International students: Swiss health insurance or exemption?

Three routes for international students

If you come to Switzerland to study, you usually receive a residence permit. With a permit of 3 months or more, the requirement to take out insurance applies in principle (Art. 1 para. 2 let. a and f of the Health Insurance Ordinance, KVV). For students, however, there are exceptions, and which one applies depends on two questions: where do you come from, and do you work in Switzerland?

This applies not only to students but also to pupils, trainees and interns, and to the family members who accompany them (Art. 2 para. 4 KVV). More on the term in the glossary under international students.

Step by step: before and after you arrive

1. Before you leave, clarify which group you belong to. Your home country and any side job decide this.
2. EU/EFTA/UK: take your EHIC with you. Check that your card is valid and that your insurance at home continues throughout your studies.
3. Other countries: have your insurance checked. Your private insurance must cover treatment in Switzerland at least to the extent of basic health insurance, for the whole period of the exemption. Ask your insurer for written confirmation.
4. Register with the municipality and note the deadline. You have 3 months from registration to take out insurance or submit your application for exemption (Art. 7 para. 1 KVV).
5. Submit your application to the cantonal office. The FOPH keeps a list of the responsible offices. The application goes to your canton of residence, together with the confirmation of your insurance.
6. Without an exemption: choose a Swiss insurer. Compare the premiums for your municipality in the premium calculator and sign up in time.
7. Apply for a premium subsidy. If you are insured in Switzerland, check your entitlement with the canton under Premium subsidy.

The rules in detail

EU, EFTA and United Kingdom. Under the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons, the EFTA Convention and the agreement with the United Kingdom, students from these countries who do not work in Switzerland remain in the social security system of their country of residence (FOPH). For treatment in Switzerland, they show the European Health Insurance Card; costs are settled through international benefits assistance, which Art. 95a of the Federal Health Insurance Act (KVG) makes applicable via the EU coordination rules. If you take up work in Switzerland, the principle of the place of work applies, and you must take out insurance here.

Other countries. Students from countries outside the EU, EFTA and the United Kingdom are required to take out insurance if they have a permit of 3 months or more. On application, the responsible cantonal authority exempts them if they are insured to an equivalent level for treatment in Switzerland for the whole period of the exemption (Art. 2 para. 4 KVV):

• Duration: a maximum of 3 years; extendable on application by a maximum of 3 further years. After that, you must take out insurance in Switzerland (FOPH).
• Proof: written confirmation from the responsible foreign body with all the required information.
• Revocation: you cannot reverse an exemption, or a decision to waive it, without a special reason.

Delay. If you do not take out insurance within 3 months and are not exempted, cover only starts when you join; if the delay is inexcusable, a premium surcharge of 30 to 50 % is added (Art. 7 para. 1, Art. 8 KVV). What applies then is explained in the article Registered too late.

What a Swiss health insurer costs students

If you have basic health insurance in Switzerland and are aged 19 to 25, you pay the premium for young adults (Art. 16a para. 1, Art. 61 para. 3 KVG). Premiums 2026, municipality of Lausanne (region 1), young adults born in 2004; source FOPH:

In Lausanne, the lowest offers are GP models. The FOPH publishes next year’s premiums at the end of September. You can find key figures and contact details for the insurers in the health insurer profiles.

Two rules ease the burden on students in Swiss basic health insurance:

• No hospital contribution: young adults in education do not pay the CHF 15 per day in hospital (Art. 104 para. 1 and 2 KVV).
• Premium subsidy: for young adults in education with lower and middle incomes, the cantons reduce the premium by at least 50 % (Art. 65 para. 1bis KVG). With a permit of 3 months or more, you are entitled if you meet the canton’s conditions (Art. 106 KVV).

You only need accident cover if you are not insured otherwise: if you work at least 8 hours a week for one employer, you are also insured against accidents in your free time through that employer (Art. 13 para. 1 UVV).

Sample calculation: two students in Lausanne

Example with fictitious people. Two students, both 22, start a master’s degree in Lausanne in September 2026 and register with the municipality on 14.09.2026. Their deadline runs until 14.12.2026.

Which deductible works out for students depends on the expected costs; you can run your own figures in the deductible calculator. This is a calculation, not a recommendation.

Special cases

Your family comes with you. Spouses and children up to 18, or up to 25 if in education, can be exempted with you if they have equivalent insurance (Art. 2 para. 4, Art. 3 para. 2 KVV). Otherwise, each person needs their own basic health insurance. Details in the article Family reunification.

Non-employed people from the EU and EFTA with a residence permit. There is a separate exemption on application for them, also with equivalent cover and not revocable without a special reason (Art. 2 para. 7 KVV).

After graduation. If you take a job in Switzerland after your studies or your exemption expires, you must take out insurance. Every insurer must accept you for basic health insurance. The process is explained in the article Health insurance within three months.

Swiss students abroad. If you go abroad for a semester and keep your residence in Switzerland, you remain subject to compulsory insurance in Switzerland, even if you have deregistered with your municipality (FOPH). In the EU, EFTA and the United Kingdom, the EHIC helps; elsewhere, basic health insurance pays for emergencies up to a maximum of twice the Swiss amount (Art. 36 para. 2 and 4 KVV). If you actually move your residence abroad, read the article Moving abroad.

Common mistakes

• Changing nothing when you take a side job. If you work in Switzerland as an EU student, you must take out insurance here, even with an EHIC.
• Submitting an inadequate policy. Without equivalent cover, there is no exemption.
• Applying at the end of the deadline. If you are turned down, there is then no time left to sign up on time.
• Forgetting the extension. The exemption ends after 3 years unless a new application has been made.
• Wanting to revoke the exemption later. That is not possible without a special reason.

All topics around moving to Switzerland are collected in the theme New in Switzerland. Which other groups can be exempted is shown in the article Exemption from compulsory health insurance.