Health Insurance for a Nomad Visa
By Elias Verne · Updated 2026-09-26
Health insurance looks like the easy box to tick and is one of the more common reasons a file gets sent back. The policy people already own is usually travel cover, and travel cover is rarely what these programs mean.
Travel insurance and health insurance are different products
Travel policies are built for trips: emergency treatment, repatriation, a trip-length limit measured in weeks. Residence permits generally expect medical cover of the kind a resident would hold, without a trip-duration cap and without an exclusion that voids it once you stop being a tourist.
A policy that quietly expires after ninety days abroad, or that only covers emergencies, will often fail review even though it is genuine insurance. Read what the policy excludes before you read what it costs.
What 'adequate coverage' usually means
Requirements are typically expressed as a minimum coverage amount, validity across the whole permit period, and acceptance by the host country's system. Some programs also require the insurer to be authorised locally or the policy to match what the national health service would provide.
The specific threshold and any local-authorisation condition are stated on each country page, in the health insurance field, with the source and verification date. Where a country has not published a figure, the field says so instead of offering a plausible guess.
Cover the full permit, not the first month
Consulates commonly want the policy to run for the entire initial permit period, proven at the point of application. Buying a month of cover to satisfy the appointment and extending later is a familiar way to be refused.
There is a timing trap in the other direction too: a policy bought too early can lapse before a slow decision arrives. Where processing time is long, check whether the country accepts a policy that starts on your planned entry date rather than on purchase.
Every dependent usually needs their own
Family applications generally require coverage per person rather than one household policy, which changes the real cost of the move more than most people budget for.
One thing that often improves after arrival: once you register as a resident and start contributing locally, some countries let you move onto the public system and drop the private policy. That is a post-arrival step, not something that helps at the application stage.
Last updated 2026-09-26. General information, not legal or tax advice; confirm specifics with the official source on each country page.