Schengen travel insurance for Indians: the €30,000 rule

The legal minimum: Article 15 of the Visa Code

Travel medical insurance is not on the EU’s harmonised document list for India. It does not need to be: the Schengen Visa Code requires it from every short-stay applicant, whichever country you apply to. Article 15 sets four conditions, and a policy that misses any one of them does not meet the rule.

Countries that accept only approved insurers

Many countries go further for applicants in India and accept policies only from insurers on their own approved list. Germany’s checklist (June 2025) asks for “Overseas travel medical insurance that is valid for all Schengen countries and covers the entire duration of the Schengen trip as per your application, minimum coverage for medical expenses: EUR 30,000” and adds that “German Missions accept Indian Travel Medical Insurances only from approved Indian Travel Insurance companies”. Switzerland asks for a “Minimum coverage of 30,000 Euro per person” and keeps an approved list. Austria has accepted insurance only from its list of approved Indian insurers since 1 January 2026. Malta says insurance “may only be purchased from one of 16 Schengen recognized Insurance Companies in India”.

The desk does not recommend insurers. Download the current list from the mission or its application centre provider on the day you buy, and check that the insurer named on your certificate appears on it. If your country is not in the table, read its national checklist: an approved-list rule is easy to miss.

Matching the policy dates to your flight reservation

The flight reservation is the anchor. Start the policy on the day your outbound flight leaves India, so you are covered on arrival even after an overnight flight. End it no earlier than the day your return flight leaves the Schengen area; if that flight lands in India the next day, ending the policy on the landing date removes any doubt.

Here is how the dates line up for a ten-day trip, Delhi to Paris and home from Rome, with an overnight return flight.

• If you move the flights, move the insurance too, before you submit.
• If your outbound flight leaves just after midnight, the departure date printed on the reservation is the date the policy should start.
• Insure every traveller. Each person needs cover that meets the minimum, on their own certificate or on a family policy that names them.

Multiple-entry visas: the first trip, then every trip

If you apply for a multiple-entry visa, the Visa Code asks you to prove insurance for your first intended visit, and the application form includes a declaration that you know you will need insurance for later stays as well. The general rule does not require cover for the whole validity of the visa at the time you apply, but follow your national checklist if it says otherwise.

This matters more since the EU’s cascade for India. Indian residents who have obtained and lawfully used two Schengen visas within the previous three years can be issued a two-year visa, normally followed by a five-year one. Every trip on such a visa needs its own valid cover: all Schengen states, at least €30,000, for the dates of that trip. If your visa was issued by a country with an approved list, it is sensible to keep using an insurer from that list.

If you choose an annual multi-trip policy for repeat travel, check that each trip meets the same four conditions, including the longest single trip the policy allows.

Check the certificate before you submit

• The medical sum insured is at least €30,000. If the certificate states it in another currency, make sure the amount is clearly above the minimum.
• The territory covers all Schengen states, not a single country.
• The start and end dates cover your flight dates with no gap.
• Medical repatriation, urgent medical attention, emergency hospital treatment and death are all covered.
• Your name is spelled exactly as in your passport.
• If your country keeps an approved list, the insurer is on it.
• For Italy’s Mumbai consulate, the policy runs for at least 10 days from the travel date.
• A printed copy of the certificate, with the policy number visible, is in the file.

Common mistakes

Missing or inadequate travel medical insurance is one of the grounds printed on the standard Schengen refusal form. It is also one of the easiest to avoid, because every condition can be checked on the certificate before you submit.

• Cover that starts the day after the outbound flight, leaving the arrival day uninsured.
• A policy that ends on the last hotel night instead of the return flight date.
• Buying insurance before the itinerary is final, then changing the flights and forgetting the policy.
• Insuring only the countries on the route.
• Using an insurer that is not on the approved list of the country you apply to.
• Assuming insurance is optional because the EU list for India does not mention it. The Visa Code requires it from everyone.

Questions people ask