Tourist Visa with Dementia

[Emk0rp 33]

Hi there,

 

I currently have a K1 petition submitted for my fiancee in Brazil. We are hoping to get married in October, and would like to bring her parents here for the wedding. Her mother however has moderate dementia, and would not be able to handle the interview on her own, her husband, my finance's father, is of sound mind and would be able to care for her during the trip.

 

Wondering if it's worth trying for the application.

Would her husband be able to speak for her during the interview?

Is the visa likely to be denied because of dementia?

 

Thanks in advance for any help.

[T_P 872]

3 minutes ago, Emk0rp said:

Hi there,

 

I currently have a K1 petition submitted for my fiancee in Brazil. We are hoping to get married in October, and would like to bring her parents here for the wedding. Her mother however has moderate dementia, and would not be able to handle the interview on her own, her husband, my finance's father, is of sound mind and would be able to care for her during the trip.

 

Wondering if it's worth trying for the application.

Would her husband be able to speak for her during the interview?

Is the visa likely to be denied because of dementia?

 

Thanks in advance for any help.

This is a very specific situation. Before going forward and sharing my feedback I would like to ask, whos going to support/help them with DS160, fee payment etc??? The reason why I ask is that if they are in same of a what old stage in life that may actually need help with "internet" stuff you may consider talking to an lawyer. This would release some of the pressure on your back knowing that a professional is helping them.

 

In the other hand, that will obviously require some money. From a embassy stand point, they only allow the applicants to enter the embassy (there are very few exceptions to that).

 

So overal, I believe that you do need to try. Her dad will need to be a bit more savy and filling the DS160, attending the biomitrics and during the interview. 

 

Have you tried calling them and ask what is their recommendation?

 

https://br.usembassy.gov/embassy-consulates/saopaulo/ 
Phone: (55-11) 3250-5000
After hours: (11) 5183-5316/ 5181-8730

 

[SilverMonk 194]

1 hour ago, Emk0rp said:

Hi there,

 

I currently have a K1 petition submitted for my fiancee in Brazil. We are hoping to get married in October, and would like to bring her parents here for the wedding. Her mother however has moderate dementia, and would not be able to handle the interview on her own, her husband, my finance's father, is of sound mind and would be able to care for her during the trip.

 

Wondering if it's worth trying for the application.

Would her husband be able to speak for her during the interview?

Is the visa likely to be denied because of dementia?

 

Thanks in advance for any help.

I don't know if it's much help but answering to your question about if your future father in law can speak on his wife's behalf wife and I'm most certain that he can. When I went for my tourist visa in Rio they would group entire families together and only interview the head of the household. 

 

Example: a family of four would have all their passports buddled up with rubber band and then all four family members would be called up for the interview at once and then just the father would answer the questions asked by the consul. 

 

So I'm sure that he could answer for her during the interview in order to explain her condition. But please, take what I said with a grain of salt. That's just what I was able to observe when I went for the tourist visa back in 2013.

 

Best of luck!

[Boiler 45,525]

I have no idea how this would impact Travel Insurance but a good idea for them to check it out first.

 

Presumably her Doctor is agreeable with her travelling.

[Unlockable 7,314]

Unless the wife is a threat to others it doesn't hurt to apply.

[Emk0rp 33]

Thanks for all the replies, much appreciated.

 

We will call the consulate today and see what they say. My financée will help both her parents submit the application online and pay. The doctor said it would be fine for her to travel as long as her behavior remains steady and calm during the time following up to it.

[Boiler 45,525]

Do check on Travel Insurance.

[T_P 872]

13 minutes ago, Emk0rp said:

Thanks for all the replies, much appreciated.

 

We will call the consulate today and see what they say. My financée will help both her parents submit the application online and pay. The doctor said it would be fine for her to travel as long as her behavior remains steady and calm during the time following up to it.

Good call, like I said before, if you can spend some time with her father, talk to him and explain the consulate process etc, and he thinks he can handle it, you guys will be fine. One thing though I do want to emphasize from my own experience and some of my friends getting B2 visa. and this is my opinion about US Embassy in SP, do not answer more than what they need, be firm and exact on the answers, take enough documents proving your ties to Brazil in case they need.

 

I have seen many of my friends experiencing the same, stuttering to simple questions during the interview, no docs then DENIED. 

[databit 328]

*Note: Dementia confusion often worsens substantially with sudden change in location, routine, seeing new people's faces, being on an airplane, people talking in a different language, and especially, being put on the spot to answer questions. What if she freaks out on the plane? Doesn't like being belted in her seat? Is not allowed to get up to use the bathroom whenever she wants to during the flight? Becomes upset in the security line? Becomes separated from her husband accidentally or by airport or customs personnel?

 

It would be so much more compassionate to have two weddings. 

 

*I worked with dementia patients for years. Changing their routine is the worst thing for them. Her "moderate" dementia may only seem that way now because she is comfortable in her home setting. Sometimes the person never returns to their usual level of dementia, even after returning home. 

 

 

[Emk0rp 33]

5 hours ago, databit said:

*Note: Dementia confusion often worsens substantially with sudden change in location, routine, seeing new people's faces, being on an airplane, people talking in a different language, and especially, being put on the spot to answer questions. What if she freaks out on the plane? Doesn't like being belted in her seat? Is not allowed to get up to use the bathroom whenever she wants to during the flight? Becomes upset in the security line? Becomes separated from her husband accidentally or by airport or customs personnel?

 

It would be so much more compassionate to have two weddings. 

 

*I worked with dementia patients for years. Changing their routine is the worst thing for them. Her "moderate" dementia may only seem that way now because she is comfortable in her home setting. Sometimes the person never returns to their usual level of dementia, even after returning home. 

 

 

You're right. We are very hesitant about bringing her, and we haven't made a decision for sure yet. We do like the idea of having a celebration there as well, but unfortunately it probably wouldn't be able to happen for another year or so. We will consider our options, thanks for the reply.

 

8 hours ago, Boiler said:

Do check on Travel Insurance.

I will absolutely check into this before buying tickets.

[debbiedoo 2,339]

5 hours ago, databit said:

*Note: Dementia confusion often worsens substantially with sudden change in location, routine, seeing new people's faces, being on an airplane, people talking in a different language, and especially, being put on the spot to answer questions. What if she freaks out on the plane? Doesn't like being belted in her seat? Is not allowed to get up to use the bathroom whenever she wants to during the flight? Becomes upset in the security line? Becomes separated from her husband accidentally or by airport or customs personnel?

 

It would be so much more compassionate to have two weddings. 

 

*I worked with dementia patients for years. Changing their routine is the worst thing for them. Her "moderate" dementia may only seem that way now because she is comfortable in her home setting. Sometimes the person never returns to their usual level of dementia, even after returning home. 

 

 

i cared for my grandma with dementia and second all f this. i would not have FATHOMED removing her from her normal routine.

 

a wedding can be done via facebook live (which we will be doing for our friends and family who cant come) or other methods. 

 

no, its not the same, but it is much MUCH better for the one whoo has dementia. 

[Unidentified 2,930]

On 7/13/2018 at 12:54 PM, databit said:

*Note: Dementia confusion often worsens substantially with sudden change in location, routine, seeing new people's faces, being on an airplane, people talking in a different language, and especially, being put on the spot to answer questions. What if she freaks out on the plane? Doesn't like being belted in her seat? Is not allowed to get up to use the bathroom whenever she wants to during the flight? Becomes upset in the security line? Becomes separated from her husband accidentally or by airport or customs personnel?

 

It would be so much more compassionate to have two weddings. 

 

*I worked with dementia patients for years. Changing their routine is the worst thing for them. Her "moderate" dementia may only seem that way now because she is comfortable in her home setting. Sometimes the person never returns to their usual level of dementia, even after returning home. 

 

 

I agree with this. Changing her routine can be the absolute worse for here and can make her agitated and/or more confused. I know you want here at your wedding but you might want to ask yourself if its really worth it. 

 

I decided not to bring my dad over, he had diabetes  and severe food allergies. I was worried he wouldn't even survive the plane trip.

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

2 hours ago, Unidentified said:

 

 

I decided not to bring my dad over, he had diabetes  and severe food allergies. I was worried he wouldn't even survive the plane trip.

This is pretty much what happened to a friend of mine who brought her parents over  her dad got some issue with his legs on the flight, I don’t know the exact medical diagnosis but they swelled horribly and wouldn’t go down, he couldn’t walk etc, basically spent about 6 or 8 weeks in hospital here (so boiler’s point about travel medical insurance is important), they also had to change the flights back as they’d only been supposed to stay a few weeks, obviously not much of a holiday for the mom, and the dad ended up passing away a few weeks after he got back home. All very traumatic and horrible.  Long distance flights for infirm, elderly people have many more risks than just discomfort.