Expat insurance and health insurance in Jersey

Jersey is not part of the British NHS: the Government of Jersey states that UK rules do not apply there. The system relies on general practitioners (GPs) working in private surgeries, who charge per visit, and on one public hospital, the General Hospital in St Helier, run by Health and Care Jersey. CLEISS (the French centre for European and international social security liaison) states that benefits are funded by social security contributions, income tax and local taxes; hospital benefits are funded by the government.

A health card (Social Security health card) is available after six months of residence and the payment of social security contributions: it reduces the price of GP consultations (a subsidy of £50.28 for a surgery consultation or a home visit, £30.28 for a nurse or a remote consultation) and makes most GP prescriptions free at the pharmacy. It does not on its own entitle the holder to free hospital treatment. For hospital care, the eligibility policy (Publicly Funded Healthcare Eligibility Policy in force) distinguishes between fully eligible patients and patients with limited eligibility: emergency care and ambulance are free for residents, and the rest depends on length of residence and employment. The Government of Jersey suggests considering private health insurance to cover costs during the first months.

• No private health insurance is required by law in the Government of Jersey pages consulted; however, the cost of care during the first months (doctor, non-emergency hospital treatment, prescriptions) remains at the patient's expense, hence the official recommendation to take out insurance. No scheme called "Health Insurance Exemption" was found on gov.je or on CLEISS: only social security contributions (including the health insurance share), the health card and the hospital eligibility policy shape access to care.
• Stay of less than six months: nationals of the EU, the EEA and Switzerland need no visa, but cannot work or change immigration category (gov.je). Since 23 April 2026, an electronic travel authorisation (ETA, £20, valid for two years) is required of non-visa nationals, with exemptions; French citizens on a day trip by ferry with an ID card are exempt. To be confirmed on GOV.UK before departure.
• Passport: when arriving from outside the Common Travel Area, gov.je asks in principle for a passport; an ID card is accepted only in listed cases (for example French citizens on a same-day return trip with a participating carrier).
• Work: anyone who is not British or Irish needs a work permit, applied for by the employer; durations range from 9 months (short term) to 3 years (long term), and the permit is tied to one employer and one position (gov.je).
• Housing and employment: the Control of Housing and Work Law assigns a status (Entitled, Entitled for Work Only, Licensed, Licensed for Lease Only, Standard) that determines where you can rent, buy and work; the registration card is collected at the Customer Hub on Union Street.
• Student: full-time students over 18 have had free GP consultations since October 2024 (gov.je). A student insurance remains useful for hospital treatment and repatriation.
• Seconded employee : the employer may keep the employee on the French scheme, under conditions (secondment certificate SE 132-J 01). The maximum duration is not specified on the CLEISS page consulted: to be confirmed with CLEISS.
• Retiree: no certificate of entitlement to care is issued before departure; care is covered by the Jersey scheme on the basis of residence (CLEISS). See the guide health insurance for retirees abroad.

For a short stay, the Government of Jersey recommends travel insurance that covers medical repatriation and medical transfers, often the most expensive items; the health agreement with France never covers repatriation.

Coordination with France does not run through EU regulations 883/2004 and 987/2009. It rests, according to CLEISS, on the general Franco-British social security convention of 10 July 1956 (administrative arrangement of 8 September 1958), extended to Jersey by an exchange of letters of 29 May 1979 supplemented by an administrative arrangement of 12 May 1980, in force since 14 May 1980. It concerns employed workers of French or Jersey nationality and covers sickness-maternity, invalidity, old age and survivors, work accidents, family benefits and death, with the exception of unemployment insurance. The corresponding Jersey text is the Social Security (Reciprocal Agreement with France) (Jersey) Act 1980, in its consolidated version consulted on jerseylaw.je.

• Temporary stay: an insured person of French or British nationality admitted to hospital in an emergency contacts the local fund for their place of stay and receives benefits in kind like a Jersey insured person, on presentation of their passport or ID card; other nationalities have no cover on the spot. No daily allowances from the French scheme during the stay.
• Secondment: the employer can keep the employee on the French scheme under conditions; cover in Jersey is requested from the Jersey fund with form SE 132-J 01 (secondment certificate) and care can be reimbursed by the affiliation fund with form S 3125c; family benefits cannot be exported.
• Expatriation: the employee falls under Jersey legislation; a certificate of insurance periods in France is requested from the health insurance fund. Forms SE 132 J 03 / FJ3 (family remaining in France, with the CPAM) and SE 132 J 05 / FJ5 (family allowances) are cited by CLEISS.
• Retiree: the 1956 convention provides for no reimbursement of care received in Jersey on the basis of a French pension; care falls under the Jersey fund on the basis of residence.
• Taxation: the BOFiP lists no double taxation treaty with Jersey (list in force). An exchange of letters signed in Paris on 12 March 2009 and in St Helier on 19 March 2009, in force since 11 October 2010, governs the exchange of tax information and the taxation of pensions.

1. Before departure: notify French agencies of your departure (CPAM, CAF, France Travail, pension funds).
2. Check travel documents: a passport in principle, and an ETA since 23 April 2026 if required (GOV.UK).
3. Employee: the employer submits the work permit application; do not travel before the permit is issued.
4. Take out health insurance covering hospital treatment, evacuation and repatriation for the waiting period before hospital eligibility.
5. On arrival: register as a resident (social security number and registration card, Customer Hub, Union Street); the card is requested by employers and landlords.
6. After six months of residence and contributions: apply for the health card, then register with a GP.
7. Seconded employee: request the secondment certificate SE 132-J 01; expatriate: request the certificate of insurance periods.
8. Driving licence: the French licence is recognised for one year, then must be exchanged for a Jersey licence for a resident (France Diplomatie).
9. Register with the roll of French nationals living abroad (French Consulate General in London).