Pre-April 2012 Resident-Am I Entitled to Free Healthcare?

The law on healthcare rights are quite clear. Free healthcare from the Spanish NHS for legal residents. Due to concern about the cost, the INSS are using a modification to the residency law and added a cut off date for this right. The right is only applied to those who are pre-April 2012 resident. All those who meet this criteria can apply for healthcare at their local INSS office. Application form can be downloaded from the “certificates” section of this website.  You will be asked to apply for a non entitlement letter from the UK.

Non Entitlement Letter

It has come to our attention that the Embassy is providing information at seminars that permanent residents can obtain free healthcare. Note the above and the cut off date for those permanent residents would have been April 2017. Those who become permanent residents after that date, will likely be refused. We suggest our members contact the British Embassy for clarification of their statement.

Valencia and Catalonia went against central government ruling and are providing free healthcare for residents. This is supposed to exclude EU citizens but does not always do so.

Please note: The information provided is based upon our understanding of current legislation. It is not legal advice but is provided freely to enable you to be properly informed. We recommend that if you are considering taking action, you should seek professional advice.