I'm new on this forum. I'm a girl who is coming to work in Zurich in some months and I have some doubts about health insurance.
1. I'm going to do a PhD and my boyfriend is coming with me and he will stay in Switzerland as jobseeker, so we are thinking about what's the best option for him concerning with health insurances.
We have read that he should have a health insurance too while he is in switzerland. Which options does he have?
Could he stay in Zurich as a "turist" for 3 months (and not paying any health insurance) and after these 3 months go to the immigration office to take the residence permit ( L ) and then take a health insurance? Would he have to pay for the last 3 months + the current month? Or is it better to start paying for the health insurance since his arrive?
2. In the case he hires a health insurance when he arrives and then he get a job as a PhD student or trainee, for example, can he change to Swisscare, for example?
3. I have seen that for PhD students there is this "special" cover by SwissCare. I have read in some posts written by some people that PhD's familiars can be also covered by Swisscare.
Does it mean than familiars that are living with me can have the same "special" cover as me? I mean, if I take this speacial fee for PhDs, Can my boyfriend take the same one even if he's not a PhD student?
And what "familiars" mean? I guess that cohabiters (I mean your boyfriend, who is living with you) are not familiars, but husbands yes, or?
So many questions.....sorry and thank you so much!
Yes, he must have Swiss health insurance. Yes, he could be here as a tourist for 3 months, but the insurance will be backdated to his arrival in the country anyway and what would he do if he needs to see a doctor in the meantime? The European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) will only cover emergency treatment, not a regular doctor’s visit. Or he takes out travel insurance, but for 3 months’ cover it may be expensive.
Be aware that you won’t be assessed as a couple, but as two separate people when it comes to getting your permits. The Swiss only recognise married couples or same sex registered partnerships, so you will both need to prove you can support yourselves financially while you study/job hunt. The only other way to get him in as your dependent is for you to agree to support him financially for 5 years, even if the relationship subsequently breaks down, so would require you to prove you have enough money to support two people. This is called a concubine permit. You can find out more about it here:
Each canton has different rules, but this may give you a starting point. I also suggest you contact the Zurich canton migration office to find out their requirements.
Oh, and if you’re not EU nationals, then the boyfriend can’t come here as a jobseeker. He can come as a tourist and job hunt, but can’t start work until his employer’s application for a permit is approved. And he would need to return to his home country to apply for a Type D visa to allow him to enter Switzerland for more than 90 days.
What country is this boyfriend from? That would help.
Let's assume he is EU17/8, then yes he can come as a tourist for 3 months before registering. Once those 3 months are over and he stays then he needs to get health insurance. He can not be on SwissCare as he is not your family/spouse and he is not a student.
I would look again at SwissCare, however. I thought I read recently they stopped accepting that. You should double check.
He only needs to state the entry date as the day he registers not the 3 months before.
....First, there are the so called "cantonal exemptions", some cantons have better exemptions than others. Bern and Zurich for example, allows any PhD and postdoc to keep Swisscare as long as you can prove you work at the university.
I looked at the link in the first post of that thread. I see nothing on the website about exemptions for Bern and/or Zurich. That language seems to have been added by the OP. I recommend you contact Swisscare yourself, and get any feedback in writing.
Your boyfriend will probably still need to sort his own permit and insurance.
Looking very quickly at the first post linked to by MF, it does state the there are exemption "for example" for Bern/Zurich. On the Swisscare site it says after they sign up they need to file for an exemption and someone else implies it's based on salary, so high paid PH.Ds are not allowed an exemption.
Anyway, the OP now knows to look very carefully at all the details. Let's assume she's going to do her due diligence.