Expat insurance and health insurance in the Falkland Islands (Malvinas)

The territory's health system is public and organised around a single hospital, the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital (KEMH) in Stanley, run by the Falkland Islands Government's Department of Health and Social Services. The hospital has 24 beds (including 18 acute care beds, a maternity bed, an isolation unit and intensive care) and an operating theatre. A resident general surgeon and anaesthetist are available at all times; specialists come from the United Kingdom or South America for consultations and planned procedures. Six general practitioners (five full-time, one part-time) provide first-contact care; in the rural area (“Camp”), patients have a medicine kit, telephone consultations and a flying doctor service operated with the government air service.

No contributory health insurance scheme is described in the sources read: the patient is either exempt from fees or liable for a published scale of charges in the Falkland Islands Gazette. The fee notice in force exempts from fees ordinarily resident people who are “Falkland Islanders”, holders of a permanent residence permit, a dependant permit or a carer permit, as well as holders of a work permit or an accompanying dependant permit where certain provisions of the Public Health Ordinance do not apply. Other patients pay: visitors, volunteers and short-term workers must show their insurance or proof of ability to pay before care. UK residents do not pay for care they would receive free from the National Health Service, under a reciprocal agreement that excludes medical evacuation (FCDO and fee notice).

Cases beyond the hospital's means come under the overseas care policy (Medical Treatment Overseas): life-threatening emergencies are normally evacuated to a South American hospital (Chile or Uruguay), planned care is in principle referred to the British NHS. This public cover is reserved for eligible residents; for a person who is not eligible, the hospital can help with the organisation, but the cost of evacuation remains the responsibility of the patient or their insurer (see repatriation and assistance). As the World Bank does not publish the territory's health spending, no percentage of GDP is given here.

• Visitor stay: the Customs and Immigration Service page lists the nationalities subject to a visa; France is not among them (page consulted on 21 October 2026) and no electronic travel authorisation is required. The visitor permit is normally stamped in the passport on arrival, for one month at most without referral to a senior officer; it can run up to six months if requested in advance, within the limit of nine months cumulative over twelve months. It requires a return or onward ticket (or the funds to buy one), booked accommodation, sufficient funds and health insurance covering aeromedical evacuation for at least 2,000,000 US dollars or the equivalent. It is free of charge.
• Work: a visitor cannot be employed. A work permit is applied for from outside the territory, sponsored by an employer who has advertised the post for at least seven days and established that no holder of local status or a permanent residence permit was available. It is valid for the duration of the contract, specific to the job and the employer, and cannot exceed four years in total. A medical examination and a criminal record check are required; the fee is £80 (about €95). Casual visitor work is limited to three months in twelve, with authorisation (£80).
• Residence: the permanent residence permit requires three years of residence, a clean criminal record over five years, a good level of English, housing and health and education assessments; it is awarded under a points system. Applications may be temporarily suspended by official notice. “Falkland Islander” status requires seven years of residence and British citizenship, British overseas territories citizenship or British overseas citizenship.
• Resident's health insurance: no general private insurance obligation was read for a resident holding a long-term permit; it is required of visitors, volunteers and holders of a work permit of nine months or less.
• Local pension: residents from age 17 to retirement age who earn more than £386.40 (about €460) a week contribute to the territory's pension scheme, at £47.80 (about €57) a week split equally with the employer.
• Student: the service's permits page lists no student permit; the European Health Insurance Card does not exist for this territory. See student insurance abroad and the CFE youth plan.
• Seconded employee: continuation of the French scheme, according to CLEISS, for three years renewable once, with reimbursement up to what the French scheme provides on paid invoices (form S 3125c). Membership of the Caisse des Français de l'Étranger (CFE) remains an additional option.
• Retiree: CLEISS points to local institutions, voluntary membership of the CFE or private insurance; there is no S1 form, as the territory is not in the European Union. No retiree permit is described on the government pages read.

The conversions in this page are based on the ECB reference rate and on the parity of the Falkland Islands pound with the pound sterling suggested by the mention “GBP/FKP” of the departure tax in the customs and immigration charges document.

The territory is not in the European Union and does not appear in CLEISS's list of social security agreements in force, which nevertheless cites other British dependencies (Guernsey and Jersey). CLEISS's pages on holidays and on the United Kingdom scheme do not mention the Falkland Islands, and the European Health Insurance Card opens no rights on site: the territory's fee notice exempts only people who would be entitled to free National Health Service care. The conditions of application to British overseas territories of the social security coordination protocol annexed to the trade and cooperation agreement were not read: they should be confirmed with CLEISS. For a temporary stay, the CLEISS category “other countries or situations not covered” indicates that no cover is possible on site.

• Temporary stay: reimbursement on return to France of unforeseen care only is a possibility and not an obligation, medical repatriation is not covered by health insurance, and travel insurance with evacuation is required of the visitor by the territory.
• Secondment: the employee remains affiliated to the French scheme, for three years renewable once; their contributions are paid in France, without exempting them from the host country's contributions. Care is covered up to what they would have received in France (form S 3125c with the paid invoices).
• Expatriation: the employee comes under the local scheme and is no longer socially insured in France; they can join the CFE voluntarily. Without an agreement, local insurance periods are not taken into account in calculating the French pension.
• Retiree: CLEISS recommends checking local cover, choosing the CFE or private insurance, and points out that a retiree who is no longer a French tax resident pays neither CSG, nor CRDS, nor Casa.
• Taxation: the BOFiP list of tax treaties does not include the Falkland Islands, and the list of tax information exchange agreements does not cite them, whereas it cites Anguilla, Bermuda, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Jersey, the Isle of Man and other British territories. The only tax treaty identified for the territory links the Falkland Islands and the United Kingdom (arrangement signed on 17 December 1997, HMRC); it does not bind France. Tax residence remains defined by article 4 B of the French General Tax Code (CGI) (home or main place of stay, professional activity, centre of economic interests); a single criterion is enough. The territory does not appear on the list of non-cooperative States and territories, which is regularly revised.

1. Before departure: notify French agencies of your departure (CPAM, CAF, France Travail, pension funds) and choose your cover according to your status.
2. Prepare entry: passport valid throughout the stay (six months of remaining validity recommended on entry), return or onward ticket, booked accommodation, proof of funds and an insurance certificate including aeromedical evacuation (at least 2,000,000 US dollars).
3. Employee: have the employer start the work permit application (form 3) before departure, with a medical examination and criminal record check; the Customs and Immigration Service can be reached on +500 27340.
4. Family: the employer sponsors the accompanying dependant permit; this permit gives the right to work without a separate permit only for occupations on the labour shortage list.
5. Find out from the Taxation Office (+500 28470) about the tax return, the employer applying withholding (POAT), and from the Pensions Office (+500 28417) about the pension contribution.
6. Take out health insurance with evacuation before arrival if you are not exempt from fees; compare the CFE and international insurance.
7. Seconded employee: request continuation of the French scheme from your employer and your fund; keep the paid invoices for form S 3125c.
8. Register on the roll of French nationals living abroad on service-public, valid for five years, with the consulate on which the place of residence depends (the French Consulate General in London is cited as responsible for the Malvinas Islands).
9. Retiree: arrange health cover before departure (CFE or private insurance) and find out about the right of stay from the Customs and Immigration Service.