Schengen Visa Insurance for Digital Nomads
Working from a laptop in Lisbon one month and Ljubljana the next sounds great until you hit the visa desk and someone asks for proof of medical insurance valid across every Schengen state, not just the one you landed in first. Digital nomads have a specific problem that most travel insurance pages don't address well: they need a policy that holds up for weeks or months, across borders, and still satisfies a strict legal checklist.
That checklist doesn't change based on your job title or how long you plan to stay. It's the same for a two-week tourist and a six-month remote worker.
What the certificate has to show, no exceptions
Article 15 of the Schengen Borders framework sets four conditions, and consulates check for all four before anything else matters:
- Minimum medical coverage of €30,000
- Validity across all Schengen states, not just your first stop
- Dates that cover your full intended stay, start to finish
- Medical evacuation and repatriation of remains, named explicitly in the policy wording
Miss any one of these and the certificate gets rejected, regardless of how good the actual coverage is. If you want the full breakdown, our Article 15 requirements guide goes through each point with more detail.
Why long, flexible stays change the calculation
A nomad on a 90-day Schengen stint (the practical ceiling under the standard tourist rules) pays differently than someone popping over for a week. Per-day rates drop the longer you stay, which works in your favor, but the total premium still adds up over three months. Our comparison shows a 90-day policy for an 18-39 year old starting from around €145, rising to roughly €159 for the 40-59 bracket, based on typical rates across the providers we track. Those are starting points, not fixed quotes, and the exact number depends on your age, cover level, and which insurer you pick. Run your own dates through the price estimator for something closer to a real figure.
If you're stretching a stay toward the 90-day mark or renewing coverage for a follow-on trip, it's worth reading our long-stay insurance guide before you commit to one provider for the whole period.
Providers nomads actually gravitate toward
AXA Schengen is the name most consulates recognize on sight, and it refunds the full premium against an official refusal letter on an unused policy, which matters if your visa timeline is tight. It's also the most expensive of the five for a short trip, from €4.90/day on its base €30,000 tier, though that per-day cost drops to roughly €1.05/day once you're booking a 105-180 day stretch, which is closer to how a nomad actually travels.
Europ Assistance sits in the middle, around €3.00/day with €60,000 of default cover, double the legal minimum, which is a reasonable buffer if you're moving between countries with very different healthcare costs.
SafetyWing built its reputation specifically on the remote-work crowd. It's priced as a rolling subscription rather than a daily rate, around $62.72 per 4-week block, with $250,000 of cover. Two things to know before you rely on it: there's no rate for travelers 70 and over, and it isn't sold to anyone under 18. Read the full SafetyWing review for the details on how the subscription renews.
Heymondo and EKTA round out the field. Heymondo's pricing climbs faster with age, at a 1.7x multiplier for 60+ and 2.3x for 70+, but it comes with direct hospital billing and a 24/7 doctor chat, useful if you're somewhere without a reliable local clinic. EKTA's real tiers run from Start at $0.99-$1.37/day (25% deductible, $50,000 cover) up through Max+ at $5.90-$8.08/day for $500,000 with no deductible, though it doesn't offer an app or direct billing.
The visa fee is a separate line item
Don't fold this into your insurance budget by mistake. The Schengen visa application fee is €90 for adults, €45 for children aged 6-11, and free under 6. It's set by the EU, identical no matter your nationality or which consulate you apply through, and paid separately to the consulate on top of whatever your insurance premium comes out to.
One thing to stop worrying about
There's no official "approved insurer list" for Schengen visas. Any policy that ticks the four Article 15 boxes is accepted, whichever company issued it. What's not accepted, generally, is a domestic health plan or a scheme like PhilHealth, since those aren't written against the specific criteria consulates check for and don't cover treatment inside the Schengen area at all.
For a side-by-side on all five providers, including refusal refund terms which vary a lot by insurer and aren't a universal industry standard, see our visa refusal refunds comparison or head to the full provider comparison.
This information is general comparison guidance, not insurance advice. Coverage details and prices are set by the insurers and may change — verify the policy wording on the insurer's official website before purchasing.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, as long as the policy explicitly states validity across all Schengen states and the dates cover your entire stay. That's one of the four Article 15 conditions every accepted certificate has to meet.
It's popular with remote workers because it's priced as a rolling subscription rather than a fixed trip, with $250,000 of cover. Just note it isn't sold to travelers under 18 or those 70 and over, so check eligibility before relying on it.
The legal minimum is €30,000, but some providers default to more, like Europ Assistance at €60,000. For longer, more unpredictable stays, higher cover can be worth the extra cost, though it's not a visa requirement beyond the minimum.
Generally yes. AXA's rate, for example, drops from about €4.90/day on a short trip to around €1.05/day on a 105-180 day policy. The total premium still rises with trip length, just not proportionally.