Unlike most things on this site, this one isn't optional. Health insurance is a legal condition of a Lithuanian visa or residence permit for non-EU nationals — applications are refused without it. But almost every English-language guide gets the requirement wrong, and the mistake costs money. Here is what the statute says, which insurers actually sell to foreigners, and what you can and cannot find out before you pick up the phone.
Yes, you need cover — but the law does not set a €30,000 minimum for a residence permit. The €30,000 figure comes from the EU Visa Code and applies to the Schengen short-stay visa. For a residence permit, Article 6¹ of the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens sets no sum insured at all. It sets three functional requirements instead: necessary medical assistance, repatriation on health grounds, and validity for your entire period of stay.
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Nothing on this page is paid placement and no provider pays to appear. Where one runs an affiliate programme we may earn a commission if you sign up through our link; where one does not, we link to them anyway. Ordering reflects published terms and how well each option works for someone arriving from abroad — never what it pays.
Which Insurers Sell to Foreigners
Most Lithuanian insurers sell to Lithuanian residents — people who already have an asmens kodas. A handful sell a named product to foreigners, and what separates them is not price but whether you can buy at all before you have a personal code.
All of these are on the Bank of Lithuania register of insurers — Lietuvos draudimas and Compensa as Lithuanian companies, ERGO, BTA, Balcia and If as Lithuanian branches of EEA insurers.
The options, side by side
Five insurers sell cover a foreigner can use. Ordered by how far you can get without Lithuanian and without a personal code — not by price, because none of them publishes one.
Feather
Best for: buying before a personal code
Key highlights
Key features
- No Lithuanian personal code
- Instant documents
- English throughout, support included
- Written for permit applicants
Policy details
- personal code
- Not needed
- buying
- Fully online
- language
- English
Summary
- No Lithuanian personal code
- Instant documents
- English throughout, support included
- Written for permit applicants
- 31-day waiting period
- You pay clinics and claim back
- New conditions only
- Not a Lithuanian insurer
ERGO
Best for: English with a Lithuanian insurer
Key highlights
Key features
- Full English product page
- Terms published in English
- Repatriation stated explicitly
- Sum insured set to your case
Policy details
- terms
- English, No. 043
- personal code
- Not needed
- price
- Quote only
Summary
- Full English product page
- Terms published in English
- Repatriation stated explicitly
- Sum insured set to your case
- No published price
- Excludes conditions treated within 6 months
- Excludes manual work and extreme sports
- Email reply, not instant cover
Lietuvos draudimas
Best for: a certificate no official queries
Key highlights
Key features
- Purpose-built foreigner product
- Repatriation and remains covered
- Lithuanian company, not a branch
- Phone line for callers abroad
Policy details
- page language
- Lithuanian
- from abroad
- +370 5 266 6612
- price
- Quote only
Summary
- Purpose-built foreigner product
- Repatriation and remains covered
- Lithuanian company, not a branch
- Phone line for callers abroad
- Product page is Lithuanian only
- Not in the English section
- Quote only, by contact form
- No limits published beyond dental
Balcia
Best for: asking for the product by name
Key highlights
Key features
- Named foreigner policy exists
- Terms in both languages
- Full English site
- International line, around the clock
Policy details
- terms
- LT and EN
- support
- 24/7
- price
- Not published
Summary
- Named foreigner policy exists
- Terms in both languages
- Full English site
- International line, around the clock
- No sales page for it
- Link lands on travel cover
- Limits not published
- Easy to be sold wrong product
BTA
Best for: a Schengen visa sum you pick
Key highlights
Key features
- Live English calculator
- Price shown immediately
- Full English page
- Assistance line around the clock
Policy details
- page language
- English
- buying
- Calculator
- assistance
- English and Russian
Summary
- Live English calculator
- Price shown immediately
- Full English page
- Assistance line around the clock
- Not a permit-specific product
- Repatriation not stated on page
- Assistance number is Latvian
- Check wording before relying on it
Compensa
Best for: readers who manage some Lithuanian
Key highlights
Key features
- Calculator loads and quotes
- Lithuanian company on the register
- No phone call needed
Policy details
- page language
- Lithuanian
- buying
- Calculator
- price
- Shown on screen
Summary
- Calculator loads and quotes
- Lithuanian company on the register
- No phone call needed
- No working English path
- Main product page broken
- Travel cover, not permit product
- Over-75s treated as a special case
What the cards leave out. Feather breaks the loop the Lithuanian market creates — you need insurance to get the permit, and the permit to get the code. Sign-up is in English and produces documents in about two minutes, with no personal code and no residence card. It is not a Lithuanian insurer but an EEA one passported in, you pay the clinic and claim the money back, the first 31 days run on reduced cover, and no price is published. ERGO is the only Lithuanian insurer here with an English product page, English terms and an English quote form that never asks for a personal code. Its conditions No. 043 are published in Lithuanian, English and Russian; medical care and repatriation costs are both named, accident and liability are sold as add-ons, and the answer comes back by email rather than as instant cover.
Lietuvos draudimas sells a product built for foreigners rather than adapted from holiday cover, from the country's largest insurer: transport home to a hospital in your own country, repatriation of remains, and emergency dental limited to €50. The product page is Lithuanian only, and callers from abroad use +370 5 266 6612. Balcia has a dedicated Foreigner Medical Expense Insurance policy, terms No. LT-003.04 valid from 26 August 2024 and published in Lithuanian and English — but no page that sells it, so the link lands on general travel cover and it is easy to be sold the wrong thing. Ask for the policy by name; its international line runs around the clock.
BTA is one of only two here that shows a price without a phone call, but it is standard travel cover and the page never mentions permits. Medical expenses and repatriation are listed as a risk, luggage is insured up to €150 per piece, and the assistance line — published as 24/7 in English and Russian — is the Latvian number +371 26 121 212. Compensa's calculator works and reaches a price on screen, but the product page it belongs to currently returns a redirect loop, so our link goes straight past it. There is no English path published, and over-75s are treated as a special case.
Nothing on this page is paid placement — see our editorial guidelines.
Four names that come up and are not answers
| Name | What it actually is | What that means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Seesam | Not an independent insurer. Merged into Compensa on 1 July 2020 and survives as a Compensa product brand. Its Bank of Lithuania entity page returns 404 | Stop looking for a Seesam quote. Ask Compensa |
| Lamantinas | Does not sell this class of insurance at all. Its only line is customs-procedure liability, a B2B product | Nothing here for a permit applicant |
| Gjensidige | Mid-merger into ERGO. Its travel page now redirects to ergo.lt | Older blog posts telling you to get a Gjensidige quote predate the merger. Ask ERGO |
| Allianz Lietuva | Life insurance only. No health, no travel | Not a route to permit cover |
Nobody publishes a price. Every insurer here ends the journey in a contact form, because premiums are set individually on your age, your dates and where you are going — so the number does not exist until you ask for it. Any "a typical Lithuanian policy costs €X" figure you find online was invented by someone who also could not get a quote.
The €30,000 works the same way. It is a sum you ask for when you buy, not a feature baked into a named product, and it lives in the terms document rather than on the product page. So do not shop by product name: say what sum insured you need, and when the certificate comes back, check it names that sum, repatriation, and your dates.
What the Law Actually Requires
Search for Lithuanian residence permit insurance in English and you will be told, over and over, that you need €30,000 of cover. The figure is real. It belongs to a different application.
| What you are applying for | Sum insured set by law | Where the rule lives | What the policy must do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Schengen short-stay visa (type C) | €30,000 | EU law — Visa Code, Regulation 810/2009, Art. 15 | Cover emergency medical care and repatriation, valid across the Schengen area for the whole visit |
| Residence permit (temporary or permanent) | No figure | Lithuanian law — Law on the Legal Status of Aliens, Art. 6¹ | Cover necessary medical assistance and repatriation on health grounds, valid for the entire period of residence |
Article 6¹ of the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens, the operative sentence:
Užsieniečio sveikatos draudimas ... turi garantuoti būtinosios medicinos pagalbos, kaip ji apibrėžiama Lietuvos Respublikos sveikatos sistemos įstatyme, išlaidų ir išlaidų, galinčių atsirasti dėl užsieniečio grąžinimo į užsienio valstybę dėl sveikatos priežasčių (transportavimo, įskaitant asmens sveikatos priežiūros specialisto (specialistų) palydą), apmokėjimą ir galioti visą užsieniečio buvimo ar gyvenimo Lietuvos Respublikoje laikotarpį.
"A foreigner's health insurance ... must guarantee payment of the costs of necessary medical assistance, as defined in the Law on the Health System of the Republic of Lithuania, and of costs that may arise from the foreigner's return to a foreign state on health grounds (transport, including the accompaniment of a healthcare professional or professionals), and must be valid for the entire period of the foreigner's stay or residence in the Republic of Lithuania."
Three requirements, and no euro figure anywhere in the article:
- Necessary medical assistance — the cost of it, using the definition in the Law on the Health System, not a number the insurer picks.
- Repatriation on health grounds — transport home, and where your condition needs one, an escorting healthcare professional. The escort is written into the statute and most policies never mention it.
- The entire period of your stay or residence. Not a year. Not six months. The period on your permit.
What this changes when you buy. You are not shopping for a number. You are shopping for wording. A certificate that says €30,000 but is silent on repatriation is weaker against Article 6¹ than a modest policy that names repatriation, the medical escort and the full permit period. So read the certificate for three things: does it cover necessary medical assistance, does it name repatriation, and do the dates run to the end of the permit period you are applying for. If you are applying for a Schengen short-stay visa, the €30,000 applies and is not negotiable — that is EU law, not a Lithuanian rule.
Two figures you will read elsewhere that the law does not contain. The first is a €10,000 residence-permit minimum. Article 6¹ sets no euro figure, so ask any source that gives you one which article it comes from. The second is a one-year validity rule. Relocation portals state that permit insurance must run at least a year; the article requires the entire period of your stay or residence — no more, and no less.
Statute read in the consolidated text on e-seimas, 11 August 2026.
Do You Need Private Insurance?
| Your situation | Private cover needed | What you need |
|---|---|---|
| EU/EEA citizen | ✗ | Your EHIC or home cover generally suffices — no permit insurance requirement |
| Non-EU, Schengen short-stay visa | ✓ | €30,000 including repatriation — EU Visa Code Art. 15 |
| Non-EU, applying for a residence permit | ✓ | No sum insured in the statute. Necessary medical assistance, repatriation, full permit period |
| Non-EU, employed in Lithuania | ✓ | PSD via your employer once contributions start — private cover for the gap before that |
| Non-EU, self-employed | ✓ | PSD through your own contributions — private cover for the gap |
| Non-EU student | ✓ | Students on a TRP are not covered by PSD at the state's expense |
| Non-working spouse | ✓ | Private cover until eligible for PSD |
| Children under 18, resident | ✗ | Covered by the state |
Last updated: 31 July 2026. Requirements may vary — always confirm directly with the provider before proceeding.
The gap that catches almost everyone
You are not in PSD from the day you land — you're in it once contributions are actually being made. Between arriving, signing a contract and the first Sodra payment there is usually a window of weeks where you have no cover at all unless you bought private insurance. Buy the private policy for your permit anyway, then cancel it once PSD is active. How Lithuanian healthcare works →
Three different things get confused here, and they are not interchangeable.
- PSD — the state system. Compulsory health insurance, paid through Sodra. If you're employed or self-employed here, you're in it automatically and your permit requirement is satisfied. Paying in voluntarily costs €80.48/month.
- Private compliance cover. What you buy to satisfy Article 6¹ before PSD kicks in — or instead of it, if you never join. This is what most new arrivals need and what this page is mainly about.
- Supplementary private insurance. Optional. Skips the queues, covers private clinics and adult dentistry. Nothing to do with your permit, and it will not satisfy one.
Where to Buy Compliant Cover
If you're applying for a visa from abroad, or you've just arrived and don't have a personal code yet, the Lithuanian market is awkward: the products exist, but the buying process assumes you are already here.
Whichever you buy, check the certificate before you submit it. It should name repatriation and run to the end of your permit period — the two things Article 6¹ actually asks for. For a Schengen short-stay visa it must also state €30,000. A policy can be perfectly good and still fail on the wording of the certificate, which is the document an official reads.
Digital nomad insurance is not the same thing
Policies aimed at travellers and remote workers — the well-known nomad brands — are often cheaper and are excellent for what they do, but they are not written to satisfy a residence permit and frequently say nothing about repatriation on health grounds. Do not assume a nomad policy will pass. Travel insurance is a separate question →
Why You Can Trust This Guide
PSD — The State System
Privalomasis sveikatos draudimas is Lithuania's compulsory health insurance, administered through Sodra and the National Health Insurance Fund. It covers treatment in state facilities.
| How you're covered | Cost to you |
|---|---|
| Employed | Deducted from your salary as part of Sodra — 6.98% of gross |
| Self-employed (individuali veikla) | Part of your own contributions |
| Paying voluntarily | €80.48/month — €965.76/year |
| Children, pensioners, registered unemployed | Paid by the state |
| Student on a TRP | Not covered at the state's expense |
Supplementary Insurance
Entirely separate from your permit. Supplementary cover buys faster access to specialists, private clinics, adult dentistry and broader diagnostics — the things PSD either doesn't cover or makes you queue for. It is sold to people who are already inside PSD, and it will not satisfy Article 6¹.
One insurer publishes prices for it. Exactly one.
| Insurer and product | Published monthly price | Published limits |
|---|---|---|
| BTA — voluntary private health insurance for residents Supplementary cover, not permit cover | €28, €44 and €55 a month, by tier | Ambulatory €3,000 · Hospitalisation €3,000 · Critical illness €2,000 · Medications €50 |
Do not buy the €28 policy for your permit
BTA's tiers are the only published health insurance prices in this market, which makes them the figures that spread — and they are for a product sold to people who already have PSD. It is a top-up on the state system, not the medical-expenses and repatriation cover Article 6¹ requires. Different product, different purpose.
None of the Lithuanian insurers on this page pays for placement. They're listed because they're the market.
Common Mistakes
Buying to a €30,000 figure you were never asked for
That figure is the Schengen short-stay visa standard, set by the EU Visa Code. For a residence permit the statute names no sum. Buying more cover is not wrong — buying the wrong wording is.
Not checking that repatriation is named on the certificate
Article 6¹ names it explicitly, including the medical escort where one is needed. A high sum insured does not substitute for it.
Assuming a digital nomad policy will satisfy the permit requirement
Travel and nomad insurance is often cheaper, but it isn't written for a Lithuanian residence permit and often omits repatriation on health grounds. Check the certificate wording before relying on one.
Buying supplementary resident cover by mistake
BTA's €28-a-month tier is the only published price in the market, so it is the one people find. It is a top-up for people already in PSD and will not satisfy a permit.
Paying for private cover after PSD is active
Once you're employed and contributing, PSD satisfies the requirement at renewal. Cancel the private policy once state cover is genuinely active — don't keep paying for both.
Assuming a pre-existing condition is covered
Almost never, in this category of policy. ERGO's terms, the one set published in English, exclude any condition that existed or was treated in the last six months.
Chasing a quote from a company that is not an insurer
Seesam is a Compensa brand, not a separate insurer. Lamantinas sells customs liability to businesses. Both still appear on comparison lists.
Frequently Asked Questions
What insurance do I need for a Lithuanian residence permit?
A policy that covers the cost of necessary medical assistance as defined in the Law on the Health System, covers repatriation on health grounds including transport and an escorting healthcare professional where needed, and is valid for the entire period of your stay or residence. That is the whole test, from Article 6-1 of the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens.
Is €30,000 of cover required for a residence permit?
No. The €30,000 minimum comes from Article 15 of the EU Visa Code, Regulation 810/2009, and applies to the Schengen short-stay visa. Article 6-1 of the Lithuanian Aliens Law sets no sum insured for a residence permit at all. Most English-language guides get this wrong.
So why does everyone quote €30,000?
Because it is the only figure in this area written into law anywhere, and it gets copied across from the Schengen visa rules. It is correct for a short-stay visa and wrong for a residence permit.
Does the policy have to include repatriation?
Yes. Article 6-1 names it directly: the costs that may arise from returning the foreigner to a foreign state on health grounds, including transport and, where needed, the accompaniment of a healthcare professional. Check the word appears on your certificate.
How long must the insurance be valid?
For the entire period of your stay or residence in Lithuania. The article says exactly that. A claim circulating on relocation portals that cover must run at least one year does not appear in the statute.
Can I buy foreigner health insurance online in Lithuania?
Not for the medical-expenses and repatriation product. Lietuvos draudimas and ERGO both end in a contact form. Compensa has an online calculator for travel cover. If has a calculator but it asks for a Lithuanian personal code before showing a price, which closes it to people who have not arrived yet.
Which Lithuanian insurers sell cover to foreigners?
Lietuvos draudimas sells Užsieniečių medicininių išlaidų ir repatriacijos draudimas. ERGO sells Užsieniečių kelionių draudimas Lietuvoje under Terms No. 043, with the terms available in English. Balcia has a Foreigner Medical Expenses Insurance with bilingual terms. Compensa, BTA and If sell travel cover. Check any insurer against the Bank of Lithuania register before buying.
Is Seesam still a Lithuanian insurer?
No. Seesam merged into Compensa on 1 July 2020 and survives only as a Compensa product brand. Its Bank of Lithuania entity page returns a 404. Comparison lists that still name it as one of eight insurers are out of date.
Why can I not find a price anywhere?
Because none is published. Across Lietuvos draudimas, ERGO, Compensa, BTA, Balcia, If and Gjensidige, every relevant product ends in a contact form. The cover is individually underwritten, so the premium does not exist until you request a quote. Any typical price you see online has been assembled rather than sourced.
Does it cover pre-existing conditions?
Almost never in this category. ERGO, whose terms are published in English, excludes chronic illness, defined as a condition that existed or was treated in the previous six months, along with mental health conditions and pregnancy other than emergencies. Read the exclusions before you rely on a policy.
Does my EHIC work in Lithuania?
Yes, if you are an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen. The European Health Insurance Card entitles you to necessary state healthcare on the same terms as a Lithuanian resident. It does not cover private treatment or repatriation, and it is not a substitute for permit insurance for non-EU nationals.
What is PSD?
Privalomasis sveikatos draudimas, Lithuania's compulsory health insurance. It funds the public system and is collected alongside Sodra contributions at 6.98% of gross salary. If you are employed or self-employed here you are in it, and that satisfies the permit condition. If not, you can pay in voluntarily at €80.48 a month.
What do students need?
The same thing as any other permit applicant, because Article 6-1 does not have a student version. No Lithuanian insurer publishes a student health product or price. Products with student-sounding names are accident cover for pupils and students from Compensa and possessions cover from Lietuvos draudimas, and neither is health insurance.
Can I cancel private insurance once I start working?
Yes. Once you are employed and contributing to Sodra, PSD covers you and satisfies the requirement at permit renewal. Keep the private policy until PSD is genuinely active, then cancel.
Next Steps
- Applying for a residence permit — where the insurance proof goes
- Healthcare in Lithuania — registering with a GP once you're covered
- Moving to Lithuania — the full first-year checklist
Information, not insurance advice — policies are contracted directly with the insurer, who confirms final terms and suitability. See the terms.
Ready to Get Covered?
Start with the wording Article 6¹ requires — necessary medical assistance, repatriation, the full permit period — then compare the quotes you get back.