inpatient vs outpatient: the split that shapes your plan
- Co-payment, coinsurance, excess, deductible: who pays what
- International health insurance vs travel insurance: two products, one common mistake
- How to read a health insurance policy: four documents, five words
- What an exclusion is, and the ones that catch expats
- Annual limit, sum insured, out-of-pocket maximum: three caps, one of which you probably don't have
- How an international health insurance premium is calculated
- The cooling-off period: fourteen days, three conditions
- Network hospitals and direct billing: who the bill goes to
Renewals and year two
Each country’s renewal clock from the office that runs it — and the insurance re-check waiting inside every file.
Lifestyle and wellbeing
The living-well layer, anchored to official data — Eurostat, UNESCO, national registries — never listicles.
- The healthiest countries in Europe, measured by data rather than vibes
- The Mediterranean lifestyle: what is actually on the record
- The spa towns of Europe: eleven originals, one UNESCO listing
- Cycling in the Netherlands: the infrastructure is the lifestyle
- Blue Flag beaches in Spain: the official 2026 count, and what the flag means
- Blue Flag beaches in Portugal: the official 2026 count, and what the flag means
- Blue Flag beaches in Greece: the official 2026 count, and what the flag means
- Blue zones in Europe: the two famous ones, tested against official data
- The cleanest air in Europe: use the EU's own ranking, not a listicle
- Spain's 16 national parks: the official network, read for residents
- Walking the Camino de Santiago: what the Pilgrim's Office actually requires
Moving to Ireland
How the Irish rules work. Educational only — we do not arrange cover for Ireland.
- Lifetime Community Rating: the nine-month clock that starts when you move to Ireland
- Stamp 0 in Ireland: the insurance condition, in the government's own words
- Do you need health insurance in Ireland?
- Private health insurance in Ireland: the four rules that shape every policy
- Retiring to Ireland from the US: the financial test, the paperwork, and the healthcare gap
Costs & compare
What makes health insurance best for a visa file
What makes cover best for a visa file: certificate wording, the right category, country-rule fit, duration, and honest limits; not a ranking we invented.
How to choose health insurance for moving to Europe
How to choose health insurance for a long-stay European visa: residence-grade cover valid in your destination, for the full period. What to check first.
Best health insurance for expats in Spain: how best is actually decided
How best is decided for Spain: authorization first, then the four no's, category, S1, and validity; plus what we arrange and where real prices live.
Best health insurance for expats in Portugal (2026)
The right Portugal policy passes two checks: your consulate's visa stage and AIMA's residency stage. Here's the criteria, the common mistake, and real prices.
Best health insurance for expats in France: what actually decides it
France judges your insurance twice: once at the consulate, once in the bridge years before PUMa. Here is what decides best at each stage, with sources.
Best health insurance for expats in Germany: the two tests that decide it
Germany publishes no euro minimum. It benchmarks your policy against its own statutory system, and the contract clause fails more applicants than benefits.
Best health insurance for expats in Greece: past the €30,000 minimum
Greece publishes a €30,000 minimum for national visas. That is the entry ticket, not the answer. What decides best for the FIP, nomad and retirement lanes.
Best health insurance for expats in Austria: scope, not size
Austria publishes no figure to beat. It tests scope and where claims are payable, so best here means something different from the rest of Europe.
Best health insurance for expats in Malta: four checkable conditions
Malta accepts a foreign policy that meets its rules, so best is decided on four checkable conditions — including one about how you pay, not what you buy.
SafetyWing alternative for long-stay visa insurance
SafetyWing covers trips and nomad life. Long-stay visa files ask for health insurance for residence instead; here's the honest difference and what to buy.
Feather insurance for Germany: an honest comparison
What Feather does well, where it stops, and who should buy it instead of a multi-country plan — including the cases where Feather is the better choice.
DR-WALTER health insurance for the Opportunity Card: an honest comparison
Comparing DR-WALTER's published Opportunity Card options against the criteria that decide a Chancenkarte insurance file, so you choose on facts not brand.
Médis health insurance in Portugal: an honest comparison
What Médis publishes on its own Portuguese site: ASF registration, network size and starting monthly prices. Where a local plan fits, and where it does not.
ottonova health insurance for Germany: an honest comparison
What ottonova publishes about its German private health cover, who is even eligible, the figures on its own page, and when a multi-country plan fits instead.
Allianz Care expat insurance: what their own site publishes
What Allianz Care's own site publishes: three Care plan levels, maximum limits, optional cover, areas of cover and pricing, all checked 11 August 2026.
Cigna Global expat insurance: what their own site publishes
What Cigna Global's own site publishes on plan levels, benefit limits, deductibles and pricing, checked 11 August 2026, plus how to judge it for a visa file.
How much does international health insurance cost?
What international health insurance costs for a move to Europe: published 2026 EU-region prices from $392 a year, and what actually moves your number.
IMG Global expat insurance: what their own site publishes
What IMG Global's own site publishes on Global Medical plan tiers, medical maximums, evacuation cover, pricing and its 4.6/5 rating, checked 11 August 2026.
International health insurance comparison: what the published facts show
A side-by-side comparison of international health insurance: our five published 2026 tiers, and what four insurers publish about their own plans.
How much is private health insurance in Europe?
What private health insurance costs in Europe: one EU-region rate card from $392 a year, why the price is the same in every country we cover, and what changes.
William Russell expat insurance: what their own site publishes
William Russell's own published plan tiers, benefit limits, example premiums and coverage zones, checked 11 August 2026, plus how to judge them for a visa.
How to compare international health insurers for a long-stay visa
Comparing Cigna, Allianz, and other insurers for a long-stay visa? The filter that matters is whether the certificate meets the published rule.
What expat health insurance actually costs in 2026
Real 2026 prices for expat health insurance in Europe: from $392 a year at 18, $1,133 for full outpatient cover. Per person, by age, with a flat child rate.
EU Blue Card health insurance, compared across three countries
The EU Blue Card is one directive with three different insurance rules. What France, Germany and Austria each require, quoted from source and dated.
Certificates & rejections
What your insurance certificate must state for a French visa
A French long-stay visa insurance certificate must show private cover valid in France, full period, with inpatient and outpatient care and no deductible.
What your insurance certificate must say for an Italian visa
The certificate wording Italian consulates check for a visa: cover level, named benefits, deductible, and validity dates; restated from published checklists.
What your insurance certificate must say for a Spanish visa
The exact certificate wording Spain's consulates check for; the authorization line, the four no's, and why most travel policies fail before you apply.
What your insurance certificate must say for a Portugal visa
What your Portugal visa insurance certificate must say at the consulate, what changes at AIMA, and how one policy can cover both stages from day one.
What your insurance certificate must say for a German visa
The exact certificate wording German caseworkers check; equivalence, open-ended terms, and the €300 deductible cap; and why fixed-term policies fail it.
What your insurance certificate must say for a Greek visa
The exact wording Greek MFA visa officers check on your insurance certificate: cover amount, Schengen-wide validity, dates, named benefits, matching names.
What your insurance certificate must say for an Austrian permit
The exact wording an Austrian permit certificate needs: in-Austria benefits, all risks, payable in Austria; and why a person reviews your permit type first.
What your insurance certificate must say for Malta's Nomad Permit
What Residency Malta Agency requires on your Nomad Permit insurance certificate: territory, term, prepaid premium, and the two wording traps to avoid.
Why insurance gets rejected for an Italian visa, and how to avoid it
Why an Italian elective residence visa insurance certificate is refused: travel cover, under €30,000, a year-one deductible, or missing repatriation wording.
Why health insurance gets rejected for a French visa
Why French visa insurance gets rejected; the six reasons, and how to fix your certificate before you reapply.
Why health insurance gets rejected for a Spanish visa
Your Spain visa insurance got rejected - usually the certificate, not you. Here are the exact reasons consulates refuse cover, and how to fix each one.
Portugal visa insurance rejected: why it happens
Portugal visa insurance can be rejected at the consulate or later by AIMA, for different reasons; and how one certificate wording covers both.
Why health insurance gets rejected for a German visa
German visa files get refused over insurance for specific, fixable reasons; see what triggers rejection and how to correct it before you reapply.
Greece visa insurance rejected: the four conditions that fail
The Greek type D rule names four conditions in a single sentence: €30,000, whole Schengen, full stay, repatriation. Refusals almost always trace to one of them.
Austria visa insurance rejected: why the all-risks rule fails policies
Austria wants all-risks cover with claims payable in Austria. That is stricter than a Schengen travel policy, and it is where files fail.
Malta nomad permit insurance rejected: the four things checked
Malta names its conditions precisely: EU and UK cover, one full year, premium paid in advance. Monthly billing is the clause that catches people out.
Your visa was refused over insurance? What to do next
If a France or Italy visa was refused over the insurance, it is usually the certificate wording. The common reasons, and how to fix it and reapply.
Process & timing
Schengen visa insurance vs long-stay insurance: the difference
The most common visa rejection: bringing Schengen travel insurance to a long-stay application. Here is the difference and which one a residence visa needs.
Will SafetyWing or travel insurance be accepted for a long-stay visa?
Nomad and travel policies like SafetyWing are built for trips, not residence, and are commonly refused for France and Italy long-stay visas.
The Schengen 90/180 rule: how the count actually works
Ninety days in any 180 — counted backwards from every single day of your stay. How the count works, the EU's own calculator, and who is exempt.
How long can Americans stay in Europe? Ninety days — and then it's about paperwork
Visa-free: 90 days in any 180 across the whole Schengen area — shared, not per country. The exits: long-stay visas, or non-Schengen Ireland.
Moving to Europe from the USA: the checklist, in dependency order
Twenty items in the order they gate each other — from picking the route to the insurance certificate consulates check line by line.
The easiest European country to get residency, measured by published rules
'Easiest' depends on what you bring, but the numbers rank: Portugal's D7 bar is €920 a month, and Americans get a Dutch treaty route for €4,500.
Can Americans retire in Europe? Yes — in eight of the ten countries we cover
Eight of our ten destinations publish a retirement route, from Portugal's €920-a-month D7 to Belgium's B17. The two that don't, and the ranking.
Digital nomad visas in Europe: the five that exist, and the five that don't
Five of our ten destinations publish a nomad route — Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Malta — with income bars from €2,442 to €3,680 a month. Compared honestly.
Health insurance for digital nomads: what each European visa actually asks
Every European nomad visa asks for insurance, and the tests differ: a prepaid year for Malta, €30,000 for Greece, an authorised insurer for Spain.
International health insurance for seniors: the age limits, stated plainly
Most insurers cap new applicants by age — ours at 70 and 80, printed plainly. What seniors can buy, and the European systems that must take you.
How international health insurance actually works, in plain language
Annual policy, age-banded premium, worldwide network, direct billing or pay-and-claim — and the visa role most explainers skip. The mechanics in plain language.
International health insurance for a family: how the pricing really adds up
Children pay one flat rate per plan — $307 to $1,438 a year — so a family total is not four adult premiums. How family pricing works, with real numbers.
How long must your visa health insurance cover for?
France and Italy long-stay visas need insurance for your full visa period, up to a year. Why the dates on the certificate matter, and how to get them right.
The no-deductible rule for France and Italy visa insurance
France and Italy consulates commonly refuse policies with a deductible on the core cover. What it is, and how to spot one on your certificate.
Can you get visa health insurance with a pre-existing condition?
Can you get visa health insurance with a pre-existing condition? Usually yes: the condition is excluded from claims, but the policy can still pass the visa.
Family health insurance for a long-stay visa application
Can one family policy cover everyone's visa? A family plan can cover spouse and children together, but each applicant's file must show the insurance.
Health insurance for a Greek student visa
Greece publishes one insurance figure at the visa stage, €30,000, and separately tells international students they must hold cover through their studies.
Health insurance for a Malta student visa: what is documented
Malta publishes no study-permit insurance line we have been able to read. What is documented: the EHIC rule naming EU students, and Malta's own cover advice.
Travel insurance for an Austria visa: what counts at each stage
Travel insurance fits a short Schengen trip to Austria. A residence permit asks for cover with benefits in Austria, all risks, and claims payable in Austria.
Travel insurance for a France student visa: what is actually required
France asks students for no private health insurance. Non-EU students join the public system free and compulsorily. Where travel cover does and does not fit.
Travel insurance for a Greece visa: the published rule at each stage
Greece names travel medical insurance in its own national visa rule, at €30,000. The residence permit stage after arrival asks for a different instrument.
Travel insurance for a Malta work visa: what applies at each stage
Travel insurance fits a short Schengen visit to Malta. A work route is a residence permit, and Identita publishes no insurance line. What is documented.
Travel insurance for a Portugal visa: when it works and when it does not
Travel insurance is right for a short-stay Schengen trip to Portugal. A D7, D8 or student residence visa is checked twice, and stage two is different.
Travel insurance for a Spain visa: which visa needs which product
Travel insurance suits a short Schengen trip to Spain. For residence visas the Los Angeles consulate publishes a far narrower rule. Both, cited and dated.
Travel insurance for an Italy visa: right for the trip, refused for the residence
For a short Schengen trip to Italy, travel insurance is exactly right. For the elective residence and other long-stay visas, applicants report refusals.
Travel insurance for a Germany visa: the equivalence test it cannot pass
Germany benchmarks visa cover against its statutory system — §11 SGB V-equivalent benefits on an open-ended contract. Travel policies fail on structure.
Travel insurance for a Netherlands visa: nobody asks — and that is the trap
The IND asks for no insurance document on the main Dutch routes, so travel insurance is neither refused nor useful. The real requirement lands after arrival.
Travel insurance for a Belgium visa: the one country where the answer is sometimes yes
Belgium is the exception: its Immigration Office accepts travel medical insurance at defined visa-stage points — €30,000, three months. Then it ends.
Travel insurance for a France visa: the clearest refusal in Europe
France states it plainly: private health insurance is required for a long-stay visa, and travel policies are not accepted. The rule and the fix.
Health insurance for students in Belgium: the visa stage and the mutualité stage
The Belgian student visa asks for cover against all risks in Belgium — no figure attached. After three months' residence, mutualité affiliation takes over.
Do you need international health insurance in Europe?
Five situations, five honest answers: when private cover in Europe is required, when the state system takes you, and when you do not need it at all.
What is a deductible in health insurance?
A deductible is what you pay before the insurer pays. How annual and per-claim deductibles differ, and how the level moves your premium.
Health insurance for students in Europe
Not every European country makes students buy private cover. Where the rule applies, what a student policy costs from $392 a year, and how to check yours.
How to claim on international health insurance
Direct settlement or pay and reclaim, the documents you need, the two-month deadline, and the mistakes that get an otherwise valid claim declined.
Does international health insurance cover dental?
Dental on international health insurance: which tier pays, what the six-month wait covers, and what fillings and extractions actually mean.
International health insurance with a pre-existing condition
How international insurers underwrite a pre-existing condition: blanket exclusion, moratorium or full medical underwriting, and what switching costs you.
Does international health insurance cover pregnancy?
Pregnancy and childbirth on international health insurance: what our plans exclude, which insurers publish maternity cover, and the timing trap.
International health insurance renewal: what changes
What actually changes when an international health policy renews: your age band, the terms you accept by renewing, and why a gap in cover costs the most.
Repatriation cover in international health insurance
What repatriation cover pays for, how it differs from medical evacuation, and the five things to check on your certificate before you rely on it.
International health insurance waiting periods explained
A waiting period is the delay before a benefit can be claimed, not how long your policy must run. Which benefits carry one, and how long they last.
US & UK specifics
Does Medicare cover me in France? What US retirees need to know
Medicare generally stops at the US border. What that means for a move to France or Italy, what the gaps are, and what actually covers you in Europe.
Flying home to the US: what your expat plan does and does not cover
Expat health insurance for Europe excludes US treatment. What that means for home visits, what to use for the trip instead, and how retirees handle it.
Moving to France from the US: the paperwork checklist
The paperwork order for US families moving to France on a long-stay visa: visa window, the insurance certificate, the appointment, and OFII on arrival.
Moving to France from the UK: what changed after Brexit
Since Brexit, UK families moving to France need a long-stay visa and private health insurance. Why your GHIC is not residence cover, and the paperwork order.
Moving to Italy from the USA: the paperwork checklist
The paperwork order for US families moving to Italy on an elective residence visa: the ERV file, €30,000 health cover, then the questura and permesso.
Moving to Portugal from the USA
Planning a move to Portugal from the USA? See the visa insurance rule at the consulate, the separate AIMA requirement after arrival, and what cover costs.
Moving to Spain from the US: the paperwork and insurance guide
The visa order, the insurance rule that catches Americans off guard, and what compliant cover costs, before you book your Spain consulate appointment.
Moving to Germany from the US: the paperwork and insurance order
Planning a move from the US? Germany checks insurance before it checks anything else on your visa file. Here is the paperwork order, the rule, and the cost.
Moving to Greece from the USA: the paperwork and insurance guide
Moving to Greece from the US? Learn the visa insurance rule, the permit-stage reality, and what cover costs before your consulate appointment.
Moving to Austria from the US: your paperwork and insurance guide
Moving to Austria from the US starts with paperwork, not packing. See the insurance standard your permit requires and what cover costs.
Moving to Portugal from the UK after Brexit
UK citizens now need a visa for Portugal. The D7 route, consulate insurance rules, and the AIMA appointment that catches movers out, explained clearly.
Moving to Spain from the UK: visas and insurance rules
Post-Brexit, UK citizens need a visa for Spain. See the NLV and digital nomad routes, the insurance rule that catches movers out, and what to do next.
Moving to Greece from the UK after Brexit
UK citizens moving to Greece need a type D visa, €30,000 minimum medical cover, and a plan for life after the NHS. What the visa stage requires.
Moving to Malta from UK: what UK citizens need to sort first
Post-Brexit, UK citizens moving to Malta need a residence route, EU+UK health cover paid a year upfront, and a plan for losing NHS access.
Moving to Italy from the UK: what to sort, in order
Since Brexit, UK citizens need an Italian national visa. Consulate checklists vary, so the safe submission is a policy structured for residence.
Moving to Germany from the UK: what to sort, in order
Germany sets no euro minimum. It benchmarks cover against its own statutory system and demands an open-ended contract, which most expat policies are not.
Moving to Austria from the UK: what to sort, in order
Austria asks for all-risks cover with claims payable in Austria — stricter than a Schengen travel policy, and the step UK movers most often underestimate.
Moving to Malta from the US: what to sort, in order
Malta names its conditions precisely: EU and UK cover, one full year, premium paid in advance. A foreign policy is explicitly acceptable.
Apply with a certificate you’re sure of.
Tell us your situation. A person checks it against the published rule and calls you with your quote. No obligation, no pressure.