4. Arrival & starting your stay
- In Swiss German, your student card is called "Legi".
- Your student card—known as the “Legi” in Swiss German—is valid for one full semester plus the first two weeks of the next semester. The expiration date is printed on the white stripe of the card.
- Please note that this validity period exceeds your official student status at ETH Zurich. Your student status ends on the departure date listed in Mobility-Online, which is the key reference for both the duration of your residence permit and the date of your dematriculation.
- If you stay at ETH for a second semester, you must validate your card again at a validation terminal.
- To get a student card, you must have been enrolled in myStudies at least one week before your arrival
Collect your student card
- Enrol at least one week before your arrival in myStudies.
- At the earliest, you can pick up your student card on 1 September
- Bring a picture ID (passport or ID card) with you for identification
- If you have applied to the D-BSSE in Basel, pick it up there. Details are in the factsheet below.
Deadline
14 days after your arrival in Switzerland (required by Swiss law)
Registration procedure
Non-Swiss scholar coming from outside of Switzerland
You need a residence permit, regardless of your nationality or visa requirements.
Non-Swiss scholar already living in Switzerland
You should have a valid Swiss residence permit.
Swiss citizens
You do not need a residence permit, yet still need to register upon arrival at your place of residence (unless you have already registered). For this you need a valid Swiss passport.
Scholarship holders from non-EU/EFTA countries
- The Advisor Swiss Insurance OPTIMA and HMO programme already includes the personal liability insurance.
- If you wish, you can purchase an additional household (home contents) insurance from Advisor or any other insurance company.
Scholarship holders from non-EU/EFTA countries
We strongly recommend that you purchase a personal liability insurance and if desired also the household (home contents) insurance from Advisor or any other insurance company.
- As a principle, personal liability and household (home contents) insurance are not mandatory in Switzerland.
- A liability insurance is strongly recommended by ETH. This insurance protects you from claims for damages if you injure another person or damage property belonging to another person. Insurance premiums are lower than the costs of potential damage. Examples of when you might need it:
- ETH is covered against material damage but is subject to a high deductible. If damage to installations or equipment is caused by the gross negligence of a scholar (e.g. in the laboratory), ETH can require the person responsible to cover the damage, wholly or partially.
- There is no special insurance for cyclists but if you ride a bike or do sports like skiing you are recommended to take out personal liability insurance.
- Some landlords insist on seeing evidence of your personal liability insurance before you can sign a rental agreement.
- Home insurance covers damage to your personal belongings in your home caused by fire, water damage, theft or broken glass. It is often combined with personal liability insurance.
Always keep your address up to date.
Note:
- Post is only delivered if the name of the recipient is on the letterbox. Either put your name on the letterbox or (if you are subletting) have your post sent c/o to the name of your proprietor. Include your room or flat number if there is one (e.g. in student residences).
- When your address changes, make sure to Inform the residents' registration office, your health insurance company, your bank or post office, FCS, and the Reception Service as well as any other office.
- If you change your address during your scholarship stay, you can request that external page your mail be forwarded from your old address to your new address. This ensures that important mail is not lost.
First two instalments
- The first two stipend payments (so for September and October) will be paid out in cash, and can be picked up from 1 September on from the cash desk (room HG F 67.1, main building / "Hauptgeb?ude"). You can choose to pick up both payments at once, or one payment early September, and one payment early October.
- With the first stipend payment, you also receive financial support of CHF 300 for rental costs.
- ?To cover initial expenses upon arrival in Switzerland—such as purchasing a half-fare travel card, paying deposits, and other essentials—we recommend bringing between CHF 500 and CHF 1000 in cash. Alternatively, ensure you have a debit or credit card that allows ATM withdrawals during your first few days, until your scholarship funds become available.
Bank Account Setup & Further Scholarship Payments
- After registering for your residence permit, you must open a Swiss PostFinance or bank account within six weeks of your arrival. (see the AVETH's "survival guide" for information on banks if necessary).
- Add your bank account details in Mobility Online: Enter the details correctly with all letters and numbers, as you can only enter them once.
- If you need to update your account details later, notify the Reception Service and provide the correct IBAN, to ensure uninterrupted your scholarship payments.
- Required documents to open an account:
- Passport, ID
- Copy of rental agreement
- Residence permit (or confirmation of registration "Meldebest?tigung")
- Important: The address you use to open your Swiss PostFinance or bank account must be identical with the correspondence address in www.address.ethz.ch.
- From the third instalment onwards, the scholarship will be transferred to your bank account in Switzerland (provided you have entered the details in Mobility-Online by 15 October):
- Scholarships are paid at the end of each month for the following month.
- Salaries, if applicable, are paid at the end of each month for the previous month.
Deadline
31 October
Description
- If you have purchased a Half Fare Travelcard (or GA Travelcard) from SBB, you will receive a maximum refund from FCS of the actual price of a Half Fare Travelcard (not the price of a GA Travelcard).
- You can purchase the Half-Fare Travelcard (comes on the SwissPass) external page online, at the external page SBB Travel Centre at Zurich Airport (Level -1/Check-in 3) upon arrival or at the external page ShopVille-Zurich main station.
- external page ZVV Tickets i.e. theexternal page NetworkPass for the City of Zurich are not refunded, but can be purchased online or at any external page ZVV customer centre. Customer Service will be happy to answer your questions i.e. how to merge the ZVV NetworkPass with the Half Fare Travelcard on your external page SwissPass.
How to get your refund
Follow these steps:
- Upload in the workflow of Mobility-Online one PDF file that merges the following:
- Scan from the back and front side of your Half Fare Travelcard (or GA Travelcard)
- Original receipt that shows the sum paid and your name
- You can only upload one PDF.
- The money will then be transferred to your bank or post account until the end of December at the latest.
- If you do not hand in the PDF on time, you forfeit your right to receive a refund.
In the following two cases you are not entitled to a refund and must inform the Reception Service within the deadline:
- You do not purchase one of the described travelcards.
- Your supervisor or institute has already paid for your travelcard.
- You are allowed to take up to 5 weeks / 25 days of leave per year (pro rata) without the scholarship being reduced or suspended.
- Any absence must be agreed with your supervisor.
- Any absence of two weeks or more must be reported to the Reception Service at least two weeks before your departure.
- You are responsible for clarifying your insurance situation when you leave Switzerland. Please contact your insurance company directly and, if necessary, take out additional travel insurance at your own expense.
- Check possible visa requirements for your journey.