Schengen visa insurance when applying from India
Consulates in India apply one joint list of approved Indian travel insurers — 24 companies in the newest edition, effective October 2024, read August 31, 2026. Other Indian policies are not accepted; insurance bought in another country is permitted.
Insurer lists published by consulates and visa centres in India
Some Schengen missions publish a list of insurers whose certificates they accept. These are the lists we found for applications lodged here, each with its own date.
| Destination | Issuing authority | List date | Named insurers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Denmark | Authority:Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark (um.dk) | List date:Effective of October 2024 | Named insurers:24 named, each with its own age bracket; adds Zurich Kotak, no longer lists CoCo by Navi |
| Czech Republic | Authority:VFS Global one-pager, Czech Republic in India | List date:Effective of February 2023 | Named insurers:24 named, incl. Zuno and CoCo by Navi |
| Portugal | Authority:VFS Global one-pager, Portugal in India | List date:Effective of July 2022 | Named insurers:24 named, incl. Niva Bupa, Future Generali and Edelweiss |
| Netherlands | Authority:VFS Global one-pager, Netherlands in India | List date:undated | Named insurers:24 named, still incl. Bharti AXA and Max Bupa |
| Germany | Authority:VFS Global one-pager, Germany in India (Kolkata) | List date:Effective as of 01.02.2018 | Named insurers:22 named, incl. Apollo Munich, Cigna TTK and Religare; file is named 'Latest' |
| Luxembourg | Authority:VFS Global page, Luxembourg in India | List date:Effective of 01st Februar 2018 (as printed) | Named insurers:22 named, same edition as the Kolkata copy |
Every insurer list found for applications in India is a copy of one joint document, 'Approved list of Indian travel insurance companies of the consular posts of Schengen states'. The October 2024 edition states it is applied by all 29 Schengen states plus Cyprus. On August 31, 2026 the six copies were live in five different versions at once — effective February 1, 2018 (two copies, one filed as 'Latest'), undated, July 2022, February 2023 and October 2024 — and company rosters and approved age brackets differ between editions, so the effective date printed on the copy your destination's page serves is worth checking. Gaps in our compilation: we have not checked the application channels of every destination (France, Spain and Italy among them); the copy on the Danish missions-in-India site (indien.um.dk) returned a server error on our check date, so we read the foreign ministry's um.dk copy; and the visa.vfsglobal.com links returned HTTP 403 while the same document paths served from www.vfsglobal.com.
What applies specifically in India
Local practice
The German missions in India publish the strictest wording we found, on their page 'Information on Travel Medical Insurance' (india.diplo.de, read August 31, 2026): 'German Missions accept Indian Travel Medical Insurances only from approved Indian Travel Insurance companies', citing the list as effective of July 2022 — two editions older than the October 2024 edition hosted by the Danish foreign ministry on the same day. We looked for a deductible rule on that page and did not find one: it contains no statement on deductibles or excess. The list itself prints the general rule (February 2023 and October 2024 editions, read August 31, 2026): other travel medical insurances issued by Indian insurance companies 'are not accepted for Schengen visa procedure', while applicants 'may seek to obtain insurance in any other country where claims against the insurance company would be recoverable in a Schengen State'. It also restricts corporate and group approvals to 70 years as the upper age limit, with posts verifying individual group members in the General Insurance Council's insurer portals. Who may apply in India: Indian nationals and nationals of other countries legally residing in India; someone not residing in India only if legally present with a justification for applying there (Common Information Sheet for Schengen visa applicants in India, April 2024, read August 31, 2026).
Where travellers buy
The joint list governs Indian insurers only; its own note permits insurance from any other country where claims are recoverable in a Schengen state. What the policy documents in our matrix state about who may buy, all read August 31, 2026: AXA Schengen Low Cost, Essential and Multi Trip exclude only a UK or USA country of residence (GTC July 2026, p. 10; Essential additionally requires residence outside the Schengen zone) — an Indian residence is not excluded; Europ Assistance Schengen states no residence-country restriction and takes buyers aged 74 or younger at purchase; MondialCare Schengen requires tax or legal residence outside the Schengen area and states a EUR 50 medical deductible per claim; schengen.care is concluded for anyone who is not a Polish citizen, with no residence-country restriction; Chapka Cap Schengen requires that the buyer is not a resident of the Schengen Area and states a EUR 80 excess per person per procedure; DR-WALTER PROVISIT-VISUM states no purchase-residence restriction in its conditions; EKTA travel is sold online without a stated residence restriction, but cover bought outside the country of permanent residence starts only on the fourth calendar day after purchase, and the risk carrier is licensed in Anjouan, Union of Comoros. Each product's verification status and the exact clause locations sit in its own matrix row; none of this is a recommendation.
Most-applied destinations
India was the third-largest source of Schengen visa applications worldwide in 2024: 1,108,239 applications, up from 966,687 in 2023, behind China (1,779,255) and Türkiye (1,173,917) — European Commission news item of May 20, 2025, read August 31, 2026. For 2025 the Commission again lists India third, at 1.15 million applications (news item of May 28, 2026, read the same day). The Commission publishes the split per destination state only in its consulate-level workbook ('Visa statistics for consulates'), which we have not compiled yet. What is verifiable today: every Schengen state except Liechtenstein maintains a visa-issuing post in India, and Liechtenstein takes its applications through the Embassy of Switzerland in New Delhi (Common Information Sheet for Schengen visa applicants in India, April 2024, read August 31, 2026).
Sources
- — August 31, 2026 — joint approved list, edition 'Effective of October 2024' (24 companies), hosted by the Danish foreign ministry
- — August 31, 2026 — same list, edition 'Effective of February 2023' (24 companies), with the applicability and not-accepted paragraphs
- — August 31, 2026 — same list, edition 'Effective of July 2022' (24 companies)
- — August 31, 2026 — same list, undated edition (24 companies, still naming Bharti AXA and Max Bupa)
- — August 31, 2026 — same list, 'Effective as of 01.02.2018' (22 companies), filed as 'Latest'
- — August 31, 2026 — same list, edition 'Effective of 01st Februar 2018' as printed (22 companies)
- — August 31, 2026 — German missions in India, 'Information on Travel Medical Insurance': only-approved-Indian-companies rule, list cited as effective of July 2022, no statement on deductibles
- — August 31, 2026 — Common Information Sheet for Schengen visa applicants in India, April 2024: who may apply, EUR 30,000 minimum, Liechtenstein via the Swiss Embassy
- — August 31, 2026 — European Commission, 2024 visa statistics: India 1,108,239 applications, third
- — August 31, 2026 — European Commission, 2025 visa statistics: India 1.15 million applications, third
- Also attempted on August 31, 2026: the copy on indien.um.dk (HTTP 520 server error) and the direct visa.vfsglobal.com PDF links (HTTP 403; the www.vfsglobal.com paths above served instead)
Checked on
What makes India different is not the legal requirement but the paperwork around it. The consular posts of the Schengen states in India work from one joint document, the 'Approved list of Indian travel insurance companies of the consular posts of Schengen states' — and which version you get depends on where you download it. On August 31, 2026 we found six live copies in five different versions: a February 1, 2018 edition on the Luxembourg page and on the Germany one-pager for Kolkata (that file is named 'Latest'), an undated edition on the Netherlands one-pager that still names Bharti AXA and Max Bupa — names the dated later editions dropped — a July 2022 edition on the Portugal one-pager, a February 2023 edition on the Czech one-pager, and an October 2024 edition hosted by the Danish foreign ministry. The German missions' own insurance page cites the July 2022 edition (india.diplo.de, read August 31, 2026).
Two practical consequences follow. First, check the effective date printed on the copy your destination's page serves: the company roster and the approved age brackets differ between editions. Second, the list governs Indian insurers only — its own note states that other Indian policies 'are not accepted' and that applicants 'may seek to obtain insurance in any other country where claims against the insurance company would be recoverable in a Schengen State' (October 2024 edition, read August 31, 2026). Applications in India are open to Indian nationals and to foreign nationals legally residing there; Liechtenstein, the one Schengen state without a post in India, takes its applications through the Embassy of Switzerland in New Delhi (Common Information Sheet, April 2024, read August 31, 2026).
Questions from applicants in India
Which insurance companies are accepted for a Schengen visa applied for in India?
The newest edition of the joint consular list we found — 'Effective of October 2024', hosted by the Danish foreign ministry, read August 31, 2026 — names 24 Indian insurers, each with its own approved age bracket: Acko General Insurance, Aditya Birla Health Insurance, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, Care Health Insurance, Cholamandalam MS General Insurance, GO Digit General Insurance, HDFC ERGO General Insurance, ICICI Lombard General Insurance, IFFCO-Tokio General Insurance, Manipal Cigna Health Insurance, Niva Bupa Health Insurance, National Insurance, The New India Assurance, The Oriental Insurance, Reliance General Insurance, Royal Sundaram General Insurance, SBI General Insurance, Star Health & Allied Insurance, Tata-AIG General Insurance, United India Insurance, Universal Sompo General Insurance, Future Generali India Insurance, Zuno General Insurance and Zurich Kotak General Insurance. Per the note printed on the list, policies from any other Indian insurer are not accepted for the Schengen visa procedure.
Do German consulates in India refuse travel policies with a deductible or excess?
No published rule says so. We looked for one on the German missions' page 'Information on Travel Medical Insurance' (india.diplo.de, read August 31, 2026): the page states that German missions accept Indian travel medical insurance 'only from approved Indian Travel Insurance companies', cites the approved list as effective of July 2022, and contains no statement on deductibles or excess. The list itself (October 2024 edition, read the same day) sets no deductible condition either. Whether an individual officer weighs a deductible is not something these documents show; we publish what the missions publish.
Can an applicant in India use a foreign insurer instead of an Indian one?
The joint list itself allows it. Its printed note (February 2023 and October 2024 editions, read August 31, 2026) says other travel medical insurances issued by Indian insurance companies 'are not accepted for Schengen visa procedure', but applicants 'may seek to obtain insurance in any other country where claims against the insurance company would be recoverable in a Schengen State'. Which foreign policy documents state the Article 15 covers in writing, and what each states about eligibility for a buyer residing in India, is what the policy rows on this site record.
How many Schengen visa applications come from India?
1,108,239 in 2024, up from 966,687 in 2023 — the third-largest applicant country worldwide, behind China (1,779,255) and Türkiye (1,173,917), per the European Commission's news item of May 20, 2025 (read August 31, 2026). For 2025 the Commission again lists India third, at 1.15 million applications (news item of May 28, 2026).