Health insurance for foreigners in the UK is open to many people who are not British, because the policy wording quoted on this page tests where you live and your right to be here, not which passport you hold. If you live here, have permission to stay and are weighing up whether a UK private medical policy is worth buying, the answer turns on each insurer's residence wording and on your visa. To find out which insurers would take someone in your position, leave your nationality, visa type and dates through the enquiry form here; an FCA-authorised broker phones back at no charge.

Passport or address: what the residence test asks of you

UK private medical policies are written for people living in Britain, and the definitions say so. Aviva's Healthier Solutions terms (GEN6842 03/2026, the issue titled "Policies started or renewed before 1 November 2026", definitions, PDF page 39, printed page 37) define a "UK resident" in two parts joined by "and": "Having the legal right to reside in the UK (ie. holding UK citizenship or an appropriate visa) for the duration of the policy year", and "Physically living in the UK for the duration of the policy year (other than for trips abroad totalling no more than three months during the policy year)."

So a visa can count. "An appropriate visa" sits beside citizenship in that definition, and the second half is about living here rather than about nationality. The same terms go on to say, in the section on who can be covered, that "Each member must be a UK resident for the duration of the policy year." (page 31). What "appropriate" means for a particular visa category is Aviva's to confirm.

The Exeter words its test with a day count. Its Health+ summary (Private Medical Insurance — Insurance Product Information Document, MKTG770, June 2026, page 1; the regulatory summary, not the full policy) says: "You must have the legal right to reside in the UK (England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland) and physically live in the UK for at least 183 days in each policy year."

Neither wording asks for a British passport. Both ask for a continuing legal right to be here and a life actually lived here, which is why someone on a fixed-length visa should read the end date of the visa against the policy year.

Waiting periods and paperwork that catch newcomers

Some insurers add a settling-in condition. In WPA's Complete Health summary (effective from 1 November 2025, page 2), the obligation reads: "You must have been a resident of the UK and registered with an NHS GP for at least six months prior to joining." Bupa's By You policy guide (BINS 14718, BBY/1124/MAY24, page 39) lists three eligibility conditions, and the second is the one that matters for an arrival: at the cover start date you must "have been registered continuously with a GP for at least six months, or have access to and be able to provide your and their full medical records in English". The first is to "be resident in the UK throughout the duration of your cover".

So a person who landed last month may find one insurer's door shut and another's open.

Leaving matters too. Under Bupa's guide (page 41), Bupa may cancel cover if "You or any of your dependants stop being resident in the UK". Aviva's equivalent is covered on our page on private health insurance for visa renewal.

The health surcharge and the NHS: what you already have

Before buying anything, find out what the surcharge already gives you. GOV.UK's page "Pay for UK healthcare as part of your immigration application" (www.gov.uk/healthcare-immigration-application, last updated 28 November 2024; checked against the live page on 21 October 2026) opens: "Most people need to pay the immigration health surcharge (IHS) as part of their online immigration application." It then says "You can start using the NHS free of charge from the date your visa starts", adding that you must already have paid the surcharge if your route requires it, and that some services, such as prescriptions, dental treatment and eye tests, are still charged.

On the cost, the page's "How much you have to pay" section lists "£776 per year for students, their dependants, and those on a Youth Mobility Scheme visa", the same yearly sum for applicants under 18, and "£1,035 per year for all other visa and immigration applications"; part-years, exemptions and refunds are set out there too. Its "Who needs to pay" section is plain: "You still need to pay even if you have private medical insurance."

The NHS side is covered in GOV.UK's "NHS entitlements: migrant health guide" (England only, last updated 2 October 2023, free services section): secondary care is residence-based, so "you must be living lawfully in the UK on a properly settled basis to be entitled to free healthcare", and "People who are not ordinarily resident in the UK may be required to pay for their care when they are in England." The next sentence says some services and some people are exempt from payment, and the guide's surcharge section adds that someone who has paid it can use the NHS much as an ordinarily resident person would while the visa remains valid. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own guidance.

For most people on a longer-stay visa, then, the NHS is already there once the visa starts, and private cover would sit on top of it for faster access to specialists, a choice of consultant and hospital, and planned treatment, as it does for UK nationals. Nothing here puts a price on that for a visa holder; the price of private cover on a UK visa has its own page, and how your age, household and visa dates shape an offer is worth raising when the broker rings.

Visa holders: students, workers and families

Workers, spouses and students each have their own wrinkles. A worker may have an employer scheme to ask about first; the visa renewal page has the order to check things in. A student has two addresses and a course end date, and the page on quotes for college students goes through that, with what student-visa cover costs alongside. A family should note that Aviva's residence rule applies to each member and Bupa's to you and your dependants, so a partner's or child's visa matters as much as yours.

Health history works as it does for anyone. Conditions you have already had are handled in underwriting, and treatment you had abroad is part of that history; pre-existing conditions explains the routes.

When international cover fits better

A UK policy is built around treatment in Britain. Aviva's terms say plainly "We do not pay for treatment outside the UK." (page 24 of the March 2026 terms), and The Exeter's summary and Bupa's guide both tie cover to living here. So if your plan is to spend much of the year elsewhere, to move on within a year or two, or if you are only here for a visit, a UK policy is unlikely to fit. Visitors are looked after by travel or visitor medical cover (cover while travelling), and people who live overseas by international policies; what moves the price of international cover and how to compare expat insurers cover those.

If you are looking for cover as a foreigner somewhere else, in Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Costa Rica, Bangkok or Bali, this is not that page: it is about people who are foreigners here. Abroad, an international policy priced on the country you live in is the product, and the country's own rules, including any visa requirement for health cover, are for its government to set.

What to gather before you ask for a quote

The clauses above turn on dates and documents, so a quote goes faster with these to hand:

  • Your visa type, start date and end date, and the same for anyone else to be covered, since each person has to meet the residence terms.
  • The day you arrived to live here, set against any minimum time in the UK an insurer asks for.
  • When you registered with a GP, because two of the clauses above count months on a GP's list.
  • Your medical records from home, and whether they exist in English, which is the alternative Bupa's wording allows.
  • How long you spend abroad each year, counting trips home, against limits like Aviva's three months.
  • Whether you paid the surcharge, which tells you what the NHS already offers before any policy.

With those written down, a broker can check them against several insurers' conditions in one call, and there is nothing to pay for asking.

Questions to put to a broker

  • I arrived a few months ago: which insurers' settling-in conditions do I already meet, and when do I meet the rest?
  • If I am not yet six months on a GP's register, will records from my home country do instead, and who pays for translation?
  • Do long trips home count against the residence condition, and how are the days added up?
  • How will treatment I had abroad be looked at in underwriting?
  • If I settle permanently, does anything on the policy change?

Short answers for non-UK nationals

How do I get health insurance as a foreigner living in the UK?

Ask an insurer or a broker for a quote, giving your visa type, arrival date and dates of permission to stay. Each insurer's residence wording decides whether it can write you a policy.

Is private health insurance compulsory in the UK for foreigners?

For most longer-stay routes GOV.UK describes the immigration health surcharge as the payment tied to NHS use. Whether your own route asks for anything else is a Home Office question, answered on GOV.UK.

Can a tourist or short-stay visitor buy a UK private medical policy?

The wording quoted above is written for people who live here, and The Exeter's sets a minimum number of days a year in the UK. A visitor's product is travel or visitor medical cover.

Can foreigners get private medical treatment in the UK without insurance?

Yes, anyone can pay privately for treatment, at the hospital's cash price. Insurance is one way to pay; how private cover compares with the NHS sets the routes side by side.

Does the NHS treat me for free if I have private cover?

GOV.UK ties free NHS hospital treatment to residence and, for visa holders, to the surcharge, not to whether you hold a policy. How a policy would sit alongside the NHS you already use is something the broker can explain for free.

Next step: write down your visa type, arrival date and who needs covering, and hand them over via the call-back request on this page. The broker's reply will tell you which insurers are worth a closer look.