Do you need private health insurance for the NLV?
If you do not have an alternative form of health cover accepted by your competent consulate, private health insurance is the route to consider. Some consulates also accept a registered S1. Working out which position you are in comes before choosing any policy, and it is worth ten minutes.
It depends on what your consulate accepts
If you do not have an alternative form of health cover accepted by your competent consulate, private health insurance is the route to consider. Non-Lucrative Visa applicants are expected to evidence healthcare cover for their time in Spain, with an insurer authorised to operate in Spain.
Some consulates also accept a registered S1. Others do not mention it at all. What your consulate accepts is set out in its own current requirements, and those differ between consulates.
We arrange insurance; we do not give immigration advice, and we cannot tell you which route applies to your individual case. What follows sets out the possibilities, so you know what to check and where to check it.
Three broad positions
| Route | What it is | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Private health insurance | A policy with an insurer authorised to operate in Spain, arranged for the residence application and in force for the period required. | That the insurer is authorised in Spain, that the product is resident health cover rather than travel cover, and that the dates align with your application. |
| A registered S1 | Where you hold an S1 through a state pension or equivalent entitlement, some consulates accept it as the healthcare evidence. | Whether your consulate accepts it at all, and what proof it wants. Where it is accepted, registration with Spanish Social Security and a registration receipt have been required. |
| Another public or reciprocal entitlement | Other public-system or reciprocal arrangements exist depending on your circumstances and nationality. | Whether it applies to you at all, and whether your consulate treats it as satisfying the requirement. This is a question for the authorities, not for an insurer. |
The proof differs by route. A private-insurance applicant evidences cover with the insurance documentation or certificate their visa application requires. Where an S1 route is accepted, the proof required is the relevant Spanish Social Security registration evidence. An EHIC or GHIC is designed for temporary healthcare access and must not be treated as automatically satisfying an NLV application. Two UK consulates state in their own published checklists that a registered S1 is accepted for the Non-Lucrative Visa; other consulates we have read do not mention it — and silence in a consular source proves neither acceptance nor rejection. Published requirements also differ on the form of proof, and one point recurs: what is wanted is the certificate produced from your policy for the visa application. Some consulates ask for the original certificate and a copy; one states expressly that an insurance card will not be accepted as proof of coverage. Your membership card is not the document that evidences cover. Checking your certificate.
An EHIC or GHIC is not long-term residence cover
They are different things doing different jobs. A European Health Insurance Card or Global Health Insurance Card is designed around temporary stays — medically necessary state treatment while you are visiting. A residence application is about cover for living in Spain.
Do not assume a card satisfies an NLV healthcare requirement. It is not a universal solution to the question here, and a card of any kind is not the document a visa file is built on — what evidences private cover is the certificate produced from your policy for the application. If you hold an EHIC or GHIC, treat it as separate from the residence question, and check your consulate’s current wording before planning anything around it.
A short decision checklist
- Find the consulate handling your application. Requirements are published per consulate, and they differ. The one that governs is the one processing your case.
- Read its current healthcare requirement in full. Note the exact wording, including what proof it asks for, and save it with the date you read it.
- Check whether it mentions an S1 or any public entitlement. If it does, note precisely what registration or receipt it requires. If it says nothing, treat that as unanswered rather than as a yes or a no.
- Establish whether you actually hold that entitlement. Whether an S1 or similar applies to you is a question for the issuing authority, not for us or for a forum.
- If private cover is your route, check the policy design. Resident health cover rather than travel cover, an insurer authorised in Spain, and dates aligned with your application. What that involves.
- Ask the consulate anything the document leaves ambiguous. That is quicker than assuming, and it is the only source that binds.
What Sanitas issues for residence visas
Two products, both arranged without copayments, both settling directly with the provider for covered care through the Sanitas network in Spain:
- Exclusive Insurance Agentof Sanitas, S.A. de Seguros
- DGSFP registeredC0320Y2155969D
- Sanitas International Expert
If private cover is your route
Send the dates of birth and the start date you have in mind. An adviser will confirm which Sanitas visa policies are open to each person and prepare a quote, subject to eligibility and underwriting. No medical questions in the form.
Still working out your route? Ask an adviser.