Home / Guides / Insurance from the Philippines

Buying Schengen visa insurance from the Philippines

Last updated: October 2, 2026 · By the SchengenCompare editorial team

Compared to some other markets, buying from the Philippines is fairly painless. The card issue that trips up applicants elsewhere mostly isn't a problem here. What matters is getting the certificate itself right.

Where the application goes

VFS Global operates Schengen visa application centers in Manila and Cebu on behalf of most member states, with Italy, Spain, Germany and France among the most common destinations for Filipino applicants (Italy and Spain especially, given the long-standing community ties). Bring a printed certificate to your appointment; a phone screenshot is routinely rejected at the counter regardless of what it says.

Payment: the easy part here

Unlike several other markets, Philippine-issued debit and credit cards generally go through without issue on European insurers' checkout pages. If a payment does fail, it's more often a one-off bank security flag than a systemic block. Try again after confirming with your bank, or switch providers if it persists. This isn't the obstacle it is for applicants from some other countries, so don't over-plan around it.

Which consulate you apply to, and why it matters here

This trips up more Filipino applicants than the insurance does, and getting it wrong wastes an appointment. You apply to the country that is your main destination: where you'll spend the most nights. If nights are split evenly, you apply to the country you enter first. Filipino itineraries often chain several countries together, so run the count before booking the appointment.

Why it matters for insurance: it doesn't change what the policy must cover, but it does change who checks it. Consulates differ in how strictly they read a certificate, and a multi-country itinerary makes the "valid in all Schengen states" line non-negotiable. A certificate naming only Italy is a problem the moment your itinerary includes a night in France, or even a long layover.

What it costs

Pricing is in EUR or USD and converts at your card issuer's rate, so expect day-to-day movement. The euro figures below come from our comparison data for a compliant €30,000 plan: the range runs from the cheapest to the priciest of AXA, Europ Assistance and Heymondo for each age and trip length.

Traveler	14-day trip	30-day trip
Adult 18–39	~€36–€40	~€63–€77
Adult 40–59	~€40–€44	~€63–€84
Senior 60–69	~€44–€62	~€69–€120
Senior 70+	~€50–€80	~€78–€153

Source: our RATES model for AXA, Europ Assistance and Heymondo, with AXA recalibrated against 8 live quotes on 2026-09-21 · Recalculated September 23, 2026

In peso terms, a two-week plan for a healthy adult comes to about ₱2,600–₱2,900 (€36–€40 at the ECB reference rate of ₱71.60 per euro on September 22, 2026), but convert the euro figure at the rate your card issuer actually applies, and add the foreign transaction fee, rather than treating the peso number as fixed. The price estimator gives you the euro amount for your exact dates.

One pattern worth knowing if you're buying for a parent: the cheapest brand flips at 60. Below 60, Heymondo is usually lowest; from 60 up its age loading rises faster than AXA's, so AXA often becomes cheaper for older travelers despite starting from a higher base rate. The seniors guide goes into which providers hold their rates flattest past 65.

One thing worth double-checking

If your main destination — the country deciding which consulate you apply to — is Germany or France specifically, a certificate showing €50,000 or more in cover rather than the bare €30,000 minimum tends to go through without follow-up questions, based on patterns applicants report consistently enough to take seriously. It costs a euro or two more per day and can save you a second trip to the visa center if your file gets held up.

If you're an OFW or applying alongside family

For a short tourist or family-visit trip under 90 days, the standard €30,000-minimum policy applies regardless of your work status abroad. If the trip is actually a move for long-term work, study, or family reunification in a Schengen country, that's a national D visa territory, with insurance requirements set by the destination country rather than the standard short-stay rule. It's worth confirming directly with that country's consulate before buying anything.

Two situations come up often enough to flag. If you are an OFW based outside the Philippines (in the Gulf, Hong Kong, Singapore), you generally apply from your country of residence, not from Manila, and the visa center there is the one whose checklist applies. Our Dubai and UAE guide covers that route if you're based in the Emirates.

If you are traveling with family, each traveler needs their own certificate naming them individually. A single family policy is fine as the underlying product, but the consulate wants to see each applicant's name and cover amount in writing. Children are usually cheaper to add than a straight per-head multiplication suggests: most providers price a child under 18 below the adult rate, and SafetyWing goes further, covering a child under 10 free as a dependent on an insured parent's plan (up to two per family) — though a 10-17 year old buying their own SafetyWing policy pays the full adult rate. Don't assume every provider's discount works the same way; check the exact age band on the price estimator.

Check these four things before you print

Every refusal reason connected to insurance traces back to one of these missing from the certificate itself, not from the policy booklet, and not from the confirmation email:

• €30,000 minimum medical cover, written as a number. "Comprehensive" is not a number.
• Valid in all Schengen states. The single most important line for a multi-country itinerary.
• Your exact travel dates, with a few days of margin on each side.
• Repatriation, clearly shown, covering both medical repatriation and repatriation of remains.

Our requirements guide explains the reasoning behind each one.

Is there an "accredited" list of Schengen insurers for the Philippines?

Not a single, Philippines-wide one, and this is worth being precise about, since the phrase circulates a lot in Filipino travel forums. There's no accreditation list from the DFA or OWWA the way some OWWA/OFW-related insurance schemes work. What does exist: individual member states' own visa application centers sometimes publish a "recommended" insurer list for Philippine applicants. VFS Global, for instance, lists a handful of names (including AXA) on Austria's Philippines-facing page. Being on one of these lists isn't a legal requirement anywhere, and it varies by which Schengen country you're applying through, so don't treat it as a universal registry. What actually gets checked at the counter is the certificate itself: does it state €30,000+ cover, validity across all Schengen states, your exact dates, and repatriation. A policy from any insurer (listed, unlisted, international or Philippine-based) that states those four items in writing is accepted. Treat "is this insurer accredited" as the less useful question; "does this certificate say the right four things" is the one that matters.

Where AURAS fits for Filipino applicants

AURAS lists a local phone number for the Philippines as well as WhatsApp support. AURAS bills in US dollars and accepts Visa, Mastercard, Amex, JCB and UnionPay cards as well as PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay (checked 2026-10-02), so if one payment route is declined there are others to try; your bank still has to allow the payment. If you are an OFW already abroad, AURAS has an 'Already traveling' option, but cover only starts 48 hours after payment, so do not buy it that way for an appointment that needs cover starting sooner. AURAS is underwritten by the same Comoros company as EKTA, which is not EU-regulated, it caps any single claim at $3,000, and its independent Trustpilot score is 3.2 out of 5 (169 reviews). Our AURAS review has the full detail.

Questions Filipino applicants ask most

Can I buy insurance from a Philippine insurer instead? Yes, and a local policy that states the four items is acceptable. The catch is wording: domestic travel products are often written for general travel rather than the Schengen check, and a certificate that never says "Schengen" or "repatriation" gets flagged. Read it against the list above before paying.

Can I buy it at the VFS center in Manila? Some centers offer insurance as a paid add-on. It works, but it costs more than buying online and means showing up without a required document in hand. Buy first. The VFS Global guide covers what the counter actually does.

What if my visa is refused? Do I get the premium back? Depends on the provider, and it's one of the few things genuinely worth choosing on. Some refund in full against the refusal letter; others refund nothing. See which providers refund on refusal.

Do I need insurance if I already have HMO or PhilHealth cover? Yes. Neither meets the requirement: PhilHealth doesn't cover treatment in Europe, and HMO coverage is domestic. The consulate wants a certificate written specifically against the Schengen criteria.

My trip is 95 days. Then it isn't a short-stay visa and these rules don't apply. Anything over 90 days in a 180-day window is national long-stay visa territory; start with the long-stay guide.

Is Schengen visa insurance easy to buy from the Philippines? Yes. Philippine-issued cards generally work without issue on most insurers' checkout pages, unlike some other markets. The main thing to get right is the certificate wording, not the payment.

How much does Schengen visa insurance cost from the Philippines? A compliant €30,000 plan runs about €36–€40 for a 14-day trip for an adult aged 18–39, and about €63–€77 for 30 days. Older travelers pay more: roughly €44–€62 for 14 days at 60–69. Insurers charge in EUR or USD and convert at your card issuer's rate, so the peso amount moves with the exchange rate.

Do OFWs need a different type of Schengen insurance? For a short tourist or family visit under 90 days, no: the same €30,000 minimum applies. If you're moving to Europe for work or study long-term, that falls under a national D visa with different, country-specific insurance rules. If you're an OFW based outside the Philippines, you generally apply from your country of residence rather than from Manila.

Which consulate do I apply to if I'm visiting several Schengen countries? You apply to your main destination: the country where you will spend the most nights. If the nights are split evenly, you apply to the country you enter first. For a multi-country itinerary the certificate must state that it is valid in all Schengen states, not just one country.

Is PhilHealth or my HMO enough for a Schengen visa? No. PhilHealth does not cover treatment in Europe and HMO coverage is domestic. The consulate needs a certificate written specifically against the Schengen criteria: €30,000 minimum cover, valid in all Schengen states, your exact dates, and repatriation.

Does each family member need their own insurance certificate? Yes. A single family policy is fine as the underlying product, but the consulate wants each applicant's name and cover amount stated in writing. Children are priced below the adult rate at every provider, so adding them costs less than you might expect.

Is there an official list of accredited Schengen travel insurance companies for Filipino applicants? There's no single Philippines-wide accreditation list from the DFA or OWWA. Some individual member states' visa centers publish their own "recommended" insurer list for Philippine applicants (VFS Global lists a handful of names, including AXA, for Austria's desk, for example), but being on such a list isn't a legal requirement anywhere. Any policy, recommended or not, that states €30,000+ cover, validity across all Schengen states, exact dates, and repatriation in writing is accepted.

Bottom line

Payment isn't the hurdle here. The certificate wording is, and the multi-country line matters more for Filipino itineraries than most. Pick a plan from the comparison table, open the sample PDF, and confirm it explicitly states €30,000+, Schengen-wide validity, your dates, and repatriation before you print it for VFS.