Australians - Study in Europe

 
 

 
 

This website is dedicated to making it easier for Australians to embark on postgraduate study in Europe.

As well as providing a host of links to relevant websites in Europe and Australia ASiE also undertakes research and consultation with the EU Commission, European governments and a great number of universities and foundations. The aim is to produce and update as much as possible all information concerning grants and scholarships available to Australian students seeking to pursue doctoral studies in Europe.

 
 

Healthcare & Insurance

At first glance this looks like a problem and additional obligation for you as an international student. This is because the Dutch authorities tell you it is usually a condition of obtaining a residence permit that you have basic health insurance. However a number of factors will make you exempt though there may still be a number of forms to fill in, documents to provide and inquiries to be made before you can be sure.

First note that full time international students under 30 are exempt from this rule. Note however if you take on paid work you may find your circumstances are altered and you are required to take out insurance. Note also that Australia does have a reciprocal health agreement with the Netherlands but it usually only applies for the first three months you are in that country.

 

Dutch Healthcare

Apply once, if symptoms persist, please call our 1800 number

If you are over 30 but studying for a period of between one and three years, standard for either a Master’s or Doctoral degree, you should still be covered by standard public health insurance since you will be counted as permanent resident on the basis of the time you will be in Holland. This does however appear to leave you in a chicken and the egg type position since the health insurance is a demand for the residence permit and the type of residence permit supplies the exemption from having to take out private insurance. Your university international office should be able to help you sort this problem out on the ground.

If in doubt about your status you can fill in the practically named “Do I need statutory basic healthcare insurance?” form and send it to the Social Insurance Bank (SVB), who can clear things up.


 
 
This website is an initiative of the Contemporary Europe Research Centre (CERC) at the University of Melbourne and has received funding and support from the Australian Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training, The Delegation of the European Commission to Australia and New Zealand and The National Europe Centre at the Australian National University.
 
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