Digital nomad: health insurance that follows the moves, not a country

A classic expatriation assumes a lasting move to one identified country, often as part of a local contract or a secondment arranged by an employer. A digital nomad — self-employed or a remote employee — changes country more regularly, with no declared fixed residence, and most often with no employer organising health cover on their behalf. It’s up to them to check that their policy stays valid with each move, without an update step every time they change country.

A growing number of countries now offer a specific visa for remote workers, generally paired with a health insurance requirement for the length of the stay. But these requirements vary enormously from one country to another: a minimum cover amount sometimes specified, sometimes not quantified, local or international insurance accepted or not, a validity period aligned or not with the visa’s. That’s the case, for example, with the E33G remote-worker visa in Indonesia, which requires international health insurance and doesn’t accept a simple travel insurance policy. Each condition needs to be checked directly with the immigration authority of the target country before applying for the visa, not just on the word of an online comparison.

For an overview of what these visas generally require in terms of health insurance, and a detailed example already verified on this site, see digital nomad visas in 2026.

For a classic expatriation, the coverage zone is chosen based on a single country of residence. For a digital nomad, it needs to stay valid across several countries without a change notification every time they move — a worldwide or multi-zone policy then becomes the central criterion, more decisive than for any other expat profile. A policy calibrated on a single regional zone is exposed to coverage gaps from the first move outside that zone.