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BREXIT

Health insurance: What are the post-Brexit rules for Brits visiting France?

Along with a host of extra restrictions on everything from length of stay to sandwiches for the journey, Brexit has also changed the insurance requirements for Brits visiting France for either holidays or long stays. Here's what you need to know.

Published: 14 May 2021 16:03 CEST
Health insurance: What are the post-Brexit rules for Brits visiting France?
Since Brexit, Brts may be asked for extra documentation at the border, including proof of health cover. Photo: Christophe Archambault/AFP

Having health cover when you are travelling is of course always a good idea, but as Brits move into the world of non-EU travel there are several circumstances where having insurance is no longer merely advised, but compulsory.

READ ALSO What Brexit has changed for British visitors to France

Tourists/short visits

Pre-Brexit many Brits relied on their European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) for travel to France. This is now being replaced by a similar card known as GHIC (UK Global Health Insurance Card). However these only cover emergency healthcare costs and neither cover the cost of repatriation back to the UK if necessary.

It was always advised that tourists and visitors took out their own travel insurance in addition to the EHIC, but this has now become compulsory in many circumstances.

All non-EU arrivals in France, including Brits, who are travelling visa-free for a period of less than 90 days can be asked at the border to provide several things, including:  

  • Proof of accommodation during your stay (booking for hotel, gîte, Airbnb or B&B for tourists, second-home owners may need to provide proof of address such as a utility bill and if you’re staying with friends or family you may need an Attestation d’accueil)
  • A return ticket or the means to acquire one
  • Sufficient financial means to cover basic costs during your stay. The guideline figures for this are; €65 per day if you have a hotel booking, €120 per day if you have no hotel booking, €32.50 per day if you are staying with friends or family
  • An insurance certificate covering all medical and hospital expenses for which you may be liable for the duration of your stay in France, as well as medical repatriation costs and expenses in the event of death

The specific requirement for repatriation costs means that an EHIC or GHIC on its own is not sufficient. The insurance can be either travel insurance or health insurance, provided that it includes cover for repatriation.

If you have private health insurance cover in the UK it may or may not cover trips abroad and repatriation, so check your policy.

Reports on the ground from Americans, Canadians and Australians – who have always been subject to these rules – suggest that enforcement is far from universal, but French border guards are within their rights to ask and you can be turned away if you don’t have the correct paperwork, including insurance.

Long stays

If you want to stay in France for longer than 90 days in every 180 you will need a visa, and certain types of visa also require proof of full health cover.

For people who don’t intend to work while in France – such as many second-home owners – the visitor visa is the most common option.

EXPLAINED How to get a French visa 

This one-year visa will allow you to spend as much time as you like in France over the course of the year, but when applying for one you will need to supply several things including proof of financial means and proof of health cover.

The French visa wizard site states that the minimum required coverage level is €30,000 – including medical repatriation, and emergency and/or hospital treatment. The medical repatriation requirement again means that an EHIC or GHIC is not sufficient. There are talks ongoing regarding the acceptance of the GHIC, but at the time of writing nothing is confirmed.

Applicants whose coverage is lower than this may find their visa application rejected.

This does not have to be a specific health insurance policy, you can use your travel insurance as long as the policy meets the specified requirements.

The policy must also cover the entire period of the visa you are applying for (usually one year).

Residents 

If you are a British resident who is returning to France you will only have to show your proof of residency at the border – either a carte de séjour residency permit or a long-stay visa, there is no requirement to show extra health insurance.

Some British residents who are covered by the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement are still entitled to an EHIC but if you live in France you are also entitled to register in the French health system and receive a carte vitale, which covers most health costs while you are in France. Here’s how to register.

What type of insurance?

The health cover can be either via travel insurance or private health insurance, and travel insurance is generally cheaper.

The minimum cover level of €30,000 would cover almost all travel insurance policies, but not all policies cover medical repatriation, so check this on any policy that you buy.

The policy must also cover the entire duration of your stay in France or – if you are applying for a visa – the entire duration of the visa.

How much does the insurance cost?

Obviously the cost of a health or travel insurance policy depends on the age and state of health of the policy holder, but for older people and those who have health conditions it can be expensive.

Using a UK price comparison site, we searched for travel insurance with the appropriate level of cover for a couple in their 70s, without major health conditions and were quoted around £250 for an annual multi-trip policy.

This becomes more expensive for people with serious health problems, and if you have been diagnosed with a life-limiting illness, cancer or are on the waiting list for hospital treatment then you may not be able to get insurance at all.

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For members

EES PASSPORT CHECKS

How will the new app for Europe’s EES border system work?

With Europe set to introduce its new Entry/Exit biometric border system (EES) in the autumn there has been much talk about the importance of a new app designed to help avoid delays. But how will it work and when will it be ready?

Published: 7 May 2024 10:29 CEST
How will the new app for Europe's EES border system work?

When it comes into force the EU’s new digital border system known as EES will register the millions of annual entries and exits of non-EU citizens travelling to the EU/Schengen area, which will cover 29 European countries.

Under the EU Entry/Exit System (EES), non-EU residents who do not require a visa will have to register their biometric data in a database that will also capture each time they cross an external Schengen border.

Passports will no longer be manually stamped, but will be scanned. However, biometric data such as fingerprints and facial images will have to be registered in front of a guard when the non-EU traveller first crosses in to the EU/Schengen area.

Naturally there are concerns the extra time needed for this initial registration will cause long queues and tailbacks at the border.

To help alleviate those likely queues and prevent the subsequent frustration felt by travellers the EU is developing a new smartphone app.

READ ALSO: What will the EES passport system mean for foreigners living in Europe?

The importance of having a working app was summed up by Uku Särekanno, Deputy Executive Director of the EU border agency Frontex in a recent interview.

“Initially, the challenge with the EES will come down to the fact that travellers arriving in Europe will have to have their biographic and biometric data registered in the system – border guards will have to register four of their fingerprints and their facial image. This process will take time, and every second really matters at border crossing points – nobody wants to be stuck in a lengthy queue after a long trip.”

But there is confusion around what the app will actually be able to do, if it will help avoid delays and importantly when will it be available?

So here’s what we know so far.

Who is developing the app?

The EU border agency Frontex is currently developing the app. More precisely, Frontex is developing the back-end part of the app, which will be made available to Schengen countries.

“Frontex is currently developing a prototype of an app that will help speed up this process and allow travellers to share some of the information in advance. This is something we are working on to support the member states, although there is no legal requirement for us to do so,” Uku Särekanno said in the interview.

Will the 29 EES countries be forced to use the app?

No, it is understood that Frontex will make the app available on a voluntary basis. Each government will then decide if, when and where to use it, and develop the front-end part based on its own needs.

This point emerged at a meeting of the House of Commons European scrutiny committee, which is carrying out an inquiry on how EES will impact the UK.

What data will be registered via the app?

The Local asked the European Commission about this. A spokesperson however, said the Commission was not “in a position to disclose further information at this stage” but that travellers’ personal data “will be processed in compliance with the high data security and data protection standards set by EU legislation.”

According to the blog by Matthias Monroy, editor of the German civil rights journal Bürgerrechte & Polizei/CILIP the Frontex app will collect passengers’ name, date of birth, passport number, planned destination and length of stay, reason for travelling, the amount of cash they carry, the availability of a credit card and of a travel health insurance. The app could also allow to take facial images. It will then generate a QR code that travellers can present at border control.

This, however, does not change the fact that fingerprints and facial images will have to be registered in front of a guard at the first crossing into the Schengen area.

So given the need to register finger prints and facial images with a border guard, the question is how and if the app will help avoid those border queues?

When is the app going to be available?

The answer to perhaps the most important question is still unclear.

The Commissions spokesperson told The Local that the app “will be made available for Schengen countries as from the Entry/Exit System start of operations.” The planned launch date is currently October 6th, but there have been several delays in the past and may be another one.

The UK parliamentary committee heard that the prototype of the app should have been ready for EU member states in spring. Guy Opperman, Under-Secretary of State at the UK Department for Transport, said the app will not be available for testing until August “at best” and that the app will not be ready in time for October. The committee previously stated that the app might even be delayed until summer 2025.

Frontex’s Särekanno said in his interview: “Our aim is to have it ready by the end of the summer, so it can then be gradually integrated into national systems starting from early autumn”.

READ ALSO: How do the EES passport checks affect the 90-day rule?

Can the system be launched if the app is not ready?

Yes. The European Commission told The Local that “the availability of the mobile application is not a condition for the Entry/Exit System entry into operation or functioning of the system. The app is only a tool for pre-registration of certain types of data and the system can operate without this pre-registration.”

In addition, “the integration of this app at national level is to be decided by each Schengen country on a voluntary basis – as there is no legal obligation to make use of the app.”

And the UK’s transport under secretary Guy Opperman sounded a note of caution saying the app “is not going to be a panacea to fix all problems”.

When the app will be in use, will it be mandatory for travellers?

There is no indication that the app will become mandatory for those non-EU travellers who need to register for EES. But there will probably be advantages in using it, such as getting access to faster lanes.

As a reminder, non-EU citizens who are resident in the EU are excluded from the EES, as are those with dual nationality for a country using EES. Irish nationals are also exempt even though Ireland will not be using EES because it is not in the Schengen area.

Has the app been tested anywhere yet?

Frontex says the prototype of the app will be tested at Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport, in Sweden. Matthias Monroy’s website said it was tested last year at Munich Airport in Germany, as well as in Bulgaria and Gibraltar.

According to the German Federal Police, the blog reports, passengers were satisfied and felt “prepared for border control”.

This article is published in cooperation with Europe Street News.

 
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