Health insurance for a German visa or residence permit

This guide explains which health insurance you need to apply for a National Visa or residence permit.

For a specific visa

For employees:

For students:

For everyone else:

For a Schengen visa

To apply for a Schengen visa (tourist visa), you need travel health insurance.¹ If you can visit Germany without a visa, you don’t need travel insurance, but it’s still a good idea.

Your travel health insurance must…²

Cover you for at least €30,000
Cover you in all Schengen area countries, not just Germany
Cover you during your whole trip in the Schengen area

HanseMerkur Visa Plus works well for a Schengen visa application.

For a National Visa

To apply for a National Visa, you need two health insurances:

Incoming health insurance
This is expat health insurance. It covers you from the day you arrive in Germany until you start working or studying. There are many valid options. I recommend Feather or HanseMerkur.
and long-term health insurance
When you start working or studying, you must usually switch to public or private health insurance. For public health insurance, choose Barmer or TK. For private health insurance, always ask an expert.

How to choose health insurance

In the Consular Services Portal, you must upload a proof of incoming health insurance and a proof of long-term health insurance. Merge them together, and upload them under Proof of health insurance.

Proof of health insurance in the Consular Services Portal

Your incoming health insurance must cover you from the day you plan to arrive in Germany. It must match the dates you entered in the Travel data form in the Consular Services Portal.

Planned date of entry in the Consular Services Portal — Your health insurance must cover you from this date.

For a family reunion visa

If your spouse has public health insurance, it might cover you for free.³ Otherwise, you can get expat health insurance or private health insurance.

List of expat health insurance options

For a residence permit

When you arrive in Germany, you must convert your National Visa to a residence permit at the Ausländerbehörde.

To apply for a residence permit, you need…

Public health insurance
It’s always accepted. If you are unemployed, you can use your family’s health insurance for free.
or private health insurance
Full private health insurance is always accepted. It must fulfil the requirements of § 257 SGB V.
or expat health insurance
Expat health insurance is sometimes accepted when you apply for your first residence permit. It depends on which residence permit you apply for. Expat health insurance is rarely accepted when you change or renew your residence permit.

What is the best option?

The exact requirements depend on your occupation:

For permanent residence

To apply for permanent residence, you need public or private health insurance. Expat health insurance and travel insurance are not accepted.

How to apply for permanent residence

For citizenship

To apply for German citizenship, you need public or private health insurance. Expat health insurance and travel insurance are not accepted.

How to choose

Do not choose health insurance yourself. You can make expensive mistakes. Choosing the wrong insurance can delay your visa application.

Ask my health insurance expert to help you choose. His help is free. It’s the best way to choose health insurance.

How to choose health insurance

Sources and footnotes

Feather Insurance (2025) ⤴
schengenvisainfo.com, germany.info, visaguide.world ⤴
German embassy in Portugal (July 2025) ⤴