When arriving in Switzerland, the next important step is to sort out all the paperwork required. This can be a complicated process and especially if you have to do all of the legal work in another language.
Permit
For any person coming into Switzerland and who is planning to stay for a longer period than 3 months, they will require a permit. The institute where you will be studying will be aware of this, and will of course provide you with the required paper work. Afterwards though, it will be up to the student to get the paperwork sorted.
There are different types of permits in Switzerland due to your reason for staying, but also length of stay. The student permit will last for a year, therefore each new academic year the student will simply need to renew their permit. Obviously if the student wishes to change their accommodation, we will go through this process as they will have to simply change their address, but we will go through this again with the student.
Commune
The commune is where the process will begin, but also ultimately finish for a student when arriving and leaving Switzerland. Each village, city or town will have their own commune, it acts like the council in each area. The commune will have a particular set of jobs that it will undertake, one of them is being in charge of the residents who live within this area. Due to each town having a different commune, it is impossible for the institute where the student will be studying to know which commune to contact.
This is where we can help the student, by organising which paperwork is required and allowing for the process to be quickly and effectively carried out. We will accompany the students to the commune, and go through all the required papers.
Health Insurance
Health insurance is obligatory in Switzerland. As soon as you plan to stay longer than 3 months this will be become something everyone is expected to have. This part of the Swiss system is just as important as having the permit. Of course having the permit and getting the health insurance is all linked in.
When it comes to getting the health insurance, of course there are a number of different insurers. We will help the student find the right package for them based on their requirements.
This link will allow you to have a better understanding of the system and why it is so important. And will allow foreigners coming to Switzerland to be more aware of how it all works.
Health Insurance- https://www.ch.ch/en/health-insurance-foreigners/]
We have also have a page with some useful links concerning all the different areas of paperwork in Switzerland.
Useful Links- https://student-accommodation-lausanne.ch/useful-links/
