Here you can read about your opportunities and rights when you have a disability and want to move to Sweden. You can also find information about what applies when you travel or move from Sweden to another Nordic country.
Nordic citizens and other people with legal residence in a Nordic country are covered by the Nordic Convention on Social Assistance and Social Services. This convention contains provisions on moving to another Nordic country for people who need long-term treatment or care.
This means that the competent authorities in the countries you are moving from and to will assist when a Nordic citizen needing treatment or care wants to move to another Nordic country.
The person must be moving voluntarily and have a special connection with the country they want to move to. In addition, the move must be expected to improve the person’s life situation.
Contact your home municipality for help with the move if you are in such a situation. If necessary, refer to the Convention on Social Assistance.
A person with disability is a person who has impaired capability to function physically or mentally, so he or she needs extra support. Even if you have a disability, you must be able to participate in society like everyone else.
Sweden has ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which guarantees everybody’s equal right to participation. Support and service to people with disabilities are governed by several Swedish laws, such as the Swedish Local Government Act (Kommunallagen, KL), the Swedish Social Services Act (Socialtjänstlagen, SoL) and the Act concerning Support and Service for Persons with Certain Functional Impairments (Lagen om stöd och service till vissa funktionshindrade, LSS). These acts give people with disabilities the right to support to help them participate in society on the same terms as everyone else.
One example of support can be a person who helps you manage your everyday life. You can also receive a benefit called additional cost allowance (merkostnadsersättning) if your disability necessitates extra expenses, or if you, for example, need help in order to work or study. You apply for additional cost allowance through Försäkringskassan.
If you have a child or children with disabilities, you can receive child carer’s allowance (omvårdnadsbidrag).
Contact your municipality in Sweden for more information if you have a disability.
