Visa to Visit French Polynesia

[RandyonR3]

Recently I read an article concerning Information for Obtaining a Visa to Visit French Polynesia. In the article, one of the requirements asked for was "Proof of medical insurance abroad and evacuation coverage."
Medical insurance is a rare luxary amoung cruisers and I've never heard of evacuation coverage before..
Anyone know of an insurance company that would sell a policy for a limited period of time. say the three to six months spent in the islands........

[Sapperwhite]

Originally Posted by RandyonR3

Recently I read an article concerning Information for Obtaining a Visa to Visit French Polynesia. In the article, one of the requirements asked for was "Proof of medical insurance abroad and evacuation coverage."
Medical insurance is a rare luxary amoung cruisers and I've never heard of evacuation coverage before..
Anyone know of an insurance company that would sell a policy for a limited period of time. say the three to six months spent in the islands........

I don't know of any particular company that sells that type of insurance, but I'm sure they are out there. You may be able to get that kind of coverage from a company that does travellers insurance, like when you go on a cruise or an organized overseas vacation.

The evacuation coverage should basically be the cost of an airline ticket to your home country. They are supposed to give that back to you once you clear out of country. I heard they started doing that because there was a rash of people limping into the islands on their last dollar in a broken down boat, and then trying to stay in country indefinetly claiming they couldn't afford to leave. I think the reasoning has been more legitimized since the tsunami though.

[Freesail99]

I did read someting about evaculation insurance on the SSCA site. It was months ago. You may want to do a search there.

[camaraderie]

Randy...inspecting Jimmy Cornell's noonsite.com which is usually a most accurate source for current regulations I find that:
1. US citizens do not need a Visa to visit French Polynesia
2. You must be able to deposit $$ in the amount of a 1 way air ticket back to your country of origin for each crew member in a local bank...to be refunded on clearance out.
3. There is no requirement for medical insurance..but you may be required to prove you have sufficient resources to cover normal expenses during your stay.

Also on noonsite you may find this link useful for S. Pacific Cruising needs:
http://www.noonsite.com/Members/doina/R2007-02-14-3

[sck5]

google "medex" . They are in the business of selling medical evacuation insurance. I buy it when I go to some parts of Africa. It isnt too expensive - all it pays for is a plane to come get you in an emergency and take you to the nearest "real" hospital. I dont know where that would be from French Poly - It was London or S. Africa when I was in Africa and Houston or Miami when I was in Latin America. It is actually a good idea if you can afford it (something like a couple hundred bux a year if I recall right though insurance prices have gone crazy over the past few years)

[moanasailing]

as US citizens we sailed to French Polynesia in 2005 and didn't need a visa for a three month stay. If you wanted to stay longer you'd either need to get a visa in advance or leave the country and come back. Our friends did the latter by booking a week trip to Easter Island. It was significantly cheaper for them to fly there than from the US and they got to see the world's most isolated island.