Why am I not receiving welfare as a Swedish citizen?
I am a Swedish Citizen. I left Sweden as a child in 1970 to go to Australia. At 17 I was admitted to Pschiatric care in Australia.
Then we move to present day. I moved back to Sweden in april/may 2018. I cannot speak Swedish or have any family that I know of in Sweden.
I applied for Welfare in July 2018. It is now January 20 2019 and I have not received a single welfare payment. I have sold assets to survive all this time. I am under psychiatric care in Sweden after attempting suicide (I am BiPolar and schizophrenic). Its been difficult to pay rent, electricity, medicine and I am not getting any real help for anything... I also suffer from agoraphobia, so find it difficult to cope socially.
Why am I not receiving welfare?
Lawline svarar
Hello and thank you for coming to Lawline with your question!
Questions regarding welfare can be found in socialtjänstlagen (SoL) and socialförsäkringsbalken (SFB).
About försörjningsstöd
To receive welfare in Sweden, or "försörjningsstöd", you have to apply for it at socialtjänsten in your local kommun. Your individual situation will then be looked at to see if you qualify or not. According to Swedish law, those who are unable to provide for themselves or have them provided for in any other way have the right to financial aid (4:1 SoL). Whether or not you are a Swedish citizen does not affect the decision, you only have to live there.
If socialnämnden deems you able to work you only receive försörjningsstöd if you are at the disposal of the labor market. This means that you have to be actively applying for jobs as well as being signed up at arbetsförmedlingen and following any recommendations they may have for you. If you have a special reason for not working, such as certain illnesses, you may be able to qualify for försörjningsstöd anyway.
Why am I not receiving welfare?
From your question, it is unclear whether or not your application was resolved. If you did not receive a response from your kommun, they most likely did not obtain your application at all. In this case I would recommend you to apply again.
If you did get a response where they stated that you do not qualify for försörjningsstöd, that means they tried your situation and found you either able to work and not attempting to, or you did something else that means you do not qualify. This can be a wide array of things, and I recommend you to contact socialtjänsten to hear what they have to say about your specific situation.
If you qualify for other kinds of welfare but have not applied for them, this can also affect your chances of receiving försörjningsstöd negatively. These kinds of welfare can be child support or sickness benefit, for example, and are found in SFB.
If socialtjänsten denies you welfare and you believe their decision is wrong, you can appeal it at a general administrative court (allmän förvaltningsdomstol). (16:3 SoL).
I hope this answered your question!
Best of luck!
