The Journal — articles by country | Expat Savvy

Visa rules and insurance requirements move, so every article here shows when its facts were last checked. An undated claim about a moving rule is not evergreen — it is just unaccountable.

Australia · checked 2026-08-16

Sponsoring staff into Australia: the visa health condition

Australia's health cover duty for sponsored staff is condition 8501 on the granted visa, not employment law — and it names no insurance product at all.

Brazil · checked 2026-08-16

Brazil for employers: the collective plan protection gap

Brazilian collective health plans — what companies buy — sit outside the renewal guarantee that protects individual plans, and reprice on different rules.

Canada · checked 2026-08-10

Relocating staff to Canada: there is no Canadian health plan

Canada has no single health plan. Ontario covers arrivals immediately, British Columbia takes the arrival month plus two, Quebec counts from registration.

Costa Rica · checked 2026-08-16

Costa Rica for employers: CAJA tracks residency, not payroll

Costa Rica's compulsory CAJA enrolment sits in the migration law, not the labour code — it follows residency, and a lapse can block a permit renewal.

Cyprus · checked 2026-08-16

Cyprus for employers: the gate into GESY is a payroll

Employment is one of only five gates into Cyprus's GESY, so a local contract and a secondment land two identical hires in different health systems.

France · checked 2026-08-10

Employing people in France: the mutuelle you must provide

French employers must offer a mutuelle and fund at least half of it. It tops up a public base a new arrival cannot use until the carte vitale lands.

Germany · checked 2026-08-10

Insuring a team in Germany: the GKV and PKV threshold

German employers buy no group health plan — they co-fund each employee's own policy. Above €77,400 gross in 2026, an employee may choose private cover.

Indonesia · checked 2026-08-10

Indonesia for employers: the evacuation BPJS does not cover

BPJS Kesehatan enrolment satisfies Indonesian law for staff working six months or more. It does not fund the evacuation a serious archipelago case needs.

Japan · checked 2026-08-16

Moving staff to Japan: Shakai Hoken and the 14-day clock

Japanese employers enrol full-time staff in Shakai Hoken. Everyone outside that net — contractors, spouses, leavers — has 14 days to join municipal NHI.

Malaysia · checked 2026-08-10

Malaysia for employers: the 6% tax and the SKHPPA duty

Since 1 July 2025 a 6% tax sits on private healthcare for non-citizens in Malaysia. Employment Pass staff have no mandated cover floor — permit workers do.

Mexico · checked 2026-08-10

Mexico for employers: IMSS and the hospital it never reaches

Formal employment in Mexico enrols staff in IMSS automatically — but the private hospitals international hires actually use sit outside that network.

Netherlands · checked 2026-08-16

Hiring into the Netherlands: the duty starts on day one

A Dutch hire is liable at once, not four months later. The window only backdates the cover — and the onboarding briefing is the employer's real job.

Philippines · checked 2026-08-10

Group health cover in the Philippines: the annual ceiling

Philippine group HMOs run on a Maximum Benefit Limit — Maxicare publishes ₱100,000 to ₱250,000 a year for consultations, diagnostics and hospital care.

Portugal · checked 2026-08-16

Moving staff to Portugal: two stages, two insurance asks

Portugal asks for insurance twice and names a sum at neither stage. The €30,000 twelve-month spec is Schengen short-stay — the wrong rulebook entirely.

Qatar · checked 2026-08-16

Qatar for employers: no cover, no visa, no hire

Qatar's Article 10 bars the entry visa, the residence permit and the act of employing an expatriate without proof of health cover for the whole period.

Saudi Arabia · checked 2026-08-16

Saudi Arabia for employers: the duty reaches the family

Saudi employers' health insurance duty covers employees and the family members they support — a correction to what we published, and the opposite of Dubai.

Singapore · checked 2026-08-10

Group health insurance in Singapore: what the law requires

Singapore mandates S$60,000 of cover for S Pass and Work Permit holders, nothing for Employment Pass professionals. MediShield Life reaches none of them.

South Africa · checked 2026-08-16

Hiring in South Africa: the late-joiner clock nobody resets

South African schemes must accept your hire. The late-joiner formula still runs on the individual, and cover held abroad counts for nothing toward it.

Spain · checked 2026-08-10

Employing people in Spain: why companies add private cover

Registering staff in Spanish social security carries public health entitlement. The private layer companies add buys speed and language, not better care.

Switzerland · checked 2026-08-16

Insuring a team in Switzerland: the eight-hour accident line

In Switzerland the employer owes accident cover, not health insurance — and only staff working eight-plus hours a week are covered off the clock by UVG.

Thailand · checked 2026-08-10

Employing staff in Thailand: what social security misses

Thai employers must enrol staff in social security, but it does not reach the private hospitals foreign employees use. Thailand ranks 9th of 50 for cost.

United Arab Emirates · checked 2026-08-16

Group health insurance in the UAE: ask the emirate first

Dependants are an emirate question. Abu Dhabi's employers cover the family, Dubai's leave it to the sponsor. We used to answer for the country as a whole.

United States of America · checked 2026-08-10

Sending staff to the United States: worldwide excluding USA

Most international health policies are written 'worldwide excluding USA', so a US transfer leaves the assignee covered everywhere except where they live.

Malaysia · checked 2026-08-10

MM2H health insurance: what the guidelines actually require

MM2H requires health insurance only under 60 and names no minimum sum. The RM 80,000 figure repeated by agents appears nowhere in the official text.

United Arab Emirates · Cyprus · checked 2026-08-16

Dubai to Cyprus: cheaper cover, and GESY may not take you

Cover runs 15% cheaper in Cyprus than in the UAE. But GESY is gated on employment or a qualifying status, so a household moving on capital stays outside.

United Arab Emirates · checked 2026-08-10

Dubai to Hong Kong: the largest step-up in cover cost

Hong Kong ranks 2nd of fifty countries for private medical cover, about 67 per cent above the UAE. What that gap means for a household leaving Dubai.

United Arab Emirates · Singapore · checked 2026-08-10

Dubai to Singapore: the policy crosses, the subsidy does not

Singapore keys its health subsidies to citizenship and permanent residence — so a household arriving from Dubai lands with no public floor underneath it.

United Arab Emirates · Switzerland · checked 2026-08-16

Dubai to Switzerland: cheaper cover, nothing that transfers

The UAE mandate is employer-linked and ends with the permit. Switzerland compels the individual to hold KVG cover three months from taking up residence.

Australia · checked 2026-08-16

Health insurance for digital nomads in Australia

Australia's reciprocal Medicare covers eleven passports — three limbs for most, public hospitals only for Ireland and New Zealand, ambulance for nobody.

Brazil · checked 2026-08-16

Nomad health cover in Brazil: the 180-day waiting clock

A Brazilian plano de saúde covers emergencies within 24 hours and almost nothing else for 180 days — and the nomad visa never asks for a domestic plan.

Canada · checked 2026-08-10

Nomad health cover in Canada: the card belongs to a province

There is no Canadian health plan — provincial plans are residence-tested. Ontario covers eligible newcomers immediately; BC and Quebec still apply waits.

Costa Rica · checked 2026-08-16

Costa Rica's nomad route sits outside the CAJA entirely

Ley 10008 puts remote workers in the non-resident estancia category — up to two years outside the CAJA, on private cover of at least US$50,000 per person.

Cyprus · checked 2026-08-16

The Cyprus nomad visa hands you a policy, not GESY

GESY opens on category, not residence, and the usual route is employment in Cyprus — which a nomad visa forbids. The private policy is the floor.

France · checked 2026-08-16

Nomad health insurance in France: the affiliation nobody has

French cover runs on affiliation — French work, or three months' unbroken residence. A nomad's calendar opens neither, so the private layer is the floor.

Germany · checked 2026-08-16

Freelancing in Germany: the health-insurance choice you own

Germany's 2026 threshold of €77,400 is an employee rule. The self-employed may elect GKV or PKV at any income — and past 55 the way back is largely shut.

Indonesia · checked 2026-08-10

Nomad health insurance in Indonesia: no floor, a ceiling

Working from Bali for a foreign employer leaves you outside BPJS Kesehatan by the regulation's own wording — and Bali's definitive care has a ceiling.

Japan · checked 2026-08-16

Japan's nomad visa: excluded from National Health Insurance

Japan's Designated Activities nomad status excludes holders from National Health Insurance and requires private cover instead. Your policy is the only net.

Malaysia · checked 2026-08-10

Malaysia as a nomad base: what health cover actually buys

Malaysia ranks 33rd of 50 for international cover, at $7,333 a year. There is no public fallback for foreigners, and private care carries 6% tax.

Mexico · checked 2026-08-10

Nomad health insurance in Mexico: eighth-dearest of fifty

Mexico ranks 8th of 50 for what comparable international cover costs — above Switzerland. Nothing in the residency process asks to see a health policy.

Netherlands · checked 2026-08-16

Dutch health insurance and the remote worker in the middle

Dutch Zvw duty attaches to work or residence, not nationality — and a remote worker billing foreign clients from an Amsterdam flat sits between the two.

Philippines · checked 2026-08-10

Nomad health insurance in the Philippines: the transfer gap

PhilHealth's foreign membership excludes overseas confinement, and local plans reimburse care abroad at token levels. Nothing funds the transfer.

Portugal · checked 2026-08-16

Portugal's D8 visa: the policy that passes AIMA

AIMA's checklist asks only for health insurance or proof of SNS cover — no minimum sum, no duration. Which is why a D8 nomad's plan stops at the border.

Qatar · checked 2026-08-16

Qatar's mandate reaches your family, not the self-employed

Qatar's health-insurance duty covers an employee's spouse and up to three children — every clause names the employer. Independent workers stand outside it.

Saudi Arabia · checked 2026-08-16

Remote work in Saudi Arabia: every route has a sponsor in it

Saudi health insurance duty attaches to a sponsor — employer, household, family head. We could not verify any remote-worker route into that architecture.

Singapore · checked 2026-08-10

Health cover in Singapore without an employer

MediShield Life covers only citizens and permanent residents, and the statutory floor belongs to employers. Self-employed foreigners have neither.

South Africa · checked 2026-08-16

South Africa's medical schemes are built for people who stay

A South African scheme cannot refuse you for your health. It prices time instead: a penalty set by your age, and three months that can exclude even PMBs.

Spain · checked 2026-08-16

The Spanish nomad visa policy that only works in Spain

Spain's nomad visa needs an insurer authorised in Spain — statutory, and travel cover fails. That policy is a closed-network one, thin outside Spain.

Thailand · checked 2026-08-10

Health insurance in Thailand: the line your budget missed

Thailand ranks 9th of fifty countries for international health cover at $9,854 a year — dearer than Switzerland, because the premium prices the hospitals.

United Arab Emirates · checked 2026-08-16

UAE health insurance with no employer: the sponsor is you

Since 1 January 2025 no UAE residence permit issues or renews without evidence of cover. With no employer, the duty falls to the sponsor — which is you.

United States of America · checked 2026-08-10

Worldwide excluding USA: what the exclusion means for nomads

Most nomad policies are sold worldwide excluding USA. The United States ranks 1st of 50 for cover cost, and a visitor joins no national scheme on arrival.

Philippines · checked 2026-08-10

PhilHealth for foreigners: what ₱17,000 a year actually buys

Foreigners can join PhilHealth for ₱15,000–17,000 a year. It pays a fixed case rate per condition, not a share of your bill, and carves out the Z Benefits.

Brazil · checked 2026-08-16

Brazil's two health systems: SUS and the private layer

SUS covers everyone in Brazil by constitution, but routine care needs a Cartão SUS. Private plans run on ANS rules: 24-hour, 180-day and 300-day waits.

Cyprus · checked 2026-08-16

Cyprus GESY: who gets in, and what the permit asks

The permit rule is an or, not an and: Plan A, or GESY registration plus repatriation cover. Co-payments cap at €150 a year, not the €300 guides repeat.

Japan · checked 2026-08-16

Japan health insurance: 14 days to enrol, 2 years backdated

Japan gives residents staying over three months 14 days to enrol in NHI. Miss the window and the ward bills premiums backwards, for up to two full years.

Mexico · checked 2026-08-09

Health insurance in Mexico: the IMSS table nobody publishes

IMSS voluntary cover in Mexico runs $8,900 to $21,300 pesos a year by age band, and excludes cancer, advanced diabetes and chronic kidney disease outright.

Netherlands · checked 2026-08-16

The Dutch four months: a repair window, not a grace period

The Dutch insurance duty starts the day you become liable, not four months later. The four months only backdate the cover — and only if you use them.

Individuals Families · Global Citizens · Corporate Expats · checked 2026-08-09

A second opinion on the insurance cover you already hold

A second opinion reads the policies you already hold, clause by clause, against your current life — and often the written answer is keep everything.

Singapore · checked 2026-08-09

Singapore's coverage cliff: what your work pass carries

MediShield Life covers citizens and PRs only. Employment Pass holders have no statutory cover, and S Pass holders get an inpatient floor of S$60,000.

Individuals Families · Global Citizens · Corporate Expats · Digital Nomads · checked 2026-08-09

Who reads your policies? One adviser across every border

A globally mobile household holds policies no one has read side by side. What an independent adviser reads across borders, and why the review is free.

Portugal · checked 2026-08-16

Retiring to the Algarve: what the D7 actually asks at 62

Portugal's D7 stage asks only for health insurance or proof of SNS cover — AIMA sets no minimum sum. At 62 the cost is when you buy, not the rule.

United States of America · checked 2026-08-01

The American returning home: re-entering US insurance

Moving back to the US opens a 60-day Special Enrollment Period on the ACA marketplace. Miss that window and the market stays shut until open enrollment.

United States of America · checked 2026-08-01

Reading your schedule: the five-minute area-of-cover check

One line on your policy schedule decides whether you are insured in America. Most people have never read it. Here is how, and what each wording means.

Australia · checked 2026-08-16

Reciprocal Medicare in Australia: cover follows the passport

Australia's reciprocal Medicare follows the passport, not the visa. Eleven countries qualify, and Italian and Maltese cover ends six months after arrival.

Indonesia · checked 2026-08-01

The Bali evacuation bill nobody prices

An air-ambulance evacuation from Bali to Singapore runs USD 25,000–80,000. BPJS does not fund it. What an Indonesian policy's evacuation clause must say.

Canada · checked 2026-08-01

Canada's three-month health wait: what each province does

Canada has no national three-month healthcare wait. The Canada Health Act sets three months as a ceiling — Ontario waits nobody, BC and Quebec still do.

France · checked 2026-08-16

Carte vitale: the cardless months nobody budgets for

France's PUMA residence test for non-workers is three months to apply and six a year to keep — and being eligible is a long way from being enrolled.

Costa Rica · checked 2026-08-16

Joining the CAJA: the Costa Rica number you cannot borrow

Costa Rica's CAJA is priced as a share of the income you declare — 2.89% to 10.69% on the January 2025 scale — and pre-existing conditions wait six months.

Individuals Families · Global Citizens · Corporate Expats · Digital Nomads · checked 2026-08-16

Deductible, franchise, excess: one concept, five names

Deductible, excess, franchise and retention name one mechanism: the first slice you pay. The national versions, and the cap that decides your worst year.

Germany · checked 2026-08-10

Coming to Germany at 45: the age nobody warns you about

At 45, three clocks run at once in Germany: PKV premiums priced on your entry age, the return to GKV that §6(3a) closes at 55, and the €77,400 threshold.

Germany · checked 2026-08-10

GKV or PKV: Germany gives you one chance to decide

Germany's private-insurance decision is practically one-way. §6(3a) SGB V keeps you outside statutory cover past 55 without five recent statutory years.

Germany · checked 2026-08-10

The €77,400 question: who may even choose PKV

Germany's PKV door only opens above the Jahresarbeitsentgeltgrenze — €77,400 in 2026, verified against the federal figures. Below it, there is no choice.

Germany · checked 2026-08-10

GKV with a family vs PKV alone: the arithmetic that flips

In Germany, GKV covers non-earning dependants at no extra contribution. PKV charges a separate age-rated premium per head — that flips the comparison.

United Arab Emirates · Qatar · Saudi Arabia · checked 2026-08-16

Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Riyadh: four rules, one assumption

A correction: Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi reach the family, Dubai does not, and Qatar's real distinction is sequencing rather than family scope.

Diplomats International Organisations · Corporate Expats · checked 2026-08-01

International organisation health schemes: the five edges

An IO or mission scheme is usually good cover that fails at its edges: third-country treatment, family definitions, between-posting gaps, evacuation, exit.

France · checked 2026-08-16

The mutuelle, explained in one page

A mutuelle covers the share of French medical bills PUMA leaves with you — consultations, prescriptions, dental. What to buy, and when to start it.

Digital Nomads · Global Citizens · checked 2026-08-01

The declared-residence question every nomad gets wrong

Your insurer anchors the policy to one declared country of residence. That single line drives your premium, your network and whether a claim is admissible.

Corporate Expats · Diplomats International Organisations · checked 2026-08-01

The offer-stage insurance check: one week before you sign

A posting's insurance terms are negotiable for one week — the one before your signature. Four checks: the ceiling, the family, the treaty, localisation.

Portugal · checked 2026-08-16

Portugal asks for insurance twice: the consulate and AIMA

Neither Portuguese stage names a sum. The consulate asks for travel insurance, AIMA for health insurance or SNS cover — the €30,000 is Schengen short-stay.

Portugal · Spain · checked 2026-08-16

Portugal vs Spain visa insurance: a sum versus a shape

Portugal's AIMA asks for health insurance or SNS cover, no minimum sum. Spain's law asks for less — the strict specification comes from your consulate.

Portugal · checked 2026-08-16

Portugal's arrival year: from consulate to número de utente

Portugal's arrival chain — consulate, AIMA appointment, permit, SNS number — can run close to a year, and your insurance must be right at each stage.

Individuals Families · Global Citizens · Corporate Expats · Digital Nomads · checked 2026-08-01

How to read a policy schedule in fifteen minutes

A policy schedule is your personalised contract, not the brochure. The nine lines that decide a claim — geography, renewal, ceiling, cost-sharing.

South Africa · checked 2026-08-16

The late-joiner clock: the formula South Africa runs on you

Penalty years equal your age at application, minus 35, minus your South African years. Foreign cover earns none, and the bands are ceilings not rules.

Spain · checked 2026-08-16

Spain's NLV at 65: insurability before paperwork

Spain's non-lucrative visa repeats its insurance test at every renewal — and Spanish insurers set entry-age ceilings, between 65 and 75. Get quotes first.

Spain · checked 2026-08-16

Sin copagos: the two words that reject excellent policies

Sin copagos is not in Spanish law — the regulation it came from was repealed in May 2025. It is a consular requirement, and consulates genuinely differ.

Switzerland · checked 2026-08-16

The franchise decision, explained for your arrival year

Swiss basic insurance leaves one pricing lever: the franchise, on fixed rungs from 300 to 2,500 francs. The arithmetic, and why arrival year is hardest.

Switzerland · checked 2026-08-16

Your first ninety days in Switzerland, dated

Switzerland gives you three months to take out KVG basic insurance, backdated to the day you register your residence — but only if you are on time. Dated.

Thailand · checked 2026-08-01

Thailand's O-A visa: the insurance floor is USD 100,000

Thailand's O-A visa requires at least USD 100,000 of cover including Covid-19, for the whole stay. The 40,000/400,000-baht figures are the old rule.

Switzerland · checked 2026-08-16

What deregistering from Switzerland actually ends

Swiss basic insurance attaches to residence, so an Abmeldung ends it. Coming back is treated as an arrival: the three-month enrolment deadline runs again.

Individuals Families · Global Citizens · Corporate Expats · Digital Nomads · checked 2026-08-01

When not to buy international health insurance

Five situations where the honest answer is don't: a compulsory local scheme already has you, a treaty covers you, or the local rule rejects the policy.

Individuals Families · Global Citizens · Corporate Expats · Digital Nomads · checked 2026-08-01

What "worldwide cover" actually means

Worldwide cover is a defined term with edges: the area-of-cover line, home-country limits, per-trip day caps and sub-limits. Where worldwide stops.

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