Health insurance for a Polish work visa: Philippines, India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Indonesia

Before you apply for a visa, your employer in Poland gets a work permit for you. Most work permits are issued by the voivode’s office (urząd wojewódzki); a seasonal work permit is issued by the district labour office (powiatowy urząd pracy). With that permit, you apply for one of two visas:

• national visa (type D) for work that lasts more than 90 days (Article 59 of the Act on Foreigners),
• Schengen visa (type C) for work of up to 90 days in any 180-day period (Article 60 allows a work visa to be issued as either a Schengen or a national visa).

Both visas require health insurance of at least EUR 30,000. For a Schengen visa, the insurance must be valid in all Schengen countries (Article 15 of the EU Visa Code).

Article 25 of the Polish Act on Foreigners requires insurance with the Polish National Health Fund (NFZ) or travel medical insurance that:

• has a sum insured of at least EUR 30,000,
• is valid for the whole planned stay in Poland,
• covers return home for medical reasons, urgent medical care, emergency hospital treatment and death,
• pays the hospital or clinic directly, based on its invoice.

The insurer must run a 24-hour assistance centre and have its seat or a branch in Poland or another EU country, in Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein, or in Switzerland. An insurer from outside these countries must also publish its audit results and regular data on premiums and claims. The Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs publishes a list of insurers and policies that meet these conditions.

The consulates add their own requirements. In the Philippines and in India they ask for cover valid in the whole Schengen area, even for a national visa (see the table below).

In New Delhi and Mumbai, appointment slots for work visas are given out by an electronic draw: in New Delhi once a week, on Mondays at 10:00, and in Mumbai every two weeks, on Thursdays at 10:30. Work applicants in India must also fill in an additional form on the VFS Global website.

Go Safe by TU Europa is on the list of the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs for the national visa. TU Europa has its seat in Wrocław, Poland, so it meets the Jakarta embassy’s condition that the insurer is based in Poland, and the BLS condition in the Philippines that the insurer is based in the EU. The Standard, Standard Plus and Optimum plans (EUR 30,000 to EUR 60,000) meet the EUR 30,000 minimum; the Mini plan (EUR 20,000) does not.

The checklist of the Polish missions in India refers to “approved Indian insurance companies” on the same list. It does not say whether a policy from a Polish insurer on that list is accepted. If you apply in India, ask the VFS centre or the embassy before you buy.

When you buy:

• choose the area “Polska i Świat” (Poland and the world) if you apply in the Philippines or through the Polish missions in India, because their checklists ask for cover in the Schengen area. Choose it also for a Schengen (C) visa. The area “Polska” covers Poland only,
• choose Standard Plus or Optimum in the Philippines, because BLS asks for a sum that exceeds EUR 30,000 and the Standard plan has exactly EUR 30,000,
• choose the dates so that they cover the whole stay in your application. If you apply in Indonesia or the Philippines, cover the entire validity of the visa,
• buy online before you travel. Go Safe has no waiting period: cover starts on the date in the policy, but not before you cross the border of your country of residence and pay the premium.

For a Schengen (C) visa, the EU Visa Code says that insurance should, as a rule, be bought in your country of residence. Ask the consulate whether it accepts a policy from a Polish insurer.

The purchase form is in Polish. Our step-by-step guide to the form explains every field.

If you work under an employment contract (umowa o pracę) or a civil contract (umowa zlecenie), your employer registers you with the Polish Social Insurance Institution (ZUS), and you are insured with the National Health Fund (NFZ). That insurance meets the requirement of the application for a temporary residence and work permit, after which you receive a residence card (karta pobytu). You do not need a private policy for that application (Article 114(4a) of the Act on Foreigners). Pupils and students under 26 are an exception: a civil contract does not give them NFZ insurance.