Disability pension in Greenland
A disability pension may be granted to a person with reduced working capacity who is at least 18 years of age, but has not yet reached retirement age and thus is not yet entitled to retirement pension. The person’s working capacity may be reduced due to physical or mental disability, or chronic illness.
In order to be eligible for a disability pension in Greenland, you must:
- Have partially or wholly reduced working capacity
- Be aged between 18 and 66 years
- Have lived permanently in Greenland, Denmark or the Faroe Islands for a minimum of three years
- Be permanently resident in Greenland, another Nordic country or an EEA country
In addition, you must meet one of the following three conditions:
- You are a Danish citizen
- You are covered by the Nordic Convention on Social Security
- You have lived permanently in Greenland, Denmark or the Faroe Islands for a minimum of three years before applying for the disability pension
Following your application for disability pension you must undergo a clarification process, and possibly also a rehabilitation process. It will then be decided, on the basis of your assessed working capacity, whether you can be awarded a disability pension at the highest, middle or lowest level. The greater the working capacity you are assessed to have, the lower will be the disability pension you are awarded, as you will be able to work more.
It is the authorities who decide whether you may be awarded a disability pension. They do this on the basis of various studies to determine whether your impaired working capacity is permanent. The authorities are also obliged to investigate whether you can recover some of your ability to work.
If you are applying for disability pension from a Nordic country other than Greenland
If you live in Greenland and are applying for disability pension from another Nordic country, you should contact the Ministry of Social Affairs and Justice, who can assist you in applying to the authorities in the Nordic country or countries from which you are seeking a disability pension.
The legislation in each Nordic country is different, and therefore also the requirements you must meet in order to be awarded a disability pension. You should contact the authorities in the individual countries to which you wish to apply.
If you have been awarded a disability pension in Greenland and move to Denmark or the Faroe Islands, you can in some cases take your disability pension with you for up to 12 months after moving. After that you will be covered by the legislation on disability pension in Denmark or the Faroe Islands.
If you have been awarded a disability pension in Greenland, you can still work to the extent to which your ability to work has been assessed. You are required to notify the municipality if your personal or financial circumstances change in a way that requires your disability pension to be reassessed, altered, made dormant or cancelled.
Your right to disability pension will lapse if you no longer live up to the eligibility requirements.
If a person in receipt of disability pension dies, the disability pension of the deceased person is paid to the deceased’s partner, if any, for a period of two months after the end of the month in which the death occurred.
Who should I contact if I have questions?
If you have any questions relating to the legislation on disability pensions, you should contact the Ministry of Social Affairs and Justice.
If you have any questions about your application for a Greenlandic disability pension, you should contact the municipality in which you live.
Please fill in our contact form if you have any questions or if you have encountered an obstacle in another Nordic country.
NB! If you have questions regarding the processing of a specific case or application, or other personal matters, please contact the relevant authority directly.
