Post-selection checklist
A May award is not a permit. This is a planning tool, not an official SBFI decision.
This is a planning tool, not an official SBFI decision. Processing times sit with your representation and the cantonal migration office.
May decision, September start
FCS announces awards by the end of May at the latest. The scholarship starts on 1 September 2027. That gap is when visa, permit, housing, and host-registration work happens. This page does not invent processing times. Those sit with your Swiss representation and the cantonal migration office.
Selection is not a residence permit. FCS and Swiss higher education institutions do not process family permits and, according to SBFI, currently face a restrictive practice. Budget and plan as one person unless a migration authority tells you otherwise in writing.
Visa and permit
After the award letter, follow the instructions from the Swiss representation that handled your file and from the host institution. Entry and stay rules for foreign nationals are set by the Confederation and the canton, not by this handbook. The State Secretariat for Migration publishes the national rules:
SEM — State Secretariat for Migration
Representations are listed by the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs: Swiss representations.
Do not pay a private “visa agent” who claims to represent FCS. The scholarship application was free; a genuine representation will not ask you to wire money to a personal account to “activate” the award.
Arrival in September
- Live where you work. You must reside in the city or canton of the host. Follow FCS instructions, foreign-nationals law, and the host's regulations.
- Housing first. The CHF 600 deposit grant helps; it may not cover the full guarantee. Zurich and Geneva inventories are tight in late summer. Start looking when the award is real, not in the last week of August.
- Insurance. Non-EU/EFTA holders: FCS covers compulsory health-insurance premiums. EU/EFTA holders: you pay those premiums. Confirm the enrolment steps your coordinating body sends after selection.
- Semester fees. Pay them if the host invoices you. The stipend does not automatically wipe tuition.
- Report extra income. Teaching, another grant, or host top-up must be declared to FCS. The award cannot supplement full-time employment.
- Research-stay limit. No field research outside Switzerland during a research fellowship. PhD field research, if allowed, comes without extra money.
If the answer is no
You may apply again, up to three times for the same type. The next call (2028–29) is advertised from August 2027. Use the year to lock a supervisor earlier, tighten the five-page FCS proposal, and re-read the exclusions. FCS does not run an appeals portal on the public pages cited here; questions go to [email protected].
Keep the official pages bookmarked
Award letters, visa notes, and host emails beat any handbook. Start here if something conflicts with what you just read.