People with disabilities in Norway
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 the person is 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 Nordic Convention on Social Assistance.
Rights and opportunities in Norway
Here you can read about some of the services and benefits in Norway if you or your child have a disability and are planning to move to Norway. There are a number of schemes, so you should contact your municipality to see what you are entitled to.
In Norway, you may be entitled to assistive devices if you have a permanent disability. It is the NAV Assistive Technology Centres that have overall responsibility for assistive devices. NAV Assistive Technology Centres can help with adaptation and assistive devices for the home, work, education and leisure. You can, for example, get assistive devices for vision and hearing, get your housing adapted, or help with transport or vehicles.
If you live in Norway, you may be entitled to attendance benefit to cover extra expenses or special needs relating to a disability. Attendance benefit is given to people who have a special need for care and supervision because of illness, injury or a congenital disability. It is the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV) that is responsible for attendance benefit in Norway.
NAV can pay benefits if you are a parent and lose income from work because you are at home with a child who is sick or has a disability. You may be entitled to attendance allowance or care benefit. Families with a child who is seriously ill or disabled may also be entitled to attendance benefit. Children with disabilities can also apply for assistive devices that enable physical exercise, stimulation and various forms of activities.
Travelling and relocation
You can generally take assistive devices from Norway to other countries if your visit is short. If you are moving abroad or plan to stay abroad for longer than 12 months, you must contact NAV to see if you can keep assistive devices when you move.
When moving to and from another country, you must check which assistive devices and allowances you can take with you and which you should apply for in the new country. Assistive devices are generally obtained locally in the country in which you live, but there are exceptions.
You may be entitled to a car or an allowance for a car because of your disability. If you have received a car through social insurance, you may travel out of the country, both inside and outside the EEA, for up to three months without needing to apply. If there are special grounds, you may apply for dispensation, enabling you to take the car abroad for more than three months. You submit the application to NAV Bilsenter.
When a guide dog is used, the same regulations apply as for other dogs regarding import and export.
Medicines
There are different regulations regarding postal consignments and bringing medicines with you when travelling. If you are travelling to another country with prescription medicines, you should be prepared to prove that you are the legal owner of the medicines.
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.
