Applicants for the Financially Independent Person (FIP) permit and the Digital Nomad visa often treat health insurance as the easiest item on their checklist. In our experience, it is the item most likely to cause problems.
Since neither the FIP nor the Digital Nomad route involves employment in Greece, applicants are not affiliated with the Greek public social security system. The Migration Code (Law 5038/2023, Article 8) therefore requires them to hold full private sickness insurance, and Joint Ministerial Decision 133692/2024 (Government Gazette B’ 2724/10.05.2024) specifies exactly what that insurance must cover.
The Decision sets three cumulative requirements. The policy must cover permanent total or partial disability resulting from an accident with an annual benefit of at least EUR 15,000; medical and pharmaceutical expenses arising from illness or accident with an annual benefit of at least EUR 1,500; and broad hospital care with an annual benefit of at least EUR 10,000. In each case, the insured person’s co-payment may not exceed 20 per cent. A policy that satisfies two of the three covers, or that imposes a higher deductible on any of them, does not meet the statutory standard.
The policy may be concluded either in Greece or abroad. A foreign policy is acceptable provided it expressly states that it covers the applicant for the duration of their stay in Greece. That said, we generally advise clients to obtain a Greek policy. Greek insurers issue certificates drafted around the wording of the Decision, which the immigration authorities recognise at a glance, whereas foreign policies tend to invite questions and requests for clarification.
The provision that causes the most rejections, however, is a single sentence at the end of Article 1: policies containing exclusions or special additional agreements are not accepted. This is stricter than it sounds. Most international expat and travel-medical products are built on exclusions — pre-existing conditions being the obvious example — and on riders that modify the standard terms. Under the Decision, any such clause can render the policy unacceptable for immigration purposes, regardless of how generous the coverage amounts are. Before paying a premium, an applicant should ask the insurer to confirm in writing that the policy complies with JMD 133692/2024 and contains no exclusions or side-agreements.
One final point on timing. The insurance policy must be submitted together with the application for the grant or renewal of the permit, on the date of filing. It is not a document that can be supplemented later, and an application filed with a non-compliant policy risks delay or rejection.
This article provides general information and does not constitute legal advice. For advice on your specific circumstances, please contact our team.