Moving abroad

What does moving abroad mean for your health insurance?

Swiss basic health insurance is linked to your place of residence. If you live in Switzerland, you must take out insurance within three months. Conversely, the requirement ends when you give up your residence and move abroad. When you move away, you generally drop out of compulsory health insurance, and from that point on your health insurer may no longer charge premiums.

Moving abroad is not an ordinary change of health insurer. Deadlines apply when you switch: notice by 30 November to the end of the year, or to the end of June with three months’ notice. When you move abroad, by contrast, the insurance ends by law because the condition for it no longer applies. So you do not have to cancel; you have to report the move and prove it.

The situation is different for some groups who remain insured in Switzerland despite living abroad: people with a Swiss pension in the EU, EFTA or the United Kingdom, posted workers, cross-border commuters, and people receiving benefits from Swiss unemployment insurance who live in one of these countries. Details on pensioners are given under pensioners abroad. For Swiss citizens living abroad there is a separate entry: Swiss abroad.

How it works

1. Deregister with your municipality. You deregister with the residents’ registration office and receive a deregistration certificate stating the date of your move.
2. Notify your insurer in writing. Send your health insurer a notification with the date of your move, your new address abroad and the deregistration certificate. Ideally by registered mail.
3. End of the insurance. Basic health insurance ends when you leave. Your insurer confirms the end date. If you have paid premiums in advance for the period after that, ask for them back. Ask your insurer how a part month is billed.
4. Deal with supplementary insurance separately. It continues according to the contract. Some insurers provide a right to cancel when you move abroad, others allow it to continue. This is set out in the general terms and conditions.
5. New insurance abroad. From the day after you leave, you are no longer covered under the Health Insurance Act (KVG). Arrange insurance in your new country of residence before you leave.

A specific date applies to foreign nationals with a short-term, residence or settlement permit: the insurance ends on the day of departure registered with the municipality, and in any case on the day they actually leave the country.

Legal basis

Art. 3 para. 1 KVG requires every person resident in Switzerland to take out insurance within three months of taking up residence. Art. 5 para. 3 KVG states that the insurance ends when the insured person is no longer subject to compulsory insurance. Art. 7 para. 3 KVG provides that an insurance relationship ends at the time of the change of residence if you have to leave the insurer because of it. Art. 1 para. 1 of the Health Insurance Ordinance (KVV) links the requirement to take out insurance to residence as defined in Art. 23–26 of the Swiss Civil Code (ZGB).

For foreign nationals with a permit, Art. 7 para. 3 KVV specifies that the insurance ends on the day of the registered departure, and in any case on the day they actually leave the country. The exceptions for people resident in the EU, Iceland, Norway or the United Kingdom are set out in Art. 1 para. 2 let. d–e KVV. The FOPH summarises: when you move your residence abroad, compulsory health insurance generally ends at the time you leave. Insurers can offer people who move outside the EU, EFTA and the United Kingdom continued cover as a private-law contract under the ICA.

Example: moving at the end of August

Laura is 30, lives in the city of Bern and moves to Canada on 31 August 2026 to work there. She has basic health insurance with a CHF 300 deductible and a supplementary insurance for outpatient benefits.

For people born in 1996 in the municipality of Bern (region 1), basic health insurance with accident cover and a CHF 300 deductible costs between CHF 545.90 and CHF 758.90 a month in 2026; the median is CHF 609.30 (premiums 2026, source FOPH).

What this means for you

1. Check whether an exception applies to you. If you receive a Swiss pension or are posted abroad, you may remain subject to compulsory insurance. In that case moving abroad is not a reason to leave your health insurer.
2. Report your move in writing. You can use the cancellation letter tool as a starting point for the letter. The tool works with the regular cancellation dates, so replace the date with your departure date, give moving abroad as the reason and enclose the deregistration certificate.
3. Sort out your supplementary insurance. Read the general terms and conditions and decide whether to cancel it or keep it. Information on cancellation and deadlines is available under switching.
4. Plan for a return. If you come back, you must take out insurance again within three months. In basic health insurance every insurer must accept you without reservations. You can then compare offers in the premium calculator; the insurer profiles are under health insurers.
5. Travelling before you move. As long as you live in Switzerland, the cover abroad of basic health insurance applies to emergencies abroad.

Common mistakes

• Expecting a notice period. If you move abroad, you do not have to wait until the end of the year. The insurance ends when you leave.
• Not sending proof. Without a deregistration certificate, your insurer will not end the insurance and will keep charging premiums.
• Forgetting supplementary insurance. It does not end automatically and otherwise continues with premiums.
• Cancelling as a pensioner moving to the EU. If you only have a Swiss pension, you usually remain insured in Switzerland.
• Reporting your return too late. If you miss the three-month deadline, you risk a premium surcharge.

You can find more terms on living abroad and cross-border commuting in the glossary.