Health insurance and exemption request

• You have an accepted EHIC card and no gainful employment:

You need to request an exemption. The health authorities in Zurich will inform you accordingly. How to request an exemption

•  You do not have an accepted EHIC card and/or have gainful employment:

You must take an insurance for international students, like Swisscare or Scorestudies. You need to request an exemption - start the process on the same
day as you receive the letter from the health authorities to declare what your health insurance is. How to request an exemption

• You have an accepted EHIC card and no gainful employment ¨C exemption needed.
• You do not have an accepted EHIC card and/or have gainful employment: You must take a private Swiss health insurance (an insurance for international students is not allowed). See external page www.comparis.ch to compare insurance packages. No exemption needed.

ESKAS will provide you with Advisor Optima. How to register and receive your insurance certificate:

Advisor Optima ¨C Doctoral and Visiting Students

1. Fill out the information form on ¡®myassistance¡¯
   Provide a Swiss address ¡ú Insurance certificate will be issued (available online and a copy sent by e-mail ) and access to the app will be activated (login details are already included in the Welcome Pack)
2. Residence permit recommended
3. End of scholarship: Departure confirmation recommended

An exemption is needed ¨C start the process on the same day as you receive the letter from the health authorities to declare what your health insurance is. How to request an exemption

ESKAS will provide you with the Advisor HMO insurance. How to register and receive your insurance certificate:

HMO (Groupe Mutuel) ¨C Post-Docs

1. Fill out the information form on ¡®myassistance¡¯
2. Submit an official residence confirmation called Certificate of Arrival (Meldebest?tigung) with the Swiss address. If the address in not mentioned on the document, you will need to order a Residence certificate (Wohnsitzbest?tigung) and pay the tax to obtain it. ¡ú First insurance certificate will be issued. Timeframe: 1¨C2 weeks after submitting the residence confirmation
3. Residence permit required ¡ú Insurance card will be issued. Timeframe: 5¨C6 weeks after submitting the residence permit
4. End of scholarship: Departure confirmation required

No exemption needed.

When you register at the residents' registration office, you receive the following:

• Confirmation letter ("Meldebest?tigung") that you have registered for the residence permit (this is NOT your residence permit)
• Letter with information and details about health insurance. The letter requires you to inform the authorities about your health insurance plan (cf. sample letters)

Ask about the process to obtain the exemption at the city/village when you apply for your residence permit.

Prepare scans of the following documents before you start the online exemption request (open the table under external page Who can be exempted from compulsory insurance > Persons staying for education or training purposes):

• Copy of your full health insurance policy or your European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) with front and back page merged with your official FCS notification letter (p. 1-2) as one PDF file. This is the easiest way to ensure that you have space to upload the FCS notification letter which matters.
• Confirmation of the educational institution 
  • FCS visiting students and doctoral students: Download Download your confirmation of matriculation in myStudies (PDF, 118 KB).
  • If you are eligible to apply for an exemption as a postdoc: Use your official FCS notification letter and your confirmation of acceptance at ETH Zurich as proof that you are still in education and training.
• Copy of your residence permit (front and back page) or, if not yet available, confirmation of registration ("Meldebest?tigung")
• Should you be additionally employed: Work contract
• Confirmation of Form A is not necessary for recognised student insurance companies such as Advisor Swiss Insurance.

Below are the most important information and steps to apply for an exemption. To find detailed instructions for "letter A" and "letter B", please open this website.

• With a European Health Insurance Card (and GHIC Card) ¨C if you can use the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) as a non-employed scholar in education and training ¨C fill in the exemption request following the detailed instructions under letter A.
• With a new Swiss student health insurance without income ¨C if you have an Advisor OPTIMA policy and no supplementary income (applies also to any other student health insurance package under VVG law) ¨C fill in the exemption request following the detailed instructions under letter B.
• With a new Swiss student health insurance with income ¨C if you have an Advisor OPTIMA policy and receive a supplementary income (applies also to any other student health insurance package under VVG law), i.e. all doctoral students ¨C fill in the exemption request following the detailed instructions under letter B.
  

Although you will mostly be able to follow the precise instructions under letter A respectively B, make your own judgements where appropriate during the application process. Here are some examples:

• Type of residence permit ¨C it is best to wait until you have received your residence permit. However, if this is too late, it is better to enter "unknown" when you apply and upload the confirmation of registration ("Meldebest?tigung")
• Type of education:
  • FCS Research Fellows = students
  • Doctoral students = PhD students
  • Postdocs = other, add Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship as an educational programme
• Under "support benefits" you would usually choose none. 
• There is a comments box at the end of the application. Mention, among other comments, that you are a Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship holder in education and training and the start date of your scholarship.
• Employment details: If you do not receive supplementary gains, choose "not employed". Don't choose "Persons in the registration procedure"!
• No need to enter an AHV (OASI) number
• Upload the required documents
• After registering online, you will receive an automatic confirmation email from SVA Zurich that you have submitted the exemption application. Forward this email including your details (first name and surname, date of birth, current address) to the City of Zurich () or the residence registration office of your municipality.

You must monitor the outcome of your request.

It is very important that you watch out for the SVA Zurich decision, which is sent by email and that you check your email spam folder regularly. Download and save (!) the Download decision letter (PDF, 1.4 MB) (letter 6) as soon as you receive it and forward a copy to the Reception Office. 

The procedure is not complete until you receive the final decision on your exemption request from SVA Zurich. This can take several months. 

Coverage during the waiting period: You are covered by the insurance of your choice, even though you have not yet received the final decision on the exemption. Therefore you must pay the insurance premiums (in case of a Swiss insurance for international students) during this period.

In case of rejection

Should you receive a negative reply, see Download sample letters (PDF, 1.4 MB) (letters 4 and 5), you must notify ADVISOR Swiss Insurance, FCS and the Reception Office immediately. If you do not do so, you might be automatically insured by the residents' registration office at your place of residence.