If you're moving to Spain for the first time, you must have an insurance in place on your arrival date, and in some cases before. If you are already in Spain and were previously insured elsewhere, your new policy should start the day after your previous policy expires to avoid any gap in coverage. Either way, signing up is fully digital and only takes a few minutes.
When does my expat health insurance need to start?
The right start date depends on your situation:
If you're moving to Spain for the first time and haven't arrived yet, your insurance must start on your arrival date. To get your insurance certificate, which you'll need for your visa or residence appointment, you'll need to sign up before that appointment, or before you arrive if you enter Spain without a visa. The authorities don't require your coverage to begin on the day of your appointment, but they do require an insurance certificate that shows you will be covered on your arrival date.
If you're renewing a visa or residence permit and were previously insured elsewhere, your new policy should start the day after your previous policy expires. This ensures you don't have any gap in health coverage.
If you're moving to Spain as a student, Spanish law requires you to be covered starting 1 month before your studies begin and for at least 15 days after your studies end.
Can I choose my own start date?
Yes. You can set your start date to any date in the future, the earliest being tomorrow (you cannot set a start date of today or in the past). Your insurance certificate is issued immediately after you sign up, so you schedule your policy as early as 12 months in advance if you'd like, or just a few days before your visa appointment. Although we would always recommend planning your move early.
Can I backdate my expat health insurance?
No, we cannot backdate expat health insurance. If you have already been living in Spain for some time without coverage, the earliest start date available to you is tomorrow. We strongly recommend choosing that date to minimize your coverage gap. Proof of continuous health insurance coverage is a common requirement for visa renewals and residence permit extensions in Spain, and a gap in coverage can cause complications with the Spanish authorities when you apply.
What does my insurance certificate show?
Your confirmation of coverage is issued immediately after you sign up.
Start date: it lists your chosen start date
End date: it lists the end date as 5 years from your arrival date in Spain (since our Expat policy can be used for up to 5 years), which satisfies visa authority requirements. This is a document formality, not a contract commitment.
Am I locked into a yearly or 5-year contract?
No. While the expiration date on your certificate cannot be changed, your policy renews on a monthly basis if you chose monthly payments, and on an annual basis if you chose an annual payment.
In any case, you are free to cancel at any time from within your account. The 5-year expiration date on your certificate is required for visa compliance purposes only ; it does not bind you to any fixed contract term.
If you have another insurance, if you leave Spain or if your visa was rejected, you can cancel your coverage at any time after the one-month minimum. In that case, you will stop being charged on the following month (if you chose monthly payments), or get a refund from the remaining prepaid months (if you chose an annual payment).
What should I do if my arrival date in Spain changes?
To update your start date before your policy starts, you'll need to sign up for a new policy with your correct arrival date first. Once that's done, go to your old policy in your Feather account and cancel it with the reason "I have another health insurance."
Since your old policy hasn't started yet, you'll automatically receive a full refund.
You can find more information about this in our dedicated FAQ.