Guide
Your visa was refused over insurance? What to do next
By Covered Abroad Research Desk · Last verified July 2026
The rule in writing
“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.”
Official source: France-Visas (france-visas.gouv.fr) & FrenchEntrée long-stay guide — Last verified:
The rule in writing
“A health policy structured for residence is the safe submission for the elective residence visa: consulate checklists vary, and applicants report refusals over travel-grade policies. Cover should be valid in Italy and the Schengen area for the full year.”
Based on: Official esteri.it consulate checklists (varying) & documented ERV applicant reports — Last verified:
First, read the refusal reason
Consulates usually state why a file was refused. If it points to the insurance, match the reason to the common ones below. Knowing the exact reason keeps you from changing the wrong thing on your next attempt.
The common insurance refusal reasons
Most insurance refusals are one of these: it was a travel or short-stay policy, the limit was too low (Italy expects €30,000), there was a deductible on the core cover, or the certificate did not state the territory or the full dates. See the cited rules below.
60-second check
Not sure the policy you have meets your destination's written rule? Run it through the policy check now, before you build the rest of the file around it.
Check my policyFix the certificate, then reapply
The fix is a certificate that meets the rule: private health cover, valid in the destination, for the full period, inpatient and outpatient, no disqualifying deductible, and repatriation for Italy. Arrange a compliant policy, then reapply following your consulate's process for a fresh application.
Get it checked before you resubmit
Do not resubmit the same certificate and hope. Run the new one through our free policy checker against the published rule first. A compliant certificate removes the insurance reason for refusal, though the consulate keeps discretion over the whole file.
Get the moving-paperwork checklist
The month-by-month timeline so the insurance certificate is ready before your appointment, not after.