Family permit for EEA student partner (health insurance)

[bumbur]

Hi!

I'm a Polish citizen and my wife is Ukrainian. I'm going to study in UK and my wife will be looking for a job as she has just graduated from the university.

I have read this forum for a while know, but I can't find answers to my concerns about private health insurance. On the uk gov website it says:

Your family member must have full health insurance (comprehensive sickness insurance) if they’re studying or financially independent.

1. This means that I need to have a CSI - would EHIC card from Poland be enough just to apply for family permit and later on I would buy CSI as I'm planning to stay UK for a while?

And about my wife, I read on uk gov site:

Prior to amendments to the EEA Regulations which came into force on 6th April 2015, EEA nationals who were residing in the UK as students were required to hold CSI for themselves, but the Regulations did not require such persons to also hold CSI for any family members who are residing in the UK with them. This is in contrast to the requirements for self-sufficient persons, who are explicitly required to hold CSI for themselves and any family members.
Changes were made to the Regulations on 6th April to bring the requirements for family members of students in line with those for the family members of self-sufficient persons.

2. Does it mean that my wife also needs to have CSI to apply for family permit?

3. Is it possible to buy it while not being in UK (not registered anywhere in NHS yet)?
4. What to search for when browsing different companies? I mean do they advertise their insurances as visa-friendly or as CSI or nothing like that, just health insurance?
5. Does anyone has some recommendations? I'm not really interested in high-class expensive insurance for now. 6. Is it required to pay for CSI upfront for 12 months or is it enough to pay monthly?
7. If it's required for my wife to have a CSI to apply then what if we buy it and sign the contract for 12 months and then they will reject her application, we need to pay for something she can't even use?

I am really sorry if any of my questions was already answered, you can just point me to the subject with answer in such case. Thank you all in advance!

[Pion]

Hey,
I have the same situation and applied from Warsaw.
My husband is phD student in UK. I applied without CSI and I got the refusal letter after 15 working days. The reason of refusal is we did provide CSI for both of us. After that, I had to re-apply EEA family permit visa with the CSI ( bought from UK). It costs both of us 120 pound per month and the contract for 12 months. I even can not use it but I have to pay for it. We bought it in June and apply visa in June, finally I got the visa in beginning of August.

I know that it is stupid but you have to pay for it if you want to get the visa for your wife.

[Pion]

* The reason for refuse is that we DID NOT provide CSI for both of us.

[bumbur]

Hey,
I have the same situation and applied from Warsaw.
My husband is phD student in UK. I applied without CSI and I got the refusal letter after 15 working days. The reason of refusal is we did provide CSI for both of us. After that, I had to re-apply EEA family permit visa with the CSI ( bought from UK). It costs both of us 120 pound per month and the contract for 12 months. I even can not use it but I have to pay for it. We bought it in June and apply visa in June, finally I got the visa in beginning of August.

I know that it is stupid but you have to pay for it if you want to get the visa for your wife.

Thank you very much for this post!
120 pounds is a lot, can you tell me in which company did you buy insurance and maybe the selected options? I briefly checked AXA and Aviva and they were both less than 60 pounds for 2 people per month.

[Pion]

Hey,
I have the same situation and applied from Warsaw.
My husband is phD student in UK. I applied without CSI and I got the refusal letter after 15 working days. The reason of refusal is we did provide CSI for both of us. After that, I had to re-apply EEA family permit visa with the CSI ( bought from UK). It costs both of us 120 pound per month and the contract for 12 months. I even can not use it but I have to pay for it. We bought it in June and apply visa in June, finally I got the visa in beginning of August.

I know that it is stupid but you have to pay for it if you want to get the visa for your wife.

Thank you very much for this post!
120 pounds is a lot, can you tell me in which company did you buy insurance and maybe the selected options? I briefly checked AXA and Aviva and they were both less than 60 pounds for 2 people per month.

I used freedom insurance. I take Elite. Hope it can help you. I know it is really expensive but I did asked many insurance company but they are not sure about CSI expect Freedom.

https://www.freedomhealthinsurance.co.uk/