European Health Insurance Card: how to get one in Cyprus and where it works
Checked: no change to the rule has been established since the check
In short
- Who it applies to
- Everyone covered by GESY — that is how the Ministry of Health puts it: all GESY beneficiaries get the card, spouse and children included. Nationality does not affect whether you get the card, but it does affect where the card works.
- What it costs
- The Cyprus Ministry of Health names no fee. Under EU rules the card is free — the European Commission says so. Treatment with the card costs what it costs local insured people: free in some places, with a co-payment in others.
- How long it takes
- The ministry gives no processing time and does not publish how long the card is valid — the expiry date is printed on the card itself. Apply well ahead, not a week before you travel.
- Where to apply
- At any ΚΕΠ or any ΚΕ.ΠΟ. run by Κυπριακά Ταχυδρομεία — on the Ministry of Health form. One form covers the whole family: spouse and children go in the second part.
- If your case differs
- Bring your ID card, yellow slip or residence permit, and proof that you are registered with a GESY personal doctor: the mutual acceptance form signed at the doctor’s, or the registration message from the Πύλη Δικαιούχων. Without a personal doctor there is no card.
Deadlines and conditions
| Condition | Legal basis |
|---|---|
| for an EU citizen the card works in all 27 EU countries and five more | Ministry of Health, page “European Health Insurance Card”: the card works during a temporary stay in the 27 EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The 2020 form still says 28 countries — from before the UK left. |
| with a non-EU passport the card works in 26 EU countries — all except Denmark — and in the UK | Regulation (EU) 1231/2010, Art. 1 and recital 19: coordination rules extend to third-country nationals legally resident in the EU, but Denmark is not bound. The EEA and EU–Switzerland agreements did not take it over — the European Commission (Your Europe) says plainly that non-EU nationals cannot use the card in Denmark, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland. The UK — EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, Art. 489 and the Social Security Protocol, Art. SSC.2: the condition is legal residence, not nationality. |
Your case
If you are a citizen of Cyprus or another EU country
Your Cypriot card works in all 27 EU countries and five more: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. You are treated in the host country’s public system on the same terms and at the same cost as local insured people — chronic illness, pregnancy and childbirth included.
If you are a third-country national — from Russia, say — and are covered by GESY
You get the card just as an EU citizen does, but it will not work everywhere: in 26 EU countries — all except Denmark — and in the United Kingdom. In Denmark, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland a third-country national’s card does not work unless you are a recognised refugee or a family member of an EU citizen. Going there — buy travel insurance.
If you live here on a visitor permit or are not yet in GESY
There is no card for you: only GESY beneficiaries get one, and a visitor permit does not bring you into GESY. The form asks for proof of registration with a personal doctor, which you cannot get without GESY. For trips around Europe — travel insurance. If you are entitled to GESY but have not registered yet, register and pick a personal doctor first, then go to the ΚΕΠ.
If you are on a short stay in Cyprus with another EU country’s card
At public health centres (ΟΚΥπΥ) a doctor and an emergency dentist cost a small fee per visit, a public hospital treats you free, and an ambulance is free if you show the card. Medicines come from public hospital pharmacies for a small fee that is not refunded. Private GESY doctors, hospitals and pharmacies will also see you, but you pay in full and claim it back from your own country. If you have moved to Cyprus to live, your home card no longer works here: you need to register with GESY.
What the card does not do
- does not replace travel insurance: it does not pay for private care, the flight home or lost or stolen belongings
- does not apply if you travel abroad specifically to get treatment — planned care needs prior authorisation from the ΟΑΥ or the Ministry of Health (form S2)
- does not promise free treatment: what is free in Cyprus may cost money in another country
- does not work in a country you have moved to — there you register with the local system
- does not work outside the EU, the EEA, Switzerland and the UK — Russia included
The Cyprus Ministry of Health does not warn you: with a non-EU passport the card does not work in five European countries
What follows from this:
- the Ministry of Health page lists the countries once for every cardholder — it does not single out third-country nationals
- the restriction sits in the EU regulation on third-country nationals, and the European Commission repeats it
- in Denmark, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, with a non-EU passport rely on travel insurance only
- in the United Kingdom a third-country national’s card does work: the EU–UK agreement requires legal residence, not nationality
- the spouse and children of an EU citizen use the card as the citizen does, even on a non-EU passport
How long the card takes and how long it lasts
The Ministry of Health publishes neither the processing time nor the validity period; the form only has a “valid until” field that the ministry fills in. Ask at the ΚΕΠ when you apply how and when you will get the card. If you need it urgently and it has not arrived, ask there whether Cyprus issues a provisional replacement certificate: EU rules provide for one, but the Cypriot procedure is not described anywhere.
Sources
- Regulation (EU) No 1231/2010 extending social security coordination to third-country nationalseur-lex.europa.euArticle 1: the rules cover third-country nationals legally resident in the EU; recital 19: Denmark is not bound.
- EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, Art. 489 and the Protocol on Social Security Coordinationeur-lex.europa.euThe protocol applies to people legally resident in the EU or the UK, with no nationality condition (Art. SSC.2); treatment during a temporary stay on an entitlement document — Art. SSC.17.
- Ministry of Health, “European Health Insurance Card”www.gov.cyWho gets the card (all GESY beneficiaries), where to apply (ΚΕΠ and ΚΕ.ΠΟ.), the application form, and how a foreign card works in Cyprus.
- Ministry of Health, application form for the European Health Insurance Card (26.06.2020)www.gov.cyDocuments to bring (ID, registration certificate or residence permit, and personal doctor registration), the part for spouse and children, and what the card does not cover.
- European Commission, Your Europe: “Unplanned healthcare — temporary stays”europa.euNon-EU nationals cannot use the card in Denmark, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland, except refugees and family members of EU citizens; the card is free.