Health Insurance for Foreigners in Poland: Frequently Asked Questions

Travel insurance with a minimum sum insured of EUR 30,000, valid across the entire Schengen area for the whole period of stay and covering urgent treatment, hospitalization, and repatriation. The requirement comes from Article 15 of EU Regulation 810/2009.

The requirements are similar (a minimum of EUR 30,000, a 24/7 assistance line, validity for the whole visa period of up to 1 year), but the legal basis is different: it is Poland's Act on Foreigners, not the EU Visa Code, because type D visas are not harmonized at Schengen level.

Usually not: a karta pobytu requires NFZ cover or private insurance with confirmation that treatment in Poland is covered. In our calculator that is a separate program (Kniazha): choose "I'm abroad" in the location field, then manually select the insurer Kniazha from the narrowed list.

Legal employment usually gives automatic access to NFZ through contributions, so a separate karta pobytu policy is usually not required in that case (Article 114 section 4a of the Act on Foreigners).

The policy must be valid on the day the decision is issued and for at least 3 months after that date.

Not automatically for everyone since 5 March 2026: free NFZ access under the specustawa remains only for children, pregnant women and women in the postpartum period, survivors of torture or rape, and residents of collective accommodation centers. Everyone else needs employment, private insurance, or to pay for treatment themselves.