Bringing Elderly Parent over by Green Card Holder

[canadian_wife 1,827]

Also be careful with extended visits (greater than 6 months I believe) as he can lose his provincial heath care in Canada as he will not be actually living in Canada then, he would be, as stated above, de facto living in the U.S.

Good luck

[KierenHby 899]

For example, could he visit for 6 months without a visa and in 7th he meantime, we could apply for a visitor visa? I'm open to ideas.

Huh? No such thing that circumvents existing limitations on visitors to the US.

[LisaBrian 2]

Thank you for all the very informative advice that has saved me asking a lawyer and going down the wrong roads. I'll have to explore other options.

[Avery Cates 1,141]

The good news is your husband can always send him money to Canada to help cover his medical expenses.

[LisaBrian 2]

Sending money is the current plan. I'm just hurting for him all alone over there and want to bring him here. That's why I'm looking for ideas to bring him here to be with us. I'm just having throuble accepting no way as an answer when family is alone.

[ricnally 259]

The logic of bringing someone that age with health issues to the US unless he has bucket loads of cash escapes me.

Agree. Medically/financially, he's much better off in Canada.

[LisaBrian 2]

Thanks for the help. Random unhelpful and unkind comments from strangers not so much. I caution comments from behind the safety of anonymous keyboards. My husband and I have just lost our mum and I was looking to help. And for help. I have no interest in engaging in discussion with strangers who don't consider the tone in which their replies might be read. Thank you to the others for the advice.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

There are work and investment visas but probably not anything your father in law is in a position to get.

[Boiler 45,948]

He is 80 and ill so that rules out work.

They are sending him money which rules out Investment.

US Family based Immigration is pretty flexible, certainly more so than say Canada.

And US Medical costs would quickly cripple you.

Edited July 29, 2016 by Boiler

[Penguin_ie 5,996]

The other issue is, even if he does immigrate, yes Obamacare means he can get health insurance, but it will be very, very expensive for an elderly man, and your husband as sponsor may be asked to prove he can pay for it over and above the usual I-864.

Another potential option, being creative: could you move close to the Canadian border, and have him do the same from the other side? That way you could visit often.

[Ortolan 381]

Medical costs, even if you COULD get insurance for him, for a middle class family paying for an elderly ill person here would cripple you financially very, very fast.

Best bet is to make plans to visit him regularly, so he has something to look forward to and depend on, and use your money to visit. Maybe look into social services to look in on him daily/weekly in the times you're not there.

Health care is so much more affordable in Canada than in the U.S. and you can't bring him here to live out his days, so try to get creative with the resources and options you already have now. Good luck, I feel for you, having elderly parents of our own.

[LisaBrian 2]

Thank you for the creative solutions. We are making sure he has in home health care. And planning on visiting again. And more often. Now that my husband has his green card, we can do that. I was considering moving both but seems a pointless move for us as we don't know how long he has left, unfortunately. Visiting more seems the only solution. This sucks. But thank you for the advice from more experienced of you. We were kind of blind sided by this.

[TBoneTX 45,956]

Everyone feels for you -- trust that. Keep us apprised of the plan that's ultimately adopted.

[LisaBrian 2]

Short term plan is to make sure he has in home health care where he is and figure out survivors benefits. And send him money. I doubt we're going to talk him into moving anywhere anyway, but step one in any other decision will be to update his Canadian passport which is expired. So I'll settle, for now, getting his passport up to date. They always say not to make any big changes after a loss anyway, so we'll just keep it simple until we see how he recovers from the loss of mum. Then maybe we can talk him into a six month visit if his health improves and take it from there. If his health worsens, well, maybe we should stick to short term plans.

[Boiler 45,948]

Look into the practicalities of Travel Insurance, 6 months in the US, if available would be extremely expensive.