This page describes insurance for scholarship holders. For employees, including PhD students, see Insurance for Employees.
As a scholarship holder (not employed) you must arrange your own personal insurance coverage prior to arrival in Sweden.
Once you have received your Swedish personal number, you can also register with the Swedish social insurance agency Försäkringskassan.
If you already have a Swedish personal number and have worked outside Sweden for more than the last 12 months, you need to register with Försäkringskassan in order to claim your benefits and allowances.
Scholarship holders are insured via the Swedish State Group Insurance and Personal Insurance (Grupp- och individförsäkring, called GIF) through the Legal, Financial and Administrative Services Agency (Kammarkollegiet).
The GIF insurance includes visitors such as international guest lecturers, teachers, opponents, examiners and guest researchers, including their accompanying spouses and children, during the time they receive a salary, compensation or scholarship from SU.
The GIF insurance covers such as accident, health and dental care, home transport, property, liability and legal protection, but only in emergency situations. The insurance is valid 24 hours inside the entire Schengen area. You can find the complete terms of the GIF insurance on the Kammarkollegiet web site.
Scholarship holders from the Nordic/EU countries are covered by Försäkringskassan if the period of stay in Sweden is more than one year (given that you have been registered with the Swedish Tax Agency, Skatteverket, i.e. that you are "folkbokförd") and registered with Försäkringskassan.
We also recommend scholarship holders to have a household insurance (hemförsäkring). You sign up for this via an insurance company of your choice. The major Swedish insurance companies are the following:
There are a lot of different Swedish insurance companies that can offer you insurance policies. In addition to the state social insurance system, you may also want a private life insurance.
This page was printed on 2025-01-07 from old.nordita.org/handbook/routines/insurance/scholarship
