Wajong benefit and disability - Legal aid

Questioner

My wife has been living in the Netherlands since 2009. At the end of 2014, she became naturalized and Dutch. She has been physically disabled since she was 12 in the form of severe scoliosis. We believe that this has made her unfit for work. Although we thought she met the criteria to qualify for a Wajong benefit, at least according to www.overheid.nl, she was rejected for Wajong because she was not living in the Netherlands when she turned 18. This criterion is not mentioned on the government website or on other websites with information about this. She became unfit for work before she was 18 and currently lives in the Netherlands and she is not studying or working. How can the rejection by UWV be explained?

Lawyer

The UWV's view is correct. Only if your wife had already lived in the Netherlands at the age of 17, would she have been eligible for a Wajong benefit. I refer you to a ruling by the Central Appeals Tribunal, which you can find on www.rechtspraak.nl (search for ruling ECLI:NL:CRVB:2014:1600).

Questioner

Thank you very much for your response.