Healthcare for asylum seekers and newly arrived people in Uppsala

This guide applies mainly to people who have applied for asylum or are newly arrived in Uppsala County. Which care you are entitled to and what it costs depends on your situation. If you have a residence permit or temporary protection, other rules may apply – check with 1177 or your health centre.

Emergency illness or accident

• Life-threatening emergency or need for an ambulance: call 112.
• You are ill but it is not life-threatening: call 1177 for health advice, or contact a health centre.

On 1177.se you can find out where to turn for care.

What care are you entitled to as an asylum seeker?

According to the Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket), if you have applied for international protection you are entitled to:

• emergency medical and dental care
• care that cannot wait
• childbirth care, care in connection with abortion, contraceptive counselling and maternity care
• care under the Communicable Diseases Act

Children under 18 who have applied for asylum are entitled to the same medical and dental care as other children living in Sweden.

When you are ill you should first turn to a health centre (vårdcentral). You often need to book an appointment first. Say when you book that you need an interpreter.

Bring your application card

When you visit healthcare or collect medicine at a pharmacy you need to show your application card. You then pay a lower patient fee in some cases, and a lower charge for most prescriptions. If you have not yet received the card, show your registration certificate.

Fees change. The Migration Agency’s page on healthcare shows current amounts and how to apply for a special grant if healthcare costs become high.

Health examination: Migrationshälsan Cosmos

Migrationshälsan Cosmos, part of Region Uppsala, offers a health examination to people who are asylum seekers, undocumented or newly arrived in Uppsala County.

• The visit is free and an interpreter is booked for people who do not speak Swedish.
• During the conversation they ask about your health, take samples and tell you about Swedish healthcare.
• You receive a letter with an appointment. The health examination is voluntary.
• The team consists of nurses, doctors, an assistant nurse and a medical secretary.
• All healthcare staff and interpreters have a duty of confidentiality.

The clinic is at Valthornsvägen 3B (floor 3) in Uppsala. Phone times and opening hours change, so look at Migrationshälsan Cosmos’s contact card on 1177 before you call or go there.

Your rights in healthcare

According to 1177 the following apply, among other things:

• Care is voluntary. You have the right to decline care you are offered (with some exceptions, for example compulsory psychiatric care and isolation under the Communicable Diseases Act).
• Right to information about your health, treatment and alternatives.
• Right to an interpreter if you do not speak Swedish. It costs nothing.
• Confidentiality: everyone working in healthcare has a duty of confidentiality.
• Care on equal terms, regardless of age, sex, social position and ethnicity.
• If you are not satisfied with the care you can give feedback or make a complaint.

If you live with violence or threats

If you are exposed to threats or violence: call 114 14 or, in immediate danger, 112. Also talk to the staff at your accommodation or your reception unit. The Migration Agency has a page with help for people living with violence.