Apply for a European Health Insurance Card in Ireland

The European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) lets you get healthcare in another EU or European Economic Area (EEA) state for free, or at a reduced cost.

It covers you if you are on holiday, or on a short-term stay of less than 3 months. Students in Europe may be considered a visitor on a short-term stay up to a full academic year.

You need one for each member of your family.

It's free and there's no charge to apply.

There are different ways to apply depending on if you live in Ireland or if you live in another European Union (EU), European Economic Area (EEA) member state, or Switzerland.

If you are living in Ireland

If you are an Irish citizen, or an EU citizen living in Ireland you can apply for an EHIC:

• in person at your local health office except in Dublin North West, Dublin South, Kildare and West Wicklow
• by post
• online, only if you have a medical card or drug payment scheme card and you live in Ireland

You must be living in Ireland and have an address here. You will need to show proof of this.

The card takes about 10 working days and will be posted to you.

Apply by post

To apply by post, fill in the form below and send it to local health office. You may also need to send photocopies of your PPS Number and proof that you’re an Irish resident, like a rent agreement or employment contract.

Apply as a family

Each family member needs an individual EHIC.

You can apply for yourself, your partner and any dependent children under the age of 16.

You can do this in person or by post. If you have a medical or drug payment scheme card you can apply online.

If you already have an EHIC, you can also apply for other family members online. You must enter your own details first and apply for any additional cards when prompted.

If you are under the age of 16, a parent or guardian will need to apply for you.

If you live in another EU/EEA member state or Switzerland

If you live in the EU, EEA or Switzerland, you will be entitled to an Irish-issued EHIC if one of the following applies to you:

• you receive a state pension from Ireland and have an Irish-issued E Form/S1 form (certificate of entitlement) registered in your country of residence
• you are a worker posted to work in another EEA country or Switzerland by your Irish employer, or a frontier worker living in the EEA and working in Ireland
• you are a family member of a posted worker or of someone working in Ireland and you are not covered in your own right by the EEA country you reside in

If you are not eligible for a Irish-issued EHIC, you should see if you are eligible for an EHIC in the country you are currently living in.

Apply online

Our online application form for people who live in another EU/EEA member state or Switzerland is temporarily down. But you can still apply by post (see below). We apologise for any inconvenience. We hope to fix this problem soon.

Apply by post

To apply by post you must:

• have an address in Europe (not Ireland) and be living there permanently
• print out and fill in the application form

Post it to:

You can renew your EHIC online, if:

• your address hasn’t changed
• you have your old EHIC number and your PPS number

If you don’t have your old EHIC or PPS number, or you’ve changed your address, contact your local EHIC office to renew.

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