Verified against official sources — 30 Oct 2026

Travel Medical Insurance: The €30,000 Rule

NEW Published 30 October 2026

Illustration of a golden umbrella sheltering a travelling family, with a shield and medical cross behind them

Schengen is the only cell on this site with compulsory insurance — Article 15 sets the amount, the cover and the territory.

Most visa systems treat travel insurance as a good idea. Schengen makes it a legal condition of the visa: Article 15 of the Visa Code requires adequate and valid travel medical insurance before a uniform visa can be issued, and missing or inadequate proof is itself a refusal ground under Article 32. This guide sets out exactly what the Code demands — the amount, the events covered, the territory, the period — so you can check any policy against the law rather than against a broker's summary.

Quick answer

Your policy must cover medical repatriation, urgent medical attention, emergency hospital treatment and death; be valid throughout the Schengen area; cover the entire period of your stay; and provide at least €30,000 of cover. For a multiple-entry visa, you prove cover for the first trip and sign a declaration that you know you need it for later ones.

SECTION 01What Article 15 requires

RULE — The events covered. The insurance must cover expenses arising from repatriation for medical reasons, urgent medical attention, emergency hospital treatment, or death, during your stay in the Member States.
RULE — The minimum: EUR 30,000. Article 15(3) fixes the minimum coverage at EUR 30,000. A policy below it does not meet the requirement, whatever else it covers.
RULE — The territory: everywhere you can go. The insurance must be valid throughout the territory of the Member States — a policy naming only your destination country is not the same thing as a Schengen-wide policy.
RULE — The period: the whole stay. Cover must run for the entire period of your intended stay or transit, not just the first days of it.

SECTION 02Multiple-entry visas: first trip proved, later trips declared

Article 15(2) adjusts the proof, not the obligation: applicants for a multiple-entry visa prove insurance covering the period of their first intended visit, and sign the statement in the application form declaring they are aware they need insurance for subsequent stays. The declaration is part of the form — later trips without cover breach the basis on which the visa was issued, and border and consular practice can ask about it.

SECTION 03Buying it correctly

RULE — Buy where you live, in principle. Article 15(4) says applicants shall in principle take out insurance in their country of residence; where that is not possible, in another country. Someone else may take out the policy in your name, under the same conditions.
RULE — Recoverability is checked. When consulates assess adequacy, Article 15(5) has them ascertain whether claims against the insurer would be recoverable in a Member State — a policy whose claims cannot realistically be enforced in Europe can fail the test even with the right headline figure.
SUPPORTING — Show the certificate, not the summary. The document in your file needs to state the cover amount, the territory and the dates. If any of the three is not visible on what you submit, the consulate cannot verify the requirement from your file.

SECTION 04The narrow exemptions

Article 15 exempts holders of diplomatic passports outright, and allows the requirement to be treated as met where an adequate level of insurance may be presumed from the applicant's professional situation — the Code's example is seafarers already covered through their work. For ordinary visitor applicants, plan on the requirement applying in full.

SECTION 05Common questions

Is €30,000 per person or per policy?

The Code sets the minimum coverage for the insured applicant. Each applicant's file must show cover meeting it; a family policy needs to evidence that level for the people it names.

My policy is worldwide and exceeds €30,000. Does it qualify?

Worldwide cover that includes the Schengen area for the entire stay and covers the Article 15 events meets the territory and amount tests on its face — the certificate still has to show it, and the consulate assesses recoverability.

Can missing insurance really refuse the visa?

Yes — Article 32(1)(a)(vii) lists not providing proof of adequate and valid travel medical insurance, where applicable, as a refusal ground in its own right.

Editorial note: This guide states the legal requirement from the Visa Code itself and names no insurer and no product — the Code doesn't either. Judge every policy against Article 15's four tests, not against marketing.

Official references and verification status

Every element of the insurance requirement in this guide — the covered events, the EUR 30,000 minimum, the territory, the period, the multiple-entry adjustment, the residence and recoverability rules and the exemptions — was read in Article 15 of the Visa Code on 30 October 2026.

Regulation (EC) No 810/2009 (the Visa Code), Article 15 — travel medical insurance: eur-lex.europa.eu
European Commission — Applying for a Schengen visa (insurance among the required documents): home-affairs.ec.europa.eu

Check your policy certificate against Article 15 before you book the appointment.

General information only. This guide is based on official sources publicly available and checked on the date shown on this page. Visa rules change, and consular and USCIS officers decide every case on its own facts — nothing here is a confirmation or a guarantee for your individual case, and this is not legal advice. Always confirm the current requirement on the official page linked in this guide before you act, and consider a qualified immigration attorney for your specific situation.