Sanitas Health Insurance for Your Visa, approved on the first try

No, travel insurance does not work for a residence visa, including Schengen travel insurance. Immigration and consulates require a complete health policy, equivalent to the service portfolio of the public healthcare system, taken out with an insurer authorized to operate in Spain, and with no copays and no waiting periods. Travel insurance only covers emergencies and limited temporary assistance, so it fails that requirement from the start. In fact, submitting travel insurance is one of the most common reasons applications get rejected, and the mistake is discovered months later, after you've already paid fees and waited for a decision. The only exception is tourist stays under 90 days, where Schengen travel insurance does apply. For non-lucrative residence, studies, roots settlement (arraigo) or digital nomad visas, you need a health policy like the one we issue at our office.

Yes, there is a cheaper option: the dedicated Sanitas International Students policy, designed for international students up to age 35. If you're applying for a Type D student visa or renewing your TIE (Foreigner Identity Card) for studies, you can choose it instead of the general visa policy and save with its reduced youth rate. It meets exactly the same Immigration requirements your application needs: no copays, no waiting periods, full coverage across Spain and repatriation included, with an official certificate issued in under 24 hours guaranteed. Keep the limit in mind: it only covers student visas and permits, up to age 35; for non-lucrative residence, roots settlement (arraigo) or digital nomad visas, you need the general policy, which covers up to age 75. At our office we confirm in five minutes which one applies to your case.

With small variations by country, all consulates ask for the same things: an insurer authorized to operate in Spain, complete health coverage across the entire national territory, no copays, no waiting periods, repatriation included, and the annual premium paid in advance. That's six points, and our policy meets all six; on top of that, the official Sanitas certificate explicitly states them, with the wording "no copays and no waiting periods" that officials look for when reviewing the file. Along with the certificate, we give you the receipt for the paid annual premium and the policy terms, which is the documentation most consulates require. If yours has any particular requirement, some consulates ask for the certificate in English or extra wording, we review it with you against the official checklist before issuing anything, so your application is approved the first time.

You receive the certificate in under 24 hours from taking out the policy, guaranteed. We send it to you by email as a PDF signed by Sanitas, with every mention your consulate or Immigration Office requires: full coverage, no copays, no waiting periods, and repatriation included. If your consulate requires it on paper or in English, we handle that too; we issue certificates in both languages. In practice it's often even faster: Antonio, one of our clients, says in his Google review that we sent it to him on the spot while he was on the phone with the office. Along with the certificate you'll receive the receipt for the paid annual premium, which most consulates request as proof of first-year coverage. If you spot any error in your details, we correct it and reissue the document right away. There are only two cases where issuance can take up to 48 hours: if the health questionnaire includes pre-existing conditions the underwriting team needs to assess, or if you pay the premium by bank transfer (the certificate is issued once the payment clears). If your appointment is imminent, tell us when you sign up and we plan it with margin.

Not in the first year: almost all consulates require proof of the annual premium paid in advance for the initial application, so the first year's premium is paid in one lump sum. This isn't a Sanitas policy quirk but a requirement of the process: they want to see full twelve-month coverage guaranteed, and the receipt for that annual premium is part of the documentation we provide along with the official certificate. From renewal onward it stays the same: Residents Visado, the version without waiting periods that Immigration usually asks for, is only issued with annual payment, never monthly or quarterly. Monthly or quarterly payment only exists in Sanitas Residents, the version with waiting periods, which may be valid for the visa in some cases, although as a rule they ask for the version without waiting periods. The reference annual premium starts at €931.18 per insured person; the Visado version has no annual-payment discount and is somewhat more expensive than the one with waiting periods, and the calculator gives you the exact price. At our office we make all of this clear before you sign up, so you can plan for the cost with no surprises.

If your visa is denied and the policy hasn't yet taken effect, we arrange the cancellation and premium refund according to Sanitas' terms. In other words, you don't lose the year of insurance you paid for over an application that didn't go through: we handle it directly with the insurer. This is, in fact, one of the reasons to work with a real office that answers the phone, rather than an online comparison site: if your application hits a snag, you have a person with a first and last name supporting you through the cancellation, reviewing what went wrong, and, if you decide to reapply, issuing a new certificate in under 24 hours. Our goal is the opposite, of course: to review the consulate's checklist with you before issuing anything, so it's approved the first time.

Yes, the insurance covers your family for family reunification, with one policy per person. Immigration requires each reunified family member to prove their own insurance under the same requirements: full coverage, no copays, no waiting periods, and repatriation included. We can include your whole family under the same policy, with the 5-8% multi-insured discount that applies under our rate schedule depending on the number of people, and we issue an individual official certificate for each family member on the application, each one in under 24 hours guaranteed. This also simplifies future renewals: all renewal dates stay aligned, and we notify you just once before renewing each person's NIE or TIE. Bring us everyone's details, name, date of birth and passport, and our office team will prepare the joint quote and certificates ready for the application.