Options available for very ill parent?

[Arkiliknam]

My wife, myself and our 2 young children have just become permanent residents of the UK. At the same time we have also just received news that my wife's mother has been diagnosed with terminal, late stage cancer.

Can anyone offer advice on whether their is an immigration option (and fast) for her in coming to the UK and being able to receive NHS treatment?

She's 61 years old, divorced with no one to look after her in her country. We are looking at all options now, including uprooting our lives and family and moving there to look after her.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[CR001]

Not really, it is a very difficult visa to get and the most expensive. Very few have succeeded but only after very lengthy and costly appeals.

immigration-for-family-members/adult-de ... 87771.html

immigration-for-family-members/older-de ... 42420.html

[physicskate]

Your wife's mother has never paid into the NHS? The NHS is a national health service, not an international health service and is on its knees even with the domestic population (that is a political, not a personal response to your problem, sorry!!). Even if she were to qualify for an adult dependent visa, you would need to meet the cost of her treatment and care...

I'm sorry you are going through a very difficult situation, but I don't think immigrating to the UK is the solution.

[secret.simon]

As mentioned above, it is a very hard visa to get, and will almost certainly require years of litigation. What the visa won't be is "fast".

Be aware that Adult Dependent Relatives visas are practically impossible to get, with an almost certain case of refusal.

You will need to prove that (a) your parents need assistance with essential daily activities, such as bathing, washing, etc AND that such assistance is either not available or not affordable in their home country. Given that such assistance is invariably cheaper in most countries in the world, the visa is highly likely to be refused.

And once the ADR visa application is refused, they will almost certainly also be refused any future visit visas, as they will have declared an intent to reside in the UK.

Also see this quote below from Page 5 of the guidance on Adult Dependent Relatives

The Entry Clearance Officer (ECO) must be satisfied that the applicant will be adequately maintained, accommodated and cared for in the UK by the sponsor without recourse to public funds. If the sponsor is a British Citizen or settled in the UK, they must sign a 5-year undertaking to that effect, at the entry clearance stage.

At this point in time, your best bet is "moving there to look after her". However, be aware that ILR/PR lapses in case of absence from the UK of more than two years. And short visits does not extend ILR. You need to return to the UK within two years to reside in the UK. And any extensive absence will of course impact on any future naturalisation application.

[Arkiliknam]

CR001 and secret.simon, thanks for the low down. This is pretty much as I expected. We are also conscious of absence from the UK and our ILR. Hopefully it wont come down to that.

physicskate, I don't need a lecture on how the NHS works or it's financial state. This is an immigration forum. Treatment costs are not an issue, support is the issue. I'm not sure how my 2 young children will cope having to move to a foreign country where they don't speak the language, not to mention what to do about their schooling. That's why I'm looking at all option.

For what it's worth to any other readers, I do not believe "no recourse to public funds" restricts use of NHS. https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... blic-funds

[ariamus]

Your wife's mother has never paid into the NHS? The NHS is a national health service, not an international health service and is on its knees even with the domestic population (that is a political, not a personal response to your problem, sorry!!). Even if she were to qualify for an adult dependent visa, you would need to meet the cost of her treatment and care...

I'm sorry you are going through a very difficult situation, but I don't think immigrating to the UK is the solution.

However if she paid the IHS charge which would be required as part of the visa application, she would qualify for treatment under the NHS. I appreciate getting the visa in the first place may be difficult so perhaps a moot point.

[secret.simon]

However if she paid the IHS charge which would be required as part of the visa application, she would qualify for treatment under the NHS

There is no IHS surcharge for ADR visas.

For what it's worth to any other readers, I do not believe "no recourse to public funds" restricts use of NHS. https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... blic-funds

Correct. I was pointing to the other costs of taking care of an ill parent, not of the NHS cost itself.

I'm not sure how my 2 young children will cope having to move to a foreign country where they don't speak the language, not to mention what to do about their schooling.

The flag on your profile suggests that you hail from Australia. Surely they do speak English there.

Even otherwise, children are generally quite adaptable and tend to learn languages better and faster than adults.

[Arkiliknam]

Secret.simon, thanks again for the clarity. I appreciate your input!

The flag on your profile suggests that you hail from Australia. Surely they do speak English there.

Even otherwise, children are generally quite adaptable and tend to learn languages better and faster than adults.

If it were Australia we likely wouldn't think twice about moving. Unfortunately in this case my wife's family is Chinese, so there's a big culture and language shock in a move like that, not to mention education differences and additional visa issues. But, we will do what we must do.