Expat health insurance in Portugal — compared and arranged in English

For your visa & residence permit

Most visa and AIMA applications require proof of private health insurance. We arrange a compliant policy quickly, with documents in English ready for your application — no NIF or Portuguese bank account needed to get started.

Private cover for faster, easier care

Portugal's public health service (SNS) is good, but waiting times can be long. Private insurance gives you faster appointments, English-speaking doctors and access to private hospitals. We help you choose the right level of cover for your situation and budget.

We compare, you choose

We're an insurance broker registered with the ASF, not tied to a single insurer. We compare the leading providers, explain the differences in plain English — premiums, waiting periods, networks and exclusions — and recommend what actually fits you. Free and with no obligation.

How it works — four steps

Arranging cover through us is a short, predictable process. You do not need a NIF or a Portuguese bank account to start it, and nothing is committed until you have seen the options in writing.

1. Send us your details. Use the form above and tell us your situation — moving to Portugal soon, already living here, renewing or switching a policy, or insuring a family. A sentence is enough; we come back with questions if we need more.
2. We compare the market for your profile. We are an insurance broker registered with the ASF, so we are not tied to a single insurer. We put your profile to the insurers we work with — Allianz, Médis, APRIL and AdvanceCare among them — and establish which of them will underwrite it, and on what terms.
3. You receive a written comparison within 24 hours. The options arrive side by side, in plain English, with the practical differences set out: how each plan gives you access to care, what it covers and where it stops. Free, and with no obligation to proceed.
4. We handle the application and issue your documents in English. Once you have chosen, we complete the paperwork with the insurer, guide you through the medical questionnaire, and get you the policy and the certificate you need — in English, ready for a visa file or an AIMA appointment.

After that we remain your broker rather than disappearing at the signature: we manage claims on your behalf, answer questions in English, and review the policy at renewal as your needs and the market change.

What we need from you

To produce a quote we need a small amount of information for each person to be insured. This is the whole list — if an insurer needs anything beyond it, we will tell you before you commit to anything.

• Full name
• Date of birth
• Address
• Phone number
• Email address
• ID document number — citizen card, residence permit or passport

For a family policy we also need the household composition: who is to be insured, and each person's relationship to the main policyholder.

If you are still abroad and have neither a Portuguese address nor a NIF, say so in the message field. We can start the process anyway and issue the documents you need for an application before your relocation paperwork is finished.

The insurers we compare

We work with insurers across the Portuguese market. The four below are the names expats shortlist most often, and the table shows where each one is strong. There is no single best insurer — which of them suits you depends on where you will actually use the cover, and that is what the comparison establishes.

This table describes cover models and network reach only. Premiums, waiting periods, annual limits and exclusions vary by plan and by applicant, so we set them out for your profile in the written comparison instead of publishing them here.

One caveat specific to the Algarve. CUF acquired 75% of Grupo HPA Saúde in January 2026, and since June 2026 the Alvor, Lagos, Gambelas and Faro units have operated under the CUF brand. Those units were previously contracted by each insurer as a separate network, so an agreement that existed with HPA is not automatically the same agreement, at the same copayment, under CUF. We confirm the current network status and reimbursement level with the insurer for your postcode before quoting, rather than assuming the pre-merger position still holds.

All four are Portuguese domestic products, written for treatment in Portugal. Where medical care is genuinely split between countries, the relevant market is a separate one: international health insurance in Portugal, which we also quote and which is compared against a domestic policy in Portuguese vs international health insurance.

Cover for a visa or an AIMA appointment

When the insurance is for an application rather than for day-to-day care, the certificate matters as much as the policy behind it. It needs to identify the insured person, show the policy dates, make clear that cover applies in Portugal, and be legible to a consular officer or an AIMA desk without a long explanation. We issue documentation in English and check it against the file you are submitting before your appointment.

Timing is the part people underestimate. Applications get held up when the certificate arrives after the appointment, or when a low-cost travel policy is offered as substitute proof and is not accepted. Tell us your appointment date in the form above and we work backwards from it. Because you do not need a NIF or a Portuguese bank account for us to start, the documents can be ready before the rest of your relocation admin is.

What a file needs differs by route. Our guide to expat visa insurance in Portugal covers each one in turn — D7 visa health insurance, the D8 digital nomad visa, Golden Visa insurance, AIMA health insurance proof and Schengen visa insurance. If you are unsure which applies to you, just name the visa you are applying for and we will tell you what the documentation has to show.

Pre-existing conditions — in brief

Medical history is assessed at application, on a medical questionnaire that forms the basis of the contract. Outcomes vary genuinely between insurers: the same declared history can be accepted by one and loaded or excluded by another, which is why we put it to several of them rather than to one. Full disclosure matters — if relevant history was not declared, a later claim can be refused and the policy cancelled, so declaring it up front is what gets you a reliable answer.

For the detail — how underwriting works, what to expect for a specific condition and how to present one — read our guide to private health insurance with a pre-existing condition in Portugal.