Apply for blindness benefit

Responsibility lies with the district and the independent city in which you reside.

• You must have been determined to have the mark Bl (blind) by a procedure for determining disability (severely disabled person's pass).
• You must have your habitual residence in Lower Saxony

or,

• 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.

It is possible to apply for the state 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).

• An application must be submitted
• Severely disabled person's pass or notice of assessment with mark Bl
• Documents relating to third-party benefits that are to be offset against the blind person's allowance (e.g. care insurance benefits).
• Certificate of a legal residence permit if you are neither a German citizen nor a citizen of an EU country

There are no fees.

After 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.

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

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

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.

• Lower Saxony State Office for Social Affairs, Youth and Family
• Duke Wilhelm Blind Foundation

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

• Objection
• Complaint