Free UK GHIC: state healthcare in Europe and 15 working days for delivery

The UK Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC) lets you get necessary state healthcare in the European Economic Area and a handful of other countries on the same basis as a resident of that country. It is free, you apply online, and it lasts up to five years.

What is a GHIC and who can get one?

The GHIC replaced the old European Health Insurance Card. You are entitled to one if you are ordinarily and legally resident in the UK and you do not have healthcare cover provided by an EEA country or Switzerland.

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You apply through the NHS website. You will need your full name, address, date of birth and National Insurance number; people in Northern Ireland also need their Health and Care number. The card is free — sites that charge a fee to apply are not run by the NHS.

If you still hold a valid EHIC you can keep using it until it expires. You can apply for a replacement up to nine months before your current card runs out.

Does every family member need their own card?

Yes. Every member of the family needs their own card, but you can add your spouse, civil partner and children to one application: enter your own details first, then apply for the additional cards when prompted. If you have already submitted and left someone out, contact NHS Overseas Healthcare Services with your reference number, name, date of birth and address.

What does the card cover, and what does it not?

It covers state healthcare that cannot reasonably wait until you come back to the UK — sometimes called medically necessary healthcare. That includes emergency treatment and A&E visits, treatment or routine care for long-term and pre-existing conditions, and routine maternity care, as long as you are not going abroad to give birth. Dialysis and chemotherapy must be pre-arranged with the local provider, because capacity is not guaranteed.

Whether treatment is medically necessary is decided by the healthcare provider in the country you are visiting, not by you and not by the NHS. And not all state healthcare abroad is free: if a local resident would be expected to pay for something, so will you — even where the NHS provides it free at home.

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The card does not cover medical repatriation to the UK, treatment in a private facility, or ski and mountain rescue. That is why both the NHS and the government say the same thing: a GHIC is not a replacement for travel and medical insurance. Carry both.

Where can you use a GHIC?

It works in the countries of the European Economic Area, and also in Montenegro, Australia, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, and St Helena, Tristan and Ascension. In Switzerland a GHIC is accepted if you are a British or Swiss national, an EU citizen, a refugee, a stateless person, or a family member of someone in those groups.

Montenegro has its own rule: emergency treatment is free, but you pay for prescribed medicines and other medical treatment. A UK national needs only a passport for emergency care there; a UK resident who is not a UK national needs a passport and a GHIC.

Outside that list you pay for treatment unless the UK has a healthcare agreement with the country. The government is negotiating to expand the list, so check coverage before every trip.

How long does the card take, and what if it does not arrive?

The NHS emails you within 24 hours to say whether the application has been approved — check your junk folder if nothing appears. Once approved, the card is posted to you and should arrive within 15 working days.

If the card has not arrived before you travel and you need medically necessary treatment, you can apply for a Provisional Replacement Certificate (PRC) for temporary cover. Make sure you present the card at a public health provider: it does not work in a private clinic.

Students have a separate route. For a UK Student GHIC or Student EHIC you need a letter from your university or college showing the name and address of the UK institution, the address where you are studying in the EEA, the qualification, the start and end dates of the study period and your permanent UK address.