BUY AUTHENTIC EUROPEAN HEALTH INSURANCE CARD

If you have an existing EUROPEAN HEALTH INSURANCE CARD

If you have an existing EHIC, it will remain valid until the expiry date on the card.

You can apply for a new card up to 6 months before your current card expires.

How to use your card

You can use your card to access medically necessary state-provided healthcare when you’re visiting an EU country or Switzerland.

Medically necessary healthcare means healthcare that cannot reasonably wait until you come back to the UK. Whether treatment is necessary is decided by the healthcare provider in the country you’re visiting.

Medically necessary healthcare includes things like:

• emergency treatment and visits to A&E
• treatment for a long-term or pre-existing medical condition
• routine medical care for pre-existing conditions that need monitoring
• routine maternity care, as long as you’re not going abroad to give birth
• oxygen therapy and kidney dialysis

You’ll need to pre-arrange some treatments with the relevant healthcare provider in the country you’re visiting – for example, kidney dialysis or chemotherapy.

Not all state healthcare is free within the EU and Switzerland and so you may have to pay for services that you would get for free on the NHS.

Coverage for quarantine hotels in the EU

Some EU countries require foreign visitors, including UK residents, to stay in quarantine hotels if they either:

• test positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) and have no or mild symptoms
• are close contacts of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19

The costs of quarantine hotels are not covered by an EUROPEAN HEALTH INSURANCE CARD or GHIC, as the UK considers these hotels to be a public health measure, not medically necessary state-provided healthcare.

If you need medical treatment while staying at a quarantine hotel, the UK Government will fund treatment as usual for UK residents or insured individuals. Use your EHIC or GHIC card, or contact the NHS Business Services Authority to receive a Provisional Replacement Certificate if you do not have a valid card.

EHIC has only ever covered emergency and necessary healthcare costs, so it is always recommended that you take out comprehensive travel insurance, including health cover, when you travel abroad.

If you’re abroad and do not have your card with you

You can get a Provisional Replacement Certificate (PRC) to prove your entitlement to medically necessary healthcare if you travel to Europe without your existing EHIC, UK GHIC or new UK EHIC and need treatment during your visit.

If you need a PRC outside opening hours, you should call as soon as possible the next working day.

The PRC will give you the same cover as an existing EHIC, UK GHIC or new UK EHIC until you return home.

When calling for a PRC, you’ll need to give:

• your National Insurance number
• your name
• your address
• your date of birth
• the name of the treatment facility
• the email address for the specific department of the organisation providing your treatment

To apply for a PRC contact NHS Overseas Healthcare Services.

Someone else can apply for a PRC on your behalf.

Where you can use your card

You can use a UK GHIC or existing EHIC while visiting:

• an EU country
• Switzerland (only UK nationals, Swiss nationals and EU citizens)

A UK GHIC may become valid in more countries in the future. Check this page before you travel.

You can only use a UK GHIC in Switzerland if you’re a UK national, a Swiss national, a citizen of an EU Member State, a refugee, a stateless person, or a family member, dependant or survivor of someone who holds one of these nationalities or statuses.

You may be asked for proof of your nationality or your status when using your UK GHIC in Switzerland.

You can use a new UK EUROPEAN HEALTH INSURANCE CARD (identifiable by a Union flag hologram in the top-right corner) while visiting:

• an EU country
• Norway
• Iceland
• Liechtenstein
• Switzerland

The EU countries are:

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

Who can apply for a UK GHIC

You may be eligible for a UK GHIC if you meet 1 of the following criteria:

• you’re legally living in the UK and you do not have healthcare cover provided by an EU country or Switzerland
• you’re living in the EU or Switzerland with a registered S1, E121, E106 or E109 form issued by the UK
• you’re living in the EU or Switzerland with an A1 document which is issued by the UK
• you’re a family member or dependant of an entitled individual already listed

Who can apply for a new UK EUROPEAN HEALTH INSURANCE CARD under the Withdrawal Agreement

You may be eligible for a new UK EUROPEAN HEALTH INSURANCE CARD if you meet 1 of the following criteria:

• you’re living in the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, or Liechtenstein, and have been since before 1 January 2021 with a registered S1, E121, E106 or E109 form issued by the UK
• you’re living in the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, or Liechtenstein, since before 1 January 2021 with an A1 issued by the UK
• you’re a national of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, or Liechtenstein who has legally resided in the UK since before 1 January 2021 and are covered under the Withdrawal Agreement; you may not be covered if you‘re also a UK national or if you were born in the UK
• you’re a family member or dependant of an entitled individual already listed.
• you’re a Chen or Ibrahim/Teixeira carer

Dual nationals

If you live in the UK and jointly hold UK and EU, Swiss, Norwegian, Icelandic or Liechtenstein citizenship, you will not normally be eligible for a new UK EHIC unless you:

• hold British citizenship through naturalisation
• were a citizen of an EU country, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, or Liechtenstein before also becoming a British citizen

You’ll usually be eligible for a UK GHIC.

People born in the UK

If you were born in the UK to British parents or parents who were settled in the UK and have lived in the UK from before 1 January 2021, you’re not normally eligible for a new UK EUROPEAN HEALTH INSURANCE CARD even if you’re an EU, Swiss, Norwegian, Icelandic or Liechtenstein citizen.

This includes people of Northern Ireland who are Irish citizens.

You’ll usually be eligible for a UK GHIC.