Sanitas Health Insurance for Your Visa, non-lucrative and NIE

For the non-lucrative visa we recommend Residents Visado, and the reason is waiting periods. Sanitas Más Salud is a complete policy and, in its no-copay option, has no copays, but it does have waiting periods: 10 months for hospitalization and surgery in groups III to VIII, 8 months for childbirth and 6 months for complex diagnostic tests, according to its general terms and conditions. Consulates ask for insurance with no waiting periods, and that is what the Visado version of Sanitas Residents is for: full cover with no copays, no waiting period at all from the start date, repatriation included and the certificate for your visa. Más Salud is a very good choice once you live in Spain and don't have to submit the policy for a visa application; if that's your case, we'll quote it for you too.

Yes. Residents Visado is taken out with your passport as your ID document, so you don't need an NIE: it is designed for people who are still applying for their visa. It is for nationals of countries outside the European Union, the European Economic Area and Switzerland, it requires the full health questionnaire and it is paid every six months or yearly, in advance. You can take it out up to six months ahead, and as soon as the policy is issued, with the payment made, Sanitas automatically emails the visa certificate to the policyholder. We arrange it at the office or remotely, in 8 languages.

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 or studies, you need a full health policy like the one we arrange at our office. The digital nomad visa asks for health insurance, public or private, with an insurer authorized to operate in Spain, whatever your situation with Social Security; in general it doesn't have to be free of copays and waiting periods, but our immigration lawyer recommends that it is, just in case, and Residents Visado follows that recommendation. And for arraigo (social, socio-labour, socio-educational, family or second-chance), no private health insurance is required: our immigration lawyer confirms it.

Yes, there is a cheaper option: the dedicated Sanitas International Students policy, designed for international students aged 14 to 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 the certificate issued by Sanitas in under 24 hours, guaranteed (up to 48 h with pre-existing conditions or payment by bank transfer). Keep the limit in mind: it only covers student visas and permits, and you take it out between ages 14 and 35 (if you turn 36, it covers you until the end of that month); for non-lucrative residence or a digital nomad visa, the policy that fits is the general one, 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 if the consulate asks for it, and the annual premium paid in advance. That's six points, and Residents Visado meets all six; on top of that, the certificate Sanitas issues 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 consulate's checklist before requesting the certificate, so it goes into your file complete and correct.

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; Sanitas issues the certificate 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 Sanitas reissues 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 send you along with the certificate. At renewal we also recommend annual payment, although Residents Visado, the version without waiting periods that Immigration usually asks for, can be paid semiannually or annually, 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. As a reference, Residents Visado for one person aged 35 in Madrid is €1,562.91 in a single annual payment; 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, getting you a new certificate from Sanitas in under 24 hours (up to 48 h with pre-existing conditions or payment by bank transfer). Our goal is the opposite, of course: to review the consulate's checklist with you before requesting the certificate, so your file goes in complete.

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, if the consulate asks for it, repatriation. We can include your whole family under the same policy, with the lower per-person price that the Sanitas rates apply when several people are insured, and Sanitas issues an individual certificate for each family member on the application, each one in under 24 hours guaranteed (up to 48 h with pre-existing conditions or payment by bank transfer). 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.