How to apply for a GP visit card

Who this is for

• Anyone aged 8 to 69 living in the Republic of Ireland (or planning to for at least a year) whose net income is under the limit: this card is means tested.^[2]
• Parents of children under 8, everyone over 70, and people getting Carer’s Benefit or Carer’s Allowance at full or half rate: no means test, but you must register.^[2][7]
• Not for medical card holders, who do not need a GP visit card.^[1]

Before you start

• Your PPS number and date of birth, and for a child their PPS number too, plus your GP’s name.^[2][3]
• Aged 8 to 69: your income and expense details, marital status and details of any dependent children. No documents are needed with the application, but the HSE may ask for proof of income and expenses later.^[2]
• If your only household income is a social welfare payment, you qualify for a medical card and the HSE says to apply for that instead.^[2]

Step by step

1. 1

   Find your route

   The HSE lists four cards: the general card for anyone aged 8 to 69, the under-8s card, the over-70s card and the carers card.^[1] The last three are automatic regardless of income; you do not apply, you register, and each has its own registration process.^[2]
2. 2

   Aged 8 to 69: apply on mymedicalcard.ie

   The HSE page says the only way to apply for this card is online. You give your PPS number, date of birth, income and expense details, marital status and details of dependent children.^[2] Citizens Information describes the same application as the medical card’s, and says the MC1 form can also be emailed to pcrs.applications@hse.ie or posted to National Medical Card Unit, PO Box 11745, Dublin 11; the MC1 form itself is headed for either card.^[7] Whichever route you use, the HSE assesses you for a medical card first and only then for a GP visit card.^[7]
3. 3

   Child under 8: register online

   Register at the HSE’s under-8s service with your PPS number, the child’s PPS number and the GP’s name. A baby under four months can be registered before the PPS number arrives; the HSE asks for it later. If you do not have the child’s PPS number, phone the Department of Social Protection on 0818 927 999 or email cis@welfare.ie.^[3] If your GP accepts registrations electronically the HSE sends the details on; if not, you get the registration by email to print, have the GP sign and post to The National Medical Card Unit, PO Box 11745, Dublin 11, D11 XKF3. A card number follows within a few days.^[3] A paper form can be ordered on 0818 22 44 78 and sent to pcrs.applications@hse.ie or National Medical Card Unit, under 8s GP visit cards, PO Box 12629, Dublin 11.^[3] A child who already has a medical card does not need to register.^[3]
4. 4

   Over 70: register online or on paper

   Everyone over 70 living in Ireland can register regardless of income, online through the HSE’s over-70s service or on the registration form, which can be ordered on 0818 22 44 78.^[4] The HSE page gives the postal address as Eligibility Unit, Over 70s GP Visit Card Scheme, PO Box 11745, Dublin 11, while Citizens Information gives National Medical Card Unit, GP Visit Card Over 70s, PO Box 12629, Dublin 11; email pcrs.applications@hse.ie works for both.^[4][7] The HSE page does not list the details the online form asks for.
5. 5

   Carers: register by email or post

   If you get Carer’s Benefit or Carer’s Allowance at full or half rate, download the carers registration form or order it on 0818 22 44 78, then email it to pcrs.applications@hse.ie or post it to National Medical Card Unit, carers GP visit cards, PO Box 12629, Dublin 11.^[5] The HSE overview page mentions registering online, but the carers page itself gives only the email and post routes, and Citizens Information says the same.^[1][5][7]
6. 6

   Track the registration

   Online applications end with a reference number; postal ones get it by text if you gave a mobile number, otherwise by post. Enter it under “Track your application” on mymedicalcard.ie. The HSE’s eligibility status check also shows whether a card is valid.^[1]

Documents to have ready

The four GP visit cards

How the means test works for ages 8 to 69

The HSE adds a basic rate, an amount for each dependant and your allowable expenses; if your net weekly income (after tax, PRSI and USC) is below that total you qualify.^[2] The basic rates are €418 for a single person living alone, €373 for a single person living with family, and €607 for a couple with or without dependent children or for a single parent. Citizens Information says these rates have applied since 13 November 2023.^[2][7] Dependant amounts are €57 for each of the first two children under 16 and €61.50 for the third and later, €58.50 and €64 for children over 16, and €117 for a dependent child over 16 in full-time third-level education without a grant.^[2]

Allowable expenses are rent, mortgage payments, childcare, travel to work (car travel is counted at 18c per kilometre in the HSE examples), maintenance payments, the net cost of private nursing home care, mortgage protection payments and life assurance for mortgage protection.^[2] If a Government allowance pays part of an expense you count only your own share: in the HSE’s example, €800 a month childcare with €240 from the National Childcare Scheme leaves €560.^[2] Savings and property above €36,000 (single) or €72,000 (couple) add €1 a week to your income for every €1,000 in the first €10,000 band, €2 in the next and €4 above that.^[2]

What the card covers

With a GP visit card you do not pay to see your doctor, including GP out-of-hours services, but you pay for medicines and other services; hospital charges are not covered. Prescribed medicines may come under the Drugs Payment Scheme.^[1][7] The under-8s card also covers the developmental assessments at ages 2 and 5, urgent out-of-hours GP care, and care for children with asthma, with a first check on diagnosis, a second three months later and a yearly check until the child is 8; medicines and hospital charges are not covered.^[3][8] Children aged 6 and 7 have been included since August 2023, and a child’s card runs until the end of the month of their eighth birthday.^[8]

Over 70 with a partner under 70

If one of a couple is 70 or older, both qualify for a medical card when combined gross income is €1,050 a week or less, and both qualify for a GP visit card when it is above €1,050 but not more than €1,400. Citizens Information says to use the standard medical card and GP visit card form with income and expense details for this.^[9][7]

Reviews, changes and lost cards

Entitlement is reviewed periodically; if you do not return the review form the card may not be re-issued.^[7] To change the address on an under-8s card, phone 0818 22 44 78 or 01 864 7100 or email nmcu.cod@hse.ie with the name and PPS number of every child on a card and a copy of a utility bill dated within the last three months.^[3] Plastic card production is temporarily disrupted: cards remain valid and the HSE sends a letter with the card details.^[3]

What happens next

You can start using the card number as soon as the HSE issues it; a child’s number arrives within a few days of the GP receiving the registration.^[3] Keep the reference number for tracking and the HSE letter as proof of the card while plastic cards are paused.^[1][3]

If something goes wrong

Eligibility Unit, GP visit cards, PO Box 11745, Dublin 11. Phone 0818 22 44 78 or 01 864 7100. Email clientregistration@hse.ie.^[6] For a child’s PPS number: Department of Social Protection, 0818 927 999 or cis@welfare.ie.^[3]

FairCare cannot see or check a registration. The HSE decides; this guide describes only the published process and limits.

Common questions

Do I need to send documents?

For the 8 to 69 card, no documents go with the application, but the HSE may contact you later for proof of income and expenses. For the under-8s and over-70s cards the registration asks for PPS numbers and the GP’s name.

My child is 6 or 7. Are they covered?

Yes. Citizens Information says children aged 6 and 7 have qualified since August 2023, and the card lasts until the end of the month of the eighth birthday.

I have a medical card. Do I need this too?

No. The HSE says medical card holders do not need a GP visit card, and a child with a medical card does not need to register.

What if my income is under the medical card limit?

The application is the same. The HSE assesses you for a medical card first and only if you do not qualify does it assess you for the GP visit card.