You’ve just arrived at an FMEL residence, you have a million things to do, and you need a helping hand to get started in your new life. The FMEL Ambassadors are at your service! These student tenants, selected on the basis of a dossier, are committed to making your life easier, whether it’s by helping you with administrative procedures, explaining how the residences work or giving you practical advice.

Their mission::

• Welcoming and supporting students at the beginning of each semester
• Raising awareness of the need to live together amicably and providing a pleasant place for all residents
• Organising events to foster cohesion and give students the opportunity to meet
• Mediating between tenants or with neighbours or caretakers
• Representing the values of the FMEL: tolerance, mutual help, equality, sharing and living together amicably – all values that place the emphasis on people

You can find all sorts of excuses for not doing the housework: “I’m revising for my exams”, “I can’t be bothered”, “someone else can do it”, etc. But it’s essential to take care of your room and the common areas. Not just for your own sake, but for the sake of your flatmates as well. This task is quite simply your responsibility. So put on your gloves and your headphones, take out your duster (see the definition in the dictionary), and imagine you’re the cleaning fairy come to get your flat all spick and span.

You’ll see: you’ll feel better afterwards. If the idea turns you off, realise that various scientific studies prove that regular cleaning acts as a kind of emotional release and reduces anxiety and stress. Some say that three hours of vigorous cleaning is the equivalent of three kilometres of jogging. So why deprive yourself! Cleaning also improves your memory and ability to concentrate. That should boost your studies!

Not a minute to lose! Experience for yourself the undeniable and undisputed virtues of cleaning and tidying. Go borrow a professional cleaning kit from your residence caretaker. They’ll be more than happy to advise you.<br>Discover your inner cleaning fairy!

(art 18 Internal regulations and art. 9. Application guidelines)

Each month you will receive an e-mail with the invoice for the monthly rent and the corresponding QR code attached. Check your spams if you don’t receive it. The invoice date depends on the start date of your lease. The rent must be paid in advance, but at last 5 days after the invoice date.

You can pay your rental invoice with these different methods :

Payment by means of QR code via your Swiss bank account :

• You can download the banking application on your cell phone and pay the invoice by scanning the QR code through the bank app. Check with your bank in Switzerland for information about their mobile banking service. We strongly recommend that you prepare a monthly standing order with one of the invoices received, to avoid payment problems when staying abroad.

Payment through Convera GlobalPay platform :

• This platform allows you to make a payment from your bank account in Switzerland or abroad and/or with a credit cards, depending on your country. You can make the payment in the currency of your choice and the FMEL is guaranteed to receive your payment in full in CHF. You will find all the answers to your questions on the platform website. Please use this link only. Wire transfer from abroad or a Swiss account (without the QR code), without using Convera are not allowed.

Payment in cash :

• A cash payment or with a debit card at the post office using the QR code is also possible. You must go to the post office with a printed QR code. The post office can’t change the amount, so if you need a corrected QR code, please contact us at finance@fmel.ch.

First rent payment :

If arriving in your room within the first month after the beginning of your housing contract :

• You can pay through Convera GlobalPay plateform or wait for your arrival in Switzerland to open a Swiss account or to go at the post office. If you wait for your arrival, please discard any reminder you may receive (without any fees), they are sent automatically by the system. Do not take in consideration the due date of the invoice.

If arriving in your room more than 1 month after the beginning of your housing contract :

• The payment must be made through Convera GlobalPay plateform until your arrival in your room. Please use this link only. You can also make a wire transfer on the following account :

PostFinance SA
Mingerstrasse n° 20
3030 Berne (Suisse)

Account 10-159144-3

Beneficiary  FMEL Maisons pour étudiants – Lausanne
                        Rte de Praz-Véguey 29 – 1022 Chavannes-près-Renens/Suisse

BIC :    POFICHBEXXX
IBAN : CH11 0900 0000 1015 9144 3

The payment must be made in CHF – swiss francs and the bank charges fully on your side. Please put your last name, first name and tenant number in the communication. This payment method must be used only in this case and cannot become your usual way of paying your rental invoices.

We don’t confirm the payment reception. Reminders are sent automatically 10 days after the invoice date in case on unpaid amount.

In order not to overload our mailbox, we also ask you not to send us payment confirmation.

In case of non-compliance with the instruction above, you may be charged an administrative fee.

Did you know there was a dedicated team working hard every day to make your stay as pleasant as possible? There are cleaners tending your residence, administrative managers to help you with your paperwork, caretakers always at hand to assist, and receptionists to listen and help: some sixty staff members united in a single team.

In Switzerland, the visitor’s tax is set by the municipality and in most cases amounts to CHF 37 per month. It is not included in your rent. Students whose place of residence is abroad and who are staying in the canton of Vaud to attend a course are subject to the visitor’s tax. Students who receive a Swiss or foreign grant or scholarship or who have a secondary occupation where tax is deducted directly from their pay do not have to pay the visitor’s tax.

SERAFE is the body commissioned by the Federal Office of Communications to collect radio and television licence fees. The radio and television licence fee is a legal obligation for all private households in Switzerland, regardless of whether they own a device (television, radio, computer or smartphone). It currently amounts to CHF 335 per year per household. Whether students are subject to the fee depends on the type of accommodation. Please contact your admin manager on this matter.

The tenant’s personal belongings are insured for up to CHF 5,000 for fire and natural disasters (flooding) by the ECA (Etablissement Cantonal d’Assurance, the cantonal insurance institution). The FMEL’s burglary insurance covers private belongings up to a maximum of CHF 5,000. From the beginning of the lease and throughout its duration, FMEL tenants are covered by liability insurance for any damage that they may cause to third parties, to buildings or to outdoor spaces, all over Switzerland.

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