Medical insurance required for student visa
As you know, according to the Spanish Immigration Law medical insurance is required for the application or renewal of student permit.
What are the requirements for health insurance?
According to the Spanish Immigration Law, foreign students must have health insurance equivalent to that of Spanish citizens, i.e. the equivalent of the Spanish public health insurance. The health insurance can be private or public, however. In general, foreign students do not have access to public health care, so most of them have to pay for private insurance out of their own pocket.
Since Spanish citizens are entitled to comprehensive governmental health insurance, it means that foreign students should also buy comprehensive health insurance. All rights reserved.
Note: The period of insurance purchased must cover the period of the student’s stay in Spain. Since the student visa has normally one year duration, it is sufficient to purchase one year insurance.
What does the health insurance need to include?
Health insurance must be without co-pay (sin copago) and include the following risks: basic health services, specialist services, hospitalization services and surgical services (asistencia general o primaria, especializada, hospitalización e intervenciones quirúrgicas).
There are many private insurance companies in Spain, such as Mapfre, Santalucía, Sanitas, etc. There are also major banks that sell insurance, such as Santander, Caixa, etc. You can ask them to choose.
Note: The insurance policy (Póliza de seguro) must be issued by the insurance company and submitted to the immigration office.
Note: International students are not required to have dental insurance, which has no effect on the renewal of their residence permit. The Spanish public health care system does not cover most general dental services either.
