Expat insurance and health insurance in Iraq

France Diplomatie names no specific reference hospital for Iraq: repatriation insurers are described as able to direct their clients to reference hospitals, in Baghdad or the regions, offering conditions for handling life-threatening emergencies with standards described as comparable to those found in France and Europe. Medical evacuations to Dubai or France remain possible if needed, according to the same source. No precise list of these facilities, nor any detailed technical capability, is publicly disclosed by France Diplomatie or CLEISS for Iraq.

Health risks flagged by France Diplomatie include malaria, MERS-CoV coronavirus, cholera (with cases reported in the Kurdistan Region, particularly the Sulaymaniyah governorate), typhoid fever, Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, avian or zoonotic flu, meningococcal meningitis and poliomyelitis. It is recommended not to drink tap water anywhere in the country, as cases of poisoning linked to poor water quality are regularly reported, and to stock up in France on travel medication as well as treatment for chronic conditions, as many counterfeit medicines circulate in the country. Given the general fragility of the available information, cover including medical evacuation should be planned for any serious condition.

• Electronic visa mandatory for federal Iraq, to be requested before departure via eservice.evisa.iq: on-arrival issuance at Baghdad airport ended on 1 March 2025. Overstaying the authorised length of stay incurs a penalty of 500,000 IQD, plus 10,000 IQD per day of overstay.
• Special arrangement for the autonomous Kurdistan Region alone: a 30-day visa, valid for that region only, can be obtained on arrival at an airport in the region or at the Ibrahim Khalil land border crossing (from Turkey), for 103,000 IQD prepaid online. A valid federal Iraqi visa exempts the traveller from this formality.
• Specific visas for NGO staff, journalists and business travellers, obtained via a formal application to the Embassy of the Republic of Iraq in Paris (a fee of €50 and supporting documents specific to each category).
• No legal health insurance obligation specifically named for entry, but France Diplomatie states that it is essential to have an assistance contract or insurance covering medical costs, surgery, hospitalisation and medical repatriation, at the risk of being denied access to care, including in a life-threatening emergency.
• Updating the French vaccination schedule (diphtheria, tetanus, poliomyelitis, whooping cough, measles) and additional vaccinations to consider depending on profile and length of stay, according to France Diplomatie: hepatitis A, typhoid fever, meningitis ACWY (dry season or reported outbreak), rabies, hepatitis B (frequent or extended stays) and mpox depending on exposure risk.
• CFE recommended, as no France-Iraq agreement coordinates the sickness branch.

Security, covered here only from the angle of access to care and assistance: France Diplomatie formally advises against travel to most of Iraqi territory (red zone), except for areas where travel remains advised against unless essential (orange zone), notably the cities of Baghdad, Basra, Mosul, Erbil and Sulaymaniyah. A specific alert flags a rise in security incidents in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, with disruption to flights to and from Erbil; French nationals resident in or passing through this region are urged to exercise the utmost vigilance in their movements. France Diplomatie further notes that the risk of kidnapping for ransom exists across the whole of Iraqi territory, except for the autonomous Kurdistan Region. The French embassy in Iraq (Baghdad) and the French consulate general in Erbil remain reachable and regularly update their security guidance on their website and social media.

No bilateral social security agreement exists between France and Iraq: the country is absent from CLEISS's published list of bilateral social security agreements, whether in force or signed but not yet applied.

• No coordination of rights between the two schemes, whatever the branch (sickness-maternity, old-age, occupational accidents, family benefits).
• No totalisation of insurance periods, no export of rights.
• No form equivalent to the SE 401/350/351 used with other countries.
• A French resident in Iraq has no identified access, in the sources reviewed, to any public health cover scheme by right: only the Caisse des Français de l’Étranger (CFE) or private international health insurance provides effective cover, including medical evacuation.

1. Before any trip: check France Diplomatie's travel advice, regularly updated, as most of Iraqi territory is formally advised against outside precisely defined orange zones.
2. Before departure: apply for an electronic visa via eservice.evisa.iq for federal Iraq (or a special on-arrival visa for a stay limited to the Kurdistan Region alone), and check health cover including hospitalisation, surgery and medical evacuation/repatriation, as the French embassy cannot cover any medical costs.
3. Before departure: consult a travel doctor to update the French vaccination schedule and consider additional recommended vaccinations (hepatitis A/B, typhoid fever, meningitis ACWY, rabies, mpox depending on profile and exposure).
4. On site: register with the Ariane alert system to receive security updates, particularly for a stay in the autonomous Kurdistan Region covered by the alert on security incidents and flight disruption around Erbil.
5. For any consular matter: French embassy in Iraq in Baghdad (+964 790 191 23 65) or French consulate general in Erbil for the Kurdistan Region.
6. Voluntary CFE affiliation recommended, as no France-Iraq agreement coordinates the sickness branch.