Health insurance, beware of the home!
Health insurance, beware of the home!
"My father, a 70-year-old confederate, was recently hospitalised in Switzerland. He left our country a long time ago and lives in neighbouring France, where he pays a modest rent. So he no longer pays health insurance contributions in Switzerland, but he hasn't filed his papers in France either, so he doesn't have any insurance. I live in Geneva. My father is asking me to declare him officially domiciled with me while continuing to live in France. Will he then really be officially domiciled in Switzerland? Will this enable him to obtain retroactive reimbursement of his hospitalisation costs? Am I at risk of getting into trouble?
B. Geneva
Under the Swiss Civil Code, a person's domicile is the place where he or she resides with the intention of taking up residence. A stay in a home or hospital does not in itself constitute a domicile. Furthermore, no person may have more than one domicile at the same time. All persons retain their domicile as long as they have not created a new one.
Your father has lived in France for a long time and does not seem to have any intention of changing his place of residence permanently. His real domicile is therefore in France.
In order for a Swiss citizen who is not a citizen of Geneva to become officially domiciled in Geneva, he or she simply needs to complete the "Individual form for the arrival in Geneva of a Swiss citizen" available on the website of the Cantonal Office of Population and Migration, indicating his or her new address in Geneva. They must enclose a copy of their identity document, a certificate of origin, an individual certificate of civil status less than 6 months old and proof of payment of the CHF 50 fee.
If your father were to take this step, he would then be required to pay for health insurance, which he would be able to take out immediately. However, the effects are not retroactive.
Please note: by signing the above form, your father will be certifying to the authorities that the information contained therein is complete and true. Including a false fact in an official document in order to obtain an illegal advantage would expose him to criminal sanctions and you could be prosecuted as an accomplice.
It would be preferable for your father to actually come and live with you or to register officially with the French authorities in his actual place of residence. He would then probably be able to benefit from French health insurance.
