I am not still not clear on this requirement myself. The official SEF manual further qualifies this as only required for those applicants who are based in Portugal.
There are some posts here from folks who did not present this never, ie neither initially online nor at the bio appointment, and still apparently passed the test.
What I am going to do is just submit my EHIC card because I already have it for free, and let SEF come back to me if they need anything extra.
To quote the SEF manual, they appear to only require this āhealth insuranceā in the following situations: ā Para as situaƧƵes em que o requerente permanece em TNā
Thanks a lot. This is very helpful. I still need to read that Manual in detail. Overall, it is unfortunate that thereās some ambiguity here.
I guess a somehow similar requirement is this: āEvidence of entry and legal stay in the National Territoryā. Logically, this should only be a requirement at the SEF-biometrics stage, not the remote online / postal application stage.
Thanks, I had seen that. Itās a great article, but doesnāt cover the specific question of PT GV requirements. I would, however, be interested in knowing whether one of the primary insurances listed in that article - for example GeoBlue Xplorer or Cigna Global - would meet Portugalās requirements (I assume they would, but nice to get confirmation).
Basically, you need health insurance if and when you are actually going to be physically resident in the country. If you are not planning to actually physically move there immediately, then you do not need to have health insurance, and you/the lawyer submit a written statement to that effect.
AFAIK, the insurance needs to be primary, such that you are not a burden on SNS. I imagine the easiest thing to do is to look at the various policies the D7 people are acquiring, since that would be the same basic requirement I believe. Not that I know, though.
Sounds logical, but I donāt think this is necessarily mandatory though, as one of the two options given by SEF is this: āDocumento que ateste que estĆ” abrangido pelo ServiƧo Nacional de SaĆŗdeā
Which is why I am planning to show them my EHIC, which is basically an equivalent of being covered by SNSā¦
A bit offtopic, but I have just realized reading the Manual that they require a copy of all passport pages, not just the main bio page. Oh well, gotta redo my copy now with the lawyerās certificationā¦
EHIC is more like travel insurance, though. Itās not āprimary insuranceā. What remains ambiguous to me is whether primary insurance is actually necessary. If one spends just a week a year in Portugal, travel insurance seems sufficient.
AFAIK, the passport photocopy doesnāt have to be certified or anything. my wife had mine copied at the shop downstairs from the SEF office while waiting for my appointment. It wasnāt certified at the time we handed it to her, and I donāt imagine the lawyer certified 50 pages of passport copy at the SEF clerkās desk. But YMMV. However, if your passport changes (e.g. gets a new stamp) then you have to get a new copy.
You donāt submit the entire copy with the packet anyway, you only submit the bio page. I infer this from the fact that my lawyer never had a copy of all pages of my passport. You hand the clerk the full copy at the appointment.
Thanks Jeff, thatās very helpful.
I already got my passportās bio page certified by the lawyer. If thatās sufficient for the online application then Iāll just keep it like this, and then do the full copy just before the physical appointment.
The SEFās Manual does not really say which part is online vs in-person appointment in terms of the required docsā¦
EHIC is a useful remnant from days gone by when my country was part of the EU.
I used it in Germany and in Spain without any issues. Just turned up at a local healthcare place, showed the card and had treatment like a local, no qs asked.
If itās still actually valid and the EU agreements under which it was created still apply, that would seem to be sufficient. I would have thought that would have died with brexit, though?
An update for what itās worth - I did submit a scan of my EHIC card (along with its notarized translation) as per my earlier posts and now got my pre-approval. Hope the same will suffice when I come for biometrics.
though not knowing what it is, will it reimburse you for services during time spent in portugal?