What Is The Meaning of Country of Residence?

Country of Residence vs. Nationality

Your country of residence is the country where you are currently living in at the time you process your insurance application. It is where you have a residential mailing address, regardless of your citizenship status or how long you've lived there. Your country of residence indicates your intention to live in that country for the foreseeable future.

Your nationality, on the other hand, is the country where you hold citizenship, as reflected in your passport. This is the country you have legal allegiance to, even if you are not currently residing there.

During the application process, Pacific Prime will gather information on the insurer's behalf to determine your policy details and conditions, and calculate your premium cost. We will also ask for your country of residence, nationality, age, medical history, and other personal details.

Due to the varying health care costs around the world, the country in which you reside will influence the cost of your health insurance premium. If you are applying for a travel health insurance plan, the provider may not cover medical expenses in your home country or residence country. Instead, the insurer may only cover medical costs incurred while traveling outside of those regions.

Health insurance plans often allow you to select your geographical area of coverage. Insurers typically provide coverage for two main areas:

• Worldwide
• Worldwide excluding North America

Worldwide plans provide the broadest coverage, allowing you to seek treatment from any doctor or hospital around the globe. These plans tend to have higher premiums because medical expenses in North America are typically higher than in the rest of the world. 

Worldwide excluding North America plans prevent you from selecting scheduled treatment in North America. However, the majority of health insurance expat plans will provide coverage for emergency treatment in North America for a limited amount of days per year.

Our consultants can provide you with quotes for health insurance expat plans and answer any questions you may have. For more information on insurance terms or global health insurance inquiries, please contact Pacific Prime today.