Health insurance for a Polish visa and residence card

For a Polish national (D) visa, for example for studies or work, Article 25 of the Act on Foreigners requires health insurance with the Polish National Health Fund (NFZ) or travel medical insurance with a minimum sum of EUR 30,000, valid for the whole planned stay.

The insurance must cover:

• return to your country for medical reasons,
• urgent medical care and emergency hospital treatment,
• death.

The insurer must pay the medical facility directly, on the basis of its bill, and must have a 24-hour assistance centre. The Border Guard checks the insurance at the border, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs publishes a list of insurers and products that meet these conditions.

Go Safe by TU Europa is on the list published by the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Standard, Standard Plus and Optimum plans (EUR 30,000 to EUR 60,000) meet the minimum sum; the Mini plan (EUR 20,000) does not.

Choose the dates of the policy so that they cover the whole stay stated in your visa application. The consulate makes the final decision on your documents.

For a temporary residence permit for studies, Article 144 of the Act on Foreigners requires health insurance with the NFZ or confirmation that an insurer will cover the costs of treatment in Poland. Unlike for the visa, the act does not set a minimum sum.

The voivode’s office that handles your application decides whether a policy is accepted, so check its requirements before you buy. The first permit for first-year students is usually issued for 15 months, so a policy that ends earlier may not be enough.

Since 27 April 2026, applications for a temporary residence permit are submitted electronically through the MOS portal (mos.cudzoziemcy.gov.pl).

Students from outside the EU can sign a voluntary insurance agreement with the NFZ at a reduced contribution of PLN 55.80 a month. The agreement is signed at the regional NFZ branch for your place of residence in Poland, and the contributions are paid to ZUS.

Few students use it: according to the Ministry of Health, at the end of 2022 only 3,527 of about 94,500 students and doctoral students from outside the EU had this insurance. Students with a Karta Polaka (Pole’s Card) have been compulsorily insured since 1 January 2023, and their university pays the contributions.

The ISIC student card can include medical insurance in Poland for foreigners (insurer: Compensa, not TU Europa). According to the issuer, two variants with EUR 30,000 meet the residence card requirements and the variant with EUR 10,000 does not. You do not have to study in Poland to buy the card.

EU and EFTA students can rely on their EHIC for necessary treatment in public facilities during a temporary stay, but the card does not cover private clinics, rescue or transport home.