UKC

Both our EHICs having expired last month, and with a trip to Portugal coming up at the end of May, I applied for GHICs for both of us on 4th April.  Can anyone who has applied for a GHIC recently advise how long theirs took to arrive?  I'm wondering at what point I need to start badgering the GHIC people given that our next trip is approaching over the horizon.

(We do have travel insurance as well but, not unreasonably, the insurers expect you to have a GHIC if travelling to a country that accepts them.)

Mine was about 4 weeks or so. Didn't really keep track of it, it arrived after I got home though.

If it doesn't come in time it's probably worth making a note of the section on 'If you're abroad and do not have your card with you' on this website:

https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/healthcare-abroad/apply-for-a-free-uk-glob...

Renewed the whole family's (x4) recently (even though some still had a year on). Arrived in less than 3wks.

Ordered one in March, came within 2 weeks.

Just over a week for ours when we did it in January. 

Mine arrived a week after I got back - I ordered >2 weeks before I left.

We applied for them on the 9th March, and having not heard anything phoned on the 1st April to ensure all was in hand (0191 2181999 - listen to all the things but DON'T press GHIC, just hang on the phone) we were told that we didn't need the physical card and we could sort it out on-line!

Miraculously they turned up the following week - so 5 weeks in total.

We're currently in France and applied about 2 days before we left (bad planning).  Needless to say the cards hadn't arrived, but there was a message at some point during the application process saying that in an emergency you don't need the physical card, there is a route to getting the necessary info for the hospital over the phone/online.

Ours only took a couple of weeks I think. I ordered them about a month before our trip (which we are currently on.)