Apply Medical card

Hi,
Me and my wife are new in Ireland.

We would like to apply for Medical card. Only my wife is working at the moment at minimum wage. She is EU national and I am not, so I am waiting for my appropriate visa, only then I can start working.

If we apply for medical card, are we going to be a burden on government or is it going to affect my visa process in any way?
How long will it take until we receive the medical card?
Thanks all

Moved from Health Insurance and healthcare costs to Welfare and state benefits.

Check: Medical cards - Citizens Information to see if you are eligiable for the medical card or GP only card.

To qualify for a medical card, your weekly income must be below a certain figure for your family size. Cash income, savings, investments and property (except for your own home) are taken into account in the means test.

Click to expand...

aj
moderator

There used to be worked examples relating to qualification for Medical/GP Cards on welfare.ie (and perhaps citizensinformation.ie) but I can not locate them know. Does anyone here know if they have been intentionally removed? or perhaps someone can post a link to same.