Private Medical Insurance for full-time International Students

All non-EEA students are required to have private medical insurance when coming to and residing in Ireland for the purpose of study. The private medical insurance should provide cover for accident and/or disease and should cover the student for any period of hospitalisation. You can apply for private medical insurance here.

The policy provider and policies thereafter meet the insurance requirement for non-EEA students.

What does the student need to have when registering?

At registration with the immigration authorities a student is required to have proof of private medical insurance through:

• A Group Insurance Scheme operated by their college. The letter of enrollment from the college will be regarded as proof of private medical insurance cover where it indicates 
- that the student is part of the college group scheme;
- that the student has paid the fees associated with the group scheme; and
- where it provides a brief outline of the insurance coverage such as the
name of the insurance provider, level of coverage etc.
OR
• Where a student is not part of a Group Insurance Scheme operated by their college then they are required to have individual private medical insurance coverage bought in Ireland.
OR
•For newly arrived first year students in Ireland Travel insurance may suffice where;
- The insurance covers the student for one full year or where the student is staying in Ireland for less than one year for the entirety of their stay;
- The insurance coverage covers the student at a minimum of €25,000 for Accident and €25,000 for Disease;
- The insurance coverage covers the student for any period of hospitalisation.

Where a non-EEA student intends staying in Ireland for more than one year, and where they were covered by travel insurance for the first year, that student is required to source private medical insurance in Ireland for their second and any subsequent years.

Second and Subsequent Registration

All non-EEA students are required to provide evidence that they are in receipt of private medical insurance sourced in Ireland and that they maintained private medical insurance for the previous registration period at second and subsequent registration. This can be done by way of a letter of renewal for example. At second and subsequent registrations travel insurance will not be regarded as sufficient for the purpose of registration.

Note (1): A student who cancels their medical insurance following registration will be in breach of their immigration conditions.

Note (2): It is the responsibility of the Student to provide evidence of medical insurance in English. Where students do not provide evidence of medical insurance in English that student may not be registered by the Immigration Authorities.

Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service January, 2011