Bundesportal | Apply for blindness benefit

More Information

Publisher

Lower Saxony

Contact

The government service telephone number 115 – your point of contact for questions related to the federal, state and local.

Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 18:00 (and beyond these times in some regions).

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Government service telephone number calls are charged at local rates.

You can apply for blindness benefit if you are blind or have a comparably severe visual impairment.

If you meet the eligibility requirements for blindness benefit, the amount of the benefit depends on whether or not you live in an inpatient facility or in a special form of accommodation (integration assistance).

If you live in Lower Saxony outside of an inpatient facility or special form of accommodation, the monthly allowance for the blind is 450 euros. Certain benefits, in particular benefits from long-term care insurance, are partially offset against the allowance for the blind. In these cases, the above-mentioned allowance for the blind would be reduced.

If you live in an inpatient facility or special form of accommodation, the allowance for the blind is 225 euros per month.

You can decide for yourself how you use the allowance.

Preconditions

You must have been determined to have the "BL" mark in a severely disabled person's procedure by a decision in accordance with the Ninth Book of the German Social Code (SGB IX).

You have submitted an application for the "BL" mark in accordance with SGB IX which has not yet been decided. In this case, you can submit the application for blindness benefit to meet the deadline.
You must have your habitual residence in Lower Saxony
if you live in an inpatient facility or a special form of accommodation within Germany, your habitual residence must have been in Lower Saxony before you were admitted there.
The reason for your blindness must not be related to military service or vaccination
You must not be the subject of any measures involving deprivation of liberty.

Hints

Information on the state allowance for the blind can be found on the website of the Lower Saxony State Office for Social Affairs, Youth and Family.

It is possible to apply for the allowance for the blind at the same time as applying for the determination of severely disabled status in accordance with the German Social Code - Ninth Book (SGB IX) (severely disabled person's pass).

Further benefits for the blind can be granted within the framework of assistance for the blind in accordance with the Twelfth Book of the Social Code (SGB XII) or from the State Fund for the Blind.

Blind and severely visually impaired people from the former administrative district of Braunschweig can receive support from the Herzog-Wilhelm-Blindenstiftung.

Duke Wilhelm Blind Foundation

Lower Saxony State Office for Social Affairs, Youth and Family

There are no fees.

Basis for legal action

Law on the State Blindness Benefit for the Civilian Blind in the version of January 18, 1993 (BlindGeldG ND)

Legal Remedies

Objection
Complaint

Procedure

Once you have submitted your application, the responsible office will check whether you meet the requirements for receiving blindness benefit.

If documents or information are missing for the examination of the application, the competent office will request these from you in addition.

If you meet the requirements for receiving blind person's allowance, you will be notified of the amount of the allowance to which you are entitled. You will then receive the allowance on a monthly basis. Proof of use is not required.

If you do not meet the requirements for blind person's allowance, you will receive a rejection notice.

Deadlines

Blindness benefit is paid from the first of the month in which the application for blindness benefit is submitted at the earliest.

Processing time

The processing time depends in particular on the completeness of the information and the submission of the evidence required for processing the application.

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