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 2026-08-10

Sponsoring staff into Australia: the visa health condition

In Australia the health insurance duty for sponsored staff sits on the temporary visa, not in employment law — and a reciprocal agreement does not discharge it.

Brazil · checked 2026-08-10

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 new arrivals immediately, British Columbia takes the arrival month plus two, Quebec counts from registration.

Costa Rica · checked 2026-08-10

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 2026-08-10

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 otherwise 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 collective 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 instead.

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 pay for the evacuation a serious archipelago case needs.

Japan · checked 2026-08-10

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 entirely.

Netherlands · checked 2026-08-10

Hiring into the Netherlands: the four-month insurance window

A Dutch hire is Zvw-insured from their first working day and has four months to choose a policy. Miss it and every cost in the gap is self-paid, not backdated.

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 combined.

Portugal · checked 2026-08-10

Moving staff to Portugal: two stages, two insurance asks

Portugal asks for insurance twice. The €30,000 twelve-month spec is the consulate standard; AIMA's residency list asks only for insurance or SNS cover.

Qatar · checked 2026-08-10

Qatar for employers: the Gulf's strictest insurance duty

Qatari employers must fully fund health cover for non-Qatari staff, and the duty reaches a spouse and up to three children — unlike the UAE or Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia · checked 2026-08-10

Saudi Arabia for employers: CCHI cover before the visa

Since 2025, CCHI-registered cover must exist before a Saudi work visa is issued. The employer's duty runs to the employee — dependants fall to the sponsor.

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, and MediShield Life reaches none of them.

South Africa · checked 2026-08-10

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

South African medical 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 real public health entitlement. The private layer companies add buys speed and language, not better care.

Switzerland · checked 2026-08-10

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 cover cost.

United Arab Emirates · checked 2026-08-10

Group health insurance in the UAE: where the duty stops

Since 1 January 2025 UAE employers nationwide must insure employees as a permit prerequisite. Dubai's guidance says they are not compelled to cover dependants.

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 now live.

Malaysia · checked 2026-08-10

MM2H health insurance: what the guidelines actually require

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

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

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

Cover runs about 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 measured 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 at all.

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

Dubai to Switzerland: cheaper cover, nothing that transfers

The UAE mandate is employer-linked and ends with the permit. Switzerland compels each individual to hold KVG basic cover within three months of arrival.

Australia · checked 2026-08-10

Health insurance for digital nomads in Australia

Australia's reciprocal Medicare covers eleven passports, for public-patient treatment only. It discharges no visa insurance condition, and nobody checks it.

Brazil · checked 2026-08-10

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 2026-08-10

Costa Rica's nomad route: the CAJA follows residency status

Costa Rica's compulsory CAJA insurance attaches to residency status, not to presence or income source. A remote-worker footing leaves no public floor.

Cyprus · checked 2026-08-10

The Cyprus nomad visa hands you a policy, not GESY

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

France · checked 2026-08-10

Nomad health insurance in France: the affiliation nobody has

French cover runs on affiliation — French work, or six months' residence in twelve. A nomad's calendar opens neither, so the private layer is the structure.

Germany · checked 2026-08-10

Freelancing in Germany: the health-insurance choice you own

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

Indonesia · checked 2026-08-10

Nomad health insurance in Indonesia: no floor, a ceiling

Working remotely 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 2026-08-10

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 whole net.

Malaysia · checked 2026-08-10

Malaysia as a nomad base: what health cover actually buys

Malaysia ranks 33rd of 50 for comparable 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 2026-08-10

Dutch health insurance and the remote worker in the middle

The Dutch Zvw duty attaches to work or residence, not to 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 in the stack funds the transfer.

Portugal · checked 2026-08-10

Portugal's D8 visa: the policy that passes AIMA

AIMA's Art. 77 list 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 2026-08-10

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 2026-08-10

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 Singapore citizens and permanent residents, and the statutory floor belongs to employers. Self-employed foreigners have neither.

South Africa · checked 2026-08-10

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

A South African open medical scheme cannot refuse you for your health. It manages risk through time instead — waiting periods, and a penalty set by your age.

Spain · checked 2026-08-10

The Spanish nomad visa policy that only works in Spain

Spain's nomad visa needs an insurer authorised in Spain with no copayment or excess. That policy is a closed-network domestic product, 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 about $9,854 a year — dearer than Switzerland, because the premium prices the hospitals.

United Arab Emirates · checked 2026-08-10

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 2026-08-09

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 2026-08-09

Cyprus GESY: who gets in, and what Plan A requires

GESY co-payments cap at €150 a year per person, not the €300 the guides repeat — and a non-EU arrival on a temporary permit is usually outside GESY entirely.

Japan · checked 2026-08-09

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 2026-08-09

The Dutch four-month clock: who must insure, who may not

Start work in the Netherlands and you have four months to take out basisverzekering, backdated to day one. Miss it and you pay every medical bill in the gap.

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 reasonably 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 at all, and S Pass holders get an inpatient floor of S$60,000.

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

Who reads your policies? One adviser across every border

An internationally 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 2026-08-01

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

Portugal's D7 residency 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 autumn 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 at all. Most people have never read it. Here is how, and what each wording means.

Australia · checked 2026-08-01

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, and 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 now waits nobody, BC and Quebec still do.

France · checked 2026-08-01

Carte vitale: the cardless months nobody budgets for

France's PUMA residence test for non-workers is six months, not the three most guides quote — and being eligible is not being enrolled. Verified against Ameli.

Costa Rica · checked 2026-08-01

Joining the CAJA: the Costa Rica number you cannot borrow

Costa Rica's CAJA is priced as a percentage of the income you declare — 2.89% to 10.69% on the 2025 scale — and residency renewal depends on staying current.

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

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, an employee has 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 — which is what flips the comparison.

United Arab Emirates · Qatar · Saudi Arabia · checked 2026-08-01

Dubai, Doha, Riyadh: three rules that punish one assumption

In Dubai the employer need not insure your family. In Qatar the law puts a spouse and up to three children on the employer. In Saudi Arabia it is contract.

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 2026-08-01

The mutuelle, explained in one page

A mutuelle covers the share of French medical bills PUMA leaves with you — consultations, prescriptions, dental and optical. 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 exactly one week — the one before your signature. Four checks: the ceiling, the family, the treaty, localisation.

Portugal · checked 2026-08-01

Portugal asks for insurance twice: the consulate and AIMA

AIMA's Art. 77 list asks for health insurance or proof of SNS coverage — no minimum sum. The €30,000 figure belongs to the consulate stage, months earlier.

Portugal · Spain · checked 2026-08-01

Portugal vs Spain visa insurance: a sum versus a shape

Portugal's AIMA asks for health insurance or SNS cover with no minimum sum. Spain specifies a shape instead: an authorised insurer, equivalent cover, no copays.

Portugal · checked 2026-08-01

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.

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 — in order.

South Africa · checked 2026-08-01

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

Penalty years equal your age at application, minus 35, minus creditable South African years. Foreign cover counts for none of it, and the bands are ceilings.

Spain · checked 2026-08-01

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, many between 65 and 75. Get quotes first.

Spain · checked 2026-08-01

Sin copagos: the two words that reject excellent policies

Spain's visa test is a shape, not a sum: cover from an insurer authorised in Spain, equivalent to the public system, and with no copayments or excess.

Switzerland · checked 2026-08-01

The franchise decision, explained for your arrival year

Swiss basic insurance leaves one pricing lever: the franchise, 300 to 2,500 francs a year. The arithmetic that decides it, and why arrival year is hardest.

Switzerland · checked 2026-08-01

Your first ninety days in Switzerland, dated

Switzerland gives you three months to take out KVG basic insurance, and backdates cover to your arrival day only if you are on time. The ninety days, 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 treatment, for the whole stay. The 40,000/400,000-baht figures are the old rule.

Switzerland · checked 2026-08-01

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.

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 already covers you, or the local rule rejects the policy.

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 actually stops.

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