We would like to circulate an important change regarding the procedure for national visa applications.

The following groups of applicants are affected by this update:

- ICT card and their dependents
- International personnel exchange and their dependents
- Job seekers
- Participants in language courses
- PhD students who finance their stay themselves or receive a scholarship
- applicants who receive a stipend or scholarship

In general, for each national application a German public or private health insurance or a foreign one that meets the conditions of the same must be presented at the time of application. The above-mentioned applicants will not be covered by the public health insurance upon their arrival in Germany. This is why the submission of a German private or sufficient foreign health insurance is mandatory.

Some companies have already found German private health insurances, which now submit offers for all new applicants. We generally recommend the same to all companies that regularly send employees to Germany on a temporary basis (ICT card).

The conditions of a comparable foreign health insurance must meet the following criteria:
• No limit to the reimbursement in case of sickness
• If the insured person becomes sick, no deductible higher than 300 € per year can be demanded
• Preexisting conditions must be included
• No clause for termination regarding the insured person reaching a certain age, change of residence permit or loss of residence permit
• The Insurance cover cannot have any time limit (or needs to be automatically renewed)
• Surpluses are formed to form old-age provisions, i.e. health insurance calculates the product in the manner of a life insurance policy.
Travel health insurance is not sufficient, even if it covers the entire period of stay. However, if the coverage span of the public or private health insurance starts a few days after entering Germany, a normal travel health insurance is sufficient for the intermediate period.

In order to facilitate the work of the visa section and to avoid additional pending cases, we would highly appreciate it if you could take these requirements into account when submitting your application.

Please bear in mind that this information does not pertain to Schengen visa applications.