Do we have to prove we have private health insurance in Portugal at the biometrics appointment next week? I have not been able to find a clear answer…
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My lawyer had me sign an affidavit attesting that I had private health insurance during the document refresh last year, and I brought the original with me to the appointment. I’ve never been asked for hard proof.
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I had my appointment in Jan, no one said a word about health insurance-- before or at the appt. You’re only in PT like 7days/year on avg. I dont think health insurance is in play. If you are on a D7 thats another story.
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Have a read of this prior thread…
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As a gentle reminder, 7 days annually is a minimum for ARI and not necessarily an average. Many countries require that all applicants have health insurance, I just don’t know how strict they are about verifying. My lawyer may have just been covering all the bases, but signing a statement seems to be sufficient.
Perhaps I did not word it so well, but we are saying the same thing. AIMA minumum stay in PT requirement for ARI is 14 days for a 2 year permit. I would state that requirement as 7 days/year on avg. Your “7 days annually” is the same idea. How long people actually stay in PT is another matter. I am in Setubal now, a month after my biometrics.
More importantly, ARI/GV requirements for biometrics will vary compared to other types of Visa. Three years ago, when I applied, perhaps I checked a box saying I had insurance in the USA. My thought is simply: full time insurance and 7 days/year stay does not go together.
My lawyer said we didn’t need it for the biometrics. To cover myself, because I’m the belt-and-suspenders type, I checked that our health insurance has some international coverage, which it does. But no-one asked.
Exactly, and I just wanted to clarify that piece so that anyone reading in the future would have the full picture and not to correct you personally.
I have a separate health care policy that covers me while I’m traveling anywhere up to a certain length of time. Portugal just wants to make sure that they’re not giving away free healthcare, but I agree that buying a Portugal-only annual policy for a 7 day trip would be excessive.
But once you’re a resident you are theoretically entitled to free healthcare…
It may be a visa category thing, but I really can’t speak to it. The government website says that you need to provide proof of address before registering for health services. Who is entitled to what isn’t particularly clear.
The language around this stuff is complicated. I’ve been in Lisbon the last few days seeing some of the sites I’ve missed on previous trips, and when you go to buy a ticket everyone asks if you live in Portugal. I always said no, because I don’t, and paid full price. As it turns out, the only proof you need to provide that you “live in Portugal” to get free admission is just your NIF.
Anyway, to whatever extent private insurance is required you definitely don’t need to show a policy.