In short: Schengen visa travel insurance is a requirement of the Visa Code: anyone applying for a short-stay visa (up to 90 days in any 180-day period) must show a policy with minimum cover of EUR 30,000, valid in the Member States for the whole stay. If your nationality does not need a visa, the Code does not apply to your trip.
In person or by representative? Someone else can buy the insurance in your name, under the same conditions (art. 15.4). For the first visa application you appear in person to give fingerprints and a photo (art. 13).
What article 15 requires of the Visa Code (Regulation (EC) 810/2009):
- What it must cover: repatriation for medical reasons or death, urgent medical assistance and emergency hospital care during the stay.
- How much: minimum cover of EUR 30,000.
- Where it applies: in the territory of the Member States. If the visa has limited territorial validity covering several States, at least in those.
- For how long: the whole planned stay or transit. With a multiple-entry visa, covering the first planned visit is enough, and on the form you sign that you know you will need insurance for later stays.
- Where to buy: in principle in your country of residence; if that is not possible, in another country.
- What the consulate checks: whether payouts from the insurer can be collected in a Member State.
Who does not have to show it. Anyone who does not need a visa (art. 1.2). Holders of diplomatic passports (art. 15.7). Some professional groups, such as seafarers, who are already insured through their work (art. 15.6). Family members of EU citizens follow their own rules: the Code does not change their free movement (art. 1.2); the Spanish Foreign Ministry consular services page links the visas for family members. If you apply for the visa at the border, there is an exception when insurance is not available there or for humanitarian reasons (art. 35).
If it is missing: the visa is refused when you do not show proof of adequate, valid travel insurance in the cases where it applies (art. 32).
What to check with your consulate. The article sets minimums. Which document each consulate accepts and in what language is not detailed in the text: look at the website of the consulate where you apply.
Do not mix it up. With a valid Spanish TIE you travel in Schengen without a visa: travelling in Schengen with your TIE. A residence (long-stay) visa has different insurance requirements: health insurance for a residence visa. Insurance also does not replace proof of funds at the border: financial means to enter Spain.
Steps
- Check whether your nationality needs a visa for the Schengen area in the European Commission visa policy page.
- Pick a policy that meets article 15: urgent care, hospitalisation and repatriation, minimum EUR 30,000, valid in the Member States for the whole stay.
- Buy it, in principle in your country of residence, and ask the insurer for the document that proves the policy.
- Hand in the proof of insurance with the visa application (art. 10), following the document list of the consulate where you apply.
Official source: Regulation (EC) 810/2009, art. 15 and European Commission application requirements.
Informational only; check the official source and a professional for your specific case.
🛡️ Looking for a policy for the visa? Three insurers that sell Schengen travel insurance: AXA Schengen, IATI Básico and InterMundial go | schengen (10% off with the code GUIAEXTRANJEROS; website in Spanish). If you want more than the minimum, InterMundial also has Go World, with up to EUR 500,000 of medical cover and cancellation included. Before paying, check in the policy terms that it meets article 15 (EUR 30,000, the whole Schengen area, the whole stay). The consulate decides on the visa, so compare other insurers too.
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