Expat insurance and health insurance in the Faroe Islands

The Faroese health system is mainly public, both in its provision and in its funding, according to the Ministry of Health and Energy; the private sector is limited there, notably to dental care and physiotherapy. It rests on two pillars: primary care (general practitioners and other health professionals) and hospitals. The national health insurance, Heilsutrygd, was created on 1 January 2010 to replace eleven regional funds; it settles the subsidies for most primary care (general practitioner, specialists, dentist, physiotherapist, psychologist, chiropractor) and manages, with the Faroese pharmacy service, the supplementary scheme for medicines. All residents are covered by it.

Three public hospitals, under the authority of the Ministry of Health, serve the archipelago: the Landssjúkrahúsið in Tórshavn, the Klaksvíkar Sjúkrahús and the Suðuroyar Sjúkrahús. Certain specialist care is purchased abroad. The general practitioner is the first point of contact outside emergencies and refers to specialists; the archipelago has nine primary care areas (læknadømi). For emergencies, 112 remains the number to dial; 1870 corresponds to the on-call doctor (Læknavaktin) according to the Faroese hospital service.

• Stay of less than three months: a French citizen holding a valid passport or national ID card enters without a visa, a rule that France Diplomatie expressly extends to the Faroe Islands; the ministry recommends a valid passport. The Faroese government confirms that EU and EEA citizens enter without a visa for three months at most.
• A separate travel area: according to the Faroese immigration office (Útlendingastovan), a visa for Denmark or for another Schengen country is not valid for entering the Faroe Islands, and vice versa. The Faroe Islands are not part of the European Union; how a stay in the Faroe Islands fits with the 90-day Schengen count should be confirmed with the competent authorities.
• Stay of more than three months: a residence and work permit is required, including for EU citizens, European free movement rules not applying (Faroese government). A specific scheme for EU nationals exists for employees whose job is for at least 30 hours a week, as long as Faroese unemployment stays below the threshold of 3.5% (6% for certain building trades); the permit is issued for one year at most.
• Identity number (p-tal): once the permit is obtained, you must register with your municipality. This number is needed to open a bank account, receive a taxed salary and access social and health services.
• Health insurance affiliation: automatic for residents holding the p-tal; it involves a monthly contribution (fixed part plus a low percentage of income, set every year by the TAKS tax administration).
• Visitor or newcomer without a p-tal: visitors from outside the Nordic countries and the United Kingdom must have their own travel insurance before departure (official EURAXESS portal and Vágar municipality). The EHIC is not valid in the Faroe Islands. The time between arrival and obtaining the p-tal is not specified in the sources consulted: travel or expatriate insurance should be kept until affiliation is effective.
• Student: a permit for higher education exists among the categories of the immigration office. As the EHIC cannot be used, a student insurance or comprehensive travel insurance should be arranged until local affiliation.
• Seconded employee : in the absence of a social security agreement, secondment falls under French law "outside an agreement": continuation of the French scheme for three years, renewable once, procedures with the international mobility department of Urssaf. An assistance contract and membership of the Caisse des Français de l'Étranger (CFE) can complement this arrangement.
• Retiree: the permit categories published by the immigration office do not include a title dedicated to retirees; the office's FAQ indicates that non-Nordic nationals settle with a work or family reunification permit. The S1 form comes under European law, which does not apply to the Faroe Islands: the office and CLEISS should both be asked before any project.

No individual fine for lacking travel insurance is mentioned in the sources consulted, but the absence of an EHIC and of an agreement makes the financial risk total for a visitor without an assistance contract.

As the Faroe Islands are not part of the European Union, neither the European social security coordination regulations nor the EHIC apply there (Faroese government, EURAXESS portal). The Danish scheme described by CLEISS, based on national insurance, does not cover the Faroe Islands, which have their own system, Faroese autonomy encompassing social security and taxation. The list of bilateral social security agreements in force published by CLEISS (42 countries or territories) includes neither Denmark nor the Faroe Islands: no France-Faroe Islands agreement is published.

• Temporary stay: only urgent and unforeseen medical care can possibly be reimbursed by the primary health insurance fund on return, on paid invoices and form S3125, at the discretion of the medical adviser and on the basis of French flat-rate tariffs (ameli). No daily allowance is paid.
• Secondment: the employee remains affiliated to the French scheme for three years, renewable once (article L. 761-2 of the Social Security Code), and is reimbursed on paid invoices with form S 3125c, within the limit of French reimbursements; a new secondment with the same employer in the same country requires a two-year gap (CLEISS).
• Long-term move (expatriation): the employee falls under the local system; voluntary CFE membership or private insurance complements the cover.
• Retiree: without an agreement, three routes exist according to CLEISS (local scheme, CFE, private insurance); care during a temporary stay in France is open to holders of a French basic scheme pension with at least 15 years of insurance, via Cnarefe.
• Taxation: the France-Denmark treaty signed on 4 February 2022, in force since 29 December 2023, defines Denmark as "not including the Faroe Islands and Greenland" (article 3); its article 28 allows a territorial extension by exchange of notes. The list of tax treaties in force published in BOFiP mentions no treaty with the Faroe Islands. The Faroe Islands do appear, however, according to the BOFiP annex, among the territories that have concluded with France an administrative assistance agreement on tax matters, which is not a double taxation relief treaty.

1. Before departure: notify French agencies of your departure (CPAM, CAF, France Travail, pension funds) and, for a stay of more than three months, file the residence and work permit application with the Faroese immigration office (Útlendingastovan).
2. For any stay, including a short one: take out an assistance contract or insurance covering medical costs, hospitalisation and medical repatriation, recommended by France Diplomatie, the EHIC being unusable.
3. Check the validity of your passport or national ID card; France Diplomatie recommends a valid passport.
4. Seconded employee: carry out the secondment procedures outside an agreement with Urssaf (international mobility department) before departure.
5. After obtaining the permit: register with your municipality to obtain the identity number (p-tal), then open a Faroese bank account.
6. Check your affiliation to Heilsutrygd and the general practitioner assigned (or chosen through the municipality).
7. Contact the Faroese tax administration (TAKS) and, on the French side, the non-resident tax office about your tax situation.
8. Retiree: ask CLEISS, your pension fund and the CFE before departure; no S1 certificate can be used in the Faroe Islands.
9. Register on the roll of French nationals living abroad with the French Embassy in Denmark, responsible for the Faroe Islands.