"Proof of medical insurance that covers the entire stay in the US " F-1 | What does this mean?

[karhubear 0]

Hello!

I'm looking at the F-1 requirements for Finland and saw this on the page.

"Proof of medical insurance that covers the entire stay in the US"

I can't seem to find this referenced anywhere else (or in the F-1 guide here), so it's really confused me.

Am I overthinking what this means?

If I understand this literally, it leads to a series of weird questions:

How do they expect a student to know the exact length of their studies?

How do they expect a student to pay health insurance (in-full) for this period of time?

...and especially considering they haven't been approved to even become a student in the USA.

What do they mean by this?

The college my friend has applied to requires students to have health insurance before registering for class, anyway.

Thank you all in advance! I really appreciate your input.

[milimelo 4,554]

Hello!

I'm looking at the F-1 requirements for Finland and saw this on the page.

"Proof of medical insurance that covers the entire stay in the US"

I can't seem to find this referenced anywhere else (or in the F-1 guide here), so it's really confused me.

Am I overthinking what this means?

If I understand this literally, it leads to a series of weird questions:

How do they expect a student to know the exact length of their studies?

How do they expect a student to pay health insurance (in-full) for this period of time?

...and especially considering they haven't been approved to even become a student in the USA.

What do they mean by this?

The college my friend has applied to requires students to have health insurance before registering for class, anyway.

Thank you all in advance! I really appreciate your input.

Check that the college your friend will be attending offers health insurance and provide info that the friend will sign up for it. If they don't, get some student insurance quotes for the visa and make sure the student has the insurance when the school starts - the school officials will ask for the cards.

[Little_My 464]

I am Finnish and I was here for 2 years on an F1 student visa. I don't remember having to show proof of insurance as a part of the visa process, but your school might require that from students once you start enrolling for classes. In my university, undergraduates had to have insurance, but it was not mandatory for graduate students. Most schools will offer a student health insurance plan through the school that will be much cheaper than any other plan you'll find available. Personally, I do think you should most definitely make sure to have insurance covering you for the whole time you are here - the system is very very different from that of Finland, for example. A short visit to the ER, for example, can end up costing you in thousands of dollars easily. Routine doctor's check-up often runs in hundreds of dollars.

What website were you looking at where you saw this requirement?

[karhubear 0]

Thanks for your replies!

The school does require insurance anyway before registration.

The information about having proof of insurance for the entire stay is from this page:

Full-time Student and Dependents (F-1, F-2; M-1, M-2)

Original form I-20

Proof of personal funds as listed on I-20

Extract from the Population Information System in Finland (virkatodistus in Finnish) from the local register office (Maistraatti in Finnish) for dependent spouse and/or children if traveling to the US. The Extract must have been issued within the past three months.

Receipt for SEVIS fee

Proof of medical insurance that covers the entire stay in the US

Source: http://finland.usembassy.gov/application_requirements.html

It seems more likely that the embassy would require plans for insurance rather than proof of being registered at the time a student applies for the visa.

[Soapz 14]

My school accepted a long-term travel medical insurance from my home country. You might check into that as well.

[chrissbe17 3]

When I moved to Florida I had to sign up for health insurance with my school as part of the school policy. It only pertained to international students and was very pricey!