julies

Just got an e-mail from my son (a US citizen) who flew to Lithuania this week. He flew from the US to Copenhagen and then booked a separate flight from there to Lithuania. His flight from Copenhagen got into Lithuania around 11:00 p.m. He has health insurance here in the US but hadn't brought the card with him. Lithuanian authorities didn't want to let him in the country and were going to put him in an immigration holding cell until supervisors arrived in the morning. They finally released him because he had a VISA card. He doesn't know if this was a scam where these people were looking for a bribe or what. He was accompanied by his fiancee/wife who is a Lithuanian citizen.

We have done lot of European travelling, including in former Soviet satelite countries, and have never, ever been asked for proof of health insurance. My son had lived and worked in Lithuania for over a year a while ago, and he never had been asked in the past. Has anyone else ever heard of such a thing?

Myer

Yes.

This topic came up a few months ago under the Czech Republic. I spoke to the Czech Consulate in Miami and was told it is a general (though seldom enforced) rule throughout Europe. They just don't want to get stuck with your medical bills. He said he had no idea if they would check or how often.

You should have Medical Emergency and Repatriation insurance.

As a result, I spent $95 (for my wife and myself) for this insurance from Travelex on our recent trip to Prague, Budapest, bruges and Amsterdam.

While it didn't cover any trip cancellation (really no need for us), it does include some interesting coverages such a lost luggage.

My wife's suitcase show up more than a day late upon return so we felt good about the coverage during that day+.

ira

Hi J,

From
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_p...s/cis_952.html

"All foreigners of non-European Union countries seeking entry into Lithuania must carry proof of a medical insurance policy contracted for payment of all costs of hospitalization and medical treatment in Lithuania".

dsquared

ira beat me to it, but it reinforces the point that it's a good idea to check on entry requirements when traveling. They are readily available on the State Department's website.

Here's the entire paragraph from their website:
"All foreigners of non-European Union countries seeking entry into Lithuania must carry proof of a medical insurance policy contracted for payment of all costs of hospitalization and medical treatment in Lithuania. Visitors unable to demonstrate proof of medical insurance must purchase short-term insurance at the border from a Lithuanian provider for roughly $1.00 per day. The number of days will be calculated from the day of entry until the date on the return ticket. See our Foreign Entry Requirements brochure for more information on Lithuania and other countries. Visit the Embassy of Lithuania web site at www.ltembassyus.org for the most current visa information."

julies

He sent us the heads up because we are going there next week. In addition to our standard health insurance policy here at home, we've carried an emergency evacuation type policy for several years now and always bring this with us.

Interesting though about the Czech Republic; we've visited there several times & never ran into this.

I'm wondering though if he got targeted because he is younger, but definitely older than the backpacker crowd, than we staid middle-aged people are. Plus, I drove him to the airport and he did have on a pretty ratty looking pair of trousers.

travelbunny

..whether requirement or not, anyone is crazy to travel without health coverage AND repatriation coverage. Check your credit cards and work policy (but you will need a magnifying glass to check the fine print..read CAREFULLY and make no assumptions0. If no covered by a policy for your trip.

travelbunny

..whoops my computer did something odd..should read that if you don't have full coverage buy a policy for your trip.

Robespierre

But they didn't offer him the dollar-a-day deal? I guess the Lithuanian immigration people miss the authority they had back in totalitarian times.

walkinaround

although these particular regulations do not affect me, i find them an attack on free and open travel. while everyone SHOULD travel with proper insurance (i always do), having to provide proof of these things and coverage amounts involved is potentially troublesome when dealing with people having policies from all over the world. and i am suspicious of regulating what people *should do*.

what's next for simple short leisure visits - proof of health? aids test results? proof of general liability insurance in case you hurt someone in their country? proof of clean criminal record?

i am aware that certain other countries have made it increasingly difficult for the travelling public over the last few years and i oppose these measures as well.

while i understand the burdons that travellers potentially cause to all countries, the traveller in me feels that this is just a necessary result of free and open travel between nations. we should be opening boarders by minimising restrictions and red tape, not closing them.

david_west

Any country can refuse you entry on pretty much any grounds they like. I can see why Lithuania would have this rule for non EU types. It’s a party destination and as such has to put with more than it’s fair share of self inflicted health problems caused by overdoing it. I can imagine that it’s health service, and it’s people, are more than fed up with patching up people who have done themselves a mischief, and being stiffed for the bill only adds insult to (someone else’s) injury.

Insurance is cheap and potentially the greatest bargain there is.

Although, frankly, the idea of someone from America complaining about the officiousness of another country’s immigration service does rather take the biscuit. The phrase about motes and beams comes to mind.

Robespierre

"Although, frankly, the idea of someone from America complaining about the officiousness of another country’s immigration service does rather take the biscuit. The phrase about motes and beams comes to mind."

...and that strikes me as an odd statement for a Brit to make. Here, take <i>this</i> biscuit and...

USNR

Seems ironic that a tiny country like Lithuania can demand health insurance coverage of an American citizen...while a huge and rich country like the U.S. cannot provide health coverage for its own citizens. Hmmmm.

walkinaround

david...the NHS is also burdoned by people from the baltics who have come here to work or look for work. however, that's life. creating extra red tape for travellers is not the answer.

...and i don't see what the US immigration regulations have to do with anything...perhaps the OP is also opposed to the new headaches for visitors to america.

david_west

Walkinaround – Lithuania is in the EU – therefore they are covered here and vice versa. No one is being burdened. Those from the new Europe that come here pay their taxes here, and as such are entitled to cover.

As it happens the NHS rarely bothers to attempt to recoup the costs of care from non EU nationals, but in theory they could. There’s also a huge difference between the wealth of the UK and the East European states and I can see why they don’t want to pay for someone else’s short-sightedness.

And to them that are bleating about me dissing the US immigration – you should know that the whole wide world think that US immigration officials are two bob Hitlers. Sorry – but it’s true. Really , don’t take my word for it – ask around.

ira

&gt;the whole wide world think that US immigration officials are two bob Hitlers. &lt;

That explains why no one wants to get a green card here.

Thank goodness. Otherwise we might have a problem with illegal immigrants.

david_west

*sigh*

gertie3751

Yes David, it's true. Most Americans don't know this because they don't deal with their immigration as foreigners do and because most of us are too polite to tell them!

Brazilnut

Ira,

Maybe they want to get a &quot;greencard&quot; so that they won't have to suffer in the hands of US immigration officers, who are particularly rude to South Americans, particularly if you have dark skin.

julies

I am the original paster here, and I am all too well aware of immigration headaches for those who want to immigrate legally. My son is marrying a woman from Lithuania. They had to get married here in a civil ceremony because our US authorities give someone with a fiancee visa 90 days to get married or leave the country. They had a civil ceremony here to meet this requirement. Her parents were not able to attend because 1.) coming from a poor country they don't have the money and 2.) our government would not give them visas. (As a side note here, I had a student who was from Columbia and who had married a US citizen. Her parents were denied visas 3 times by the US government even when they had a letter from their daughter's obstetrician stating that she was pregnant and would like her parents to be able to come to see the new baby.)

Now a year and a half later my son and daughter-in-law are finally having the religious ceremony she and her parents wanted, and the parents will be able to attend because it is in LIthuania. We're going too because we are fortunate that we are free to travel to her country and we have the funds to travel for pleasure.

My daughter-in-law, who is a legal immigrant, has jumped through innumerable hoops, had incredible hassles, &amp; paid a ton of money to our US immigration officials. She has not been home to see her family in a year and a half because until recently, when she got her permanent resident card, she could not be guaranteed that she would be allowed back in the US if she left. As my son frequently says, he wouldn't mind paying all the fees entailed with immigration if he felt he was getting service for his money. There are no live people to talk to, you are a number with no recourse, every little thing takes months, and every step is another $300.

Yet, that said, I still was incredulous that my son was stopped at the border.

degas

ira

We need a real extensive PR effort to get the word out: the USA is a real bad, dangerous, boring place filled with rude, fat, selfish, loud people and bad restaurants!

That would stop so many folks from sneaking in each year!