Health Insurance for the Spain Digital Nomad Visa: Requirements and Costs (2026)

The law asks every applicant for "public insurance or private health insurance arranged with an insurer authorised to operate in Spain". Which one applies depends on how you work:

• Employees of a company outside Spain usually stay in their home country's social security system and don't pay into Spain's. They need a private policy. US employees whose employer issues a certificate of coverage under the US–Spain social security agreement still need private insurance for everything else, according to the consulate in Washington.
• Freelancers who register as self-employed in Spain (RETA) pay Spanish Social Security and are covered by the public health system. In our applications they don't need a private policy.
• UK residents with an S1 form (mostly people receiving a UK state pension): the consulate in London accepts it as public health insurance, together with registration with Spanish Social Security. We haven't filed a case like this.
• Family members need cover too. If you're registered in RETA, in our applications they haven't needed a private policy either. Otherwise each one needs a policy that meets the same conditions.

Consulates spell out what a private policy needs. The UGE checks the same things in our applications:

• An insurer authorised in Spain. It must appear in the register of the Directorate General of Insurance and Pension Funds (DGSFP). A global expat plan from an insurer outside that register doesn't meet the requirement.
• Full cover, like the public system: GP and specialist care, hospital stays, tests, treatment and rehabilitation, emergency transport.
• No co-payments (sin copago). Policies with a fee per visit are cheaper, and they're rejected.
• No coverage limits and no waiting periods (sin carencias). Many standard policies make you wait months for some treatments; a visa policy can't.
• Cover for the whole permit. Consulates ask for cover for the full period. Policies are usually annual, so keep yours renewed without a gap.
• Not travel insurance. Travel and "nomad" policies that cover emergencies only aren't accepted.

Insurers usually sell a ready-made product for residence applications. Ask for it by name — a policy for a visado or residencia "sin copagos ni carencias" — and for a certificate saying so.

From what our clients paid in 2026:

Direct policies are cheaper, but insurers usually ask for a NIE and a Spanish bank account (IBAN). If you don't have them yet, a broker is often the only option for the first year. You can switch to a direct policy later, as long as there's no gap in cover.

Prices depend on age and region and change every year.

• A policy with co-payments. Cheaper policies often have them, and they don't qualify.
• A certificate that doesn't say what the UGE needs. Ask the insurer for a certificate that names the insured, the dates, and states "sin copagos ni carencias".
• An insurer that isn't authorised in Spain. Check the DGSFP register before you pay.
• Scam "insurance" sold in private messages, with payment in crypto. Buy only on the insurer's own website or through a registered broker.
• Letting the policy lapse after approval. If you work as an employee, your private cover has to continue for as long as the permit.