Applying for a visa for France? Make sure that you have the right level of insurance for success.
Janine Marsh explains how there’s one thing that people often miss in their application – and it’s the major reason for a visitor visa being denied, and the second main reason for a business visa issue. Here’s how to make sure you have the right insurance for your French visa application.
Visa insurances
Earlier this year a reader contacted me in a complete panic. She and her husband had applied for their long-term visa for France – and they’d been turned down. They had sold their house in the UK and bought a house in France that they couldn’t wait to move into. And they were devastated to be told ‘non’. With a deadline to reapply, they had no idea what they should do and asked me if I could help.
This is not the first time I’ve had a cry for help message when it comes to visas, and I doubt it will be the last time. But I always start my reply the same way – did you get the proper healthcare insurance?
“We do have fully comprehensive insurance that covers Europe and the Schengen area” came the reply.
And that right there is a problem. It seems it’s not always clear what insurance you need. And when you’re turned down, you’re not given a reason.
“I am just guessing at what might be missing?” read the email. “How do you know if they have not itemised what is needed. I thought we had ticked everything on the list from the visa application centre.”
Fully comprehensive insurance is needed, but it’s not enough. You must also have insurance that covers your healthcare. It’s called by many names: visa healthcare insurance, medical insurance, health insurance, private health insurance, healthcare insurance or even visa insurance and sometimes insurance for visa applications.
But it all boils down to the same thing – without it, your visa application will not be approved.
I recommended Fabien Pelissier of FAB French insurance to the couple. After a free 30-minute consultation with one of the team (who all speak English), they realised that they had in fact completely missed the requirement to make sure that they had health cover in France. Once you move to France with your long-term visa, you need to apply for your Carte de Sejour (residency permit) and Carte Vitale (which covers you for healthcare in France. Once you have that – you no longer need to have the medical insurance.
Medical insurance is not cheap. But you must have good cover to prove that you will not be a burden on taxpayers in France. And you need to be prepared to wait from 6-9 months (sometimes more, so it’s best to allow 12 months for your healthcare insurance cover) for the residency permit and entry to the healthcare system to come through. Note: You can only apply for the Carte de Sejour/Carte Vitale after moving to France.
The couple scoured the internet for quotes but in the end went back to FAB saying “it’s the cheapest we have found – the others are too much!”
Fabien says “Brexit didn’t just impact the British, when it comes to applying for a visa, it also resulted in a tightening of rules for other non-EU citizens, including those from the US and Australia. After years of experience as insurance brokers and helping with many hundreds of Visa applications, we know that the type of insurance certificate is a critical factor that will determine the fate of your application.
Most successful applications have the following elements in common:
- The certificate shows cover for at least the duration of your VISA and if this is not possible or if it ends before the VISA, then the certificate should mention that the visa insurance policy is scheduled for automatic renewal.
- It mentions that you’re covered for medical expenses and hospitalisation (not just hospitalisation).
- The medical cover should be for at least €30,000.00. Note that some visa centres (New York and London for instance) may expect more than this for no particular reason (up to €100k) and for that reason it’s twice as important to work with an insurance agent or broker that knows the drill about French visas.
- The certificate should not mention any medical exclusions.
- It must cover include a repatriation plan.
“If you fulfil these five requirements and if the rest of your file is complete, you should be off to a flying start with your visa application” is Fabien’s advice.
Find out more, book a free consultation, get a free quote, and apply for insurance at fabfrenchinsurance.com
