Bringing parents of the wife from Phils

[travis1983 0]

Ok, so I am jumping the gun, but all indications are my wife will be here in America in a few months on her 10 year perm greencard (IR).  So, she is an only child, which is uncommon in the PH, and her mom and dad are not in the best health and there are few to look after them. And yes, I am aware we can hire a nurse etc. That is not the point.

 

Her dad is a retired National Police Officer with a pension of about $500 + USD a month, mom  nothing.  My wife and I outright bought a house and lot, which the wife owns fully, in Metro Manila, and her parents reside there at no cost. We (I) also send a bit of money every month to help with extra costs. 

 

My wife and I are interested in bringing her mom and dad (about 62 years old each) to the US. What would the difference be with my wife bringing them as a perm resident vs my wife waiting 3 years until she is an American citizen and them bringing them to live in the USA?

 

We have also looked at a 10 year multiple entry tourist visa.

 

Any constructive advice is welcome in regards to bringing her parents over one way or another in regards to things such as finances, financials, etc etc.  I know of a few Filipinas who have brought parents over. 

[Crazy Cat 41,399]

Only US citizens can petition for parents to immigrate to the US.

 

EDIT:  They are free to apply for a tourist visas....but they can not live in the US......they could make short visits.

Obtaining tourist visas for them will require that they qualify on their own merits.  There is nothing you can do.

Edited January 11, 2020 by missileman

[travis1983 0]

2 minutes ago, missileman said:

Only US citizens can petition for parents to immigrate to the US.

cool. so, to the rest of the question?

[Crazy Cat 41,399]

1 minute ago, travis1983 said:

cool. so, to the rest of the question?

They are free to apply for a tourist visas....but they can not live in the US......they could make short visits.

Obtaining tourist visas for them will require that they qualify on their own merits by demonstrating strong ties to their country.  

[Unlockable 7,314]

24 minutes ago, travis1983 said:

Ok, so I am jumping the gun, but all indications are my wife will be here in America in a few months on her 10 year perm greencard (IR).  So, she is an only child, which is uncommon in the PH, and her mom and dad are not in the best health and there are few to look after them. And yes, I am aware we can hire a nurse etc. That is not the point.

 

The above in bold may be the biggest challenge. I don't know if you were knowledgeable about what immigration is trying to do to alleviate immigrants being public charge but bringing elderly parents that are not in good health may require you to prove insurance you will provide for them. And insurance is not cheap in the US. So best to start researching now.

 

Quote

My wife and I are interested in bringing her mom and dad (about 62 years old each) to the US. What would the difference be with my wife bringing them as a perm resident vs my wife waiting 3 years until she is an American citizen and them bringing them to live in the USA?

Nothing can be done until your wife becomes a US citizen. So if you account for processing times for naturalization, her parents are looking at 3.5 - 5 years before they would set foot in the US.

 

28 minutes ago, travis1983 said:

We have also looked at a 10 year multiple entry tourist visa.

This is an option for short visits. But the parents can NOT use this visa to live in the US. Also, frequent long visits may result in them losing the visitor visa. 

But them having their only child in the US may actually make it more difficult for them to obtain a visitor visa. The Philippines is difficult to obtain visitor visa to the US.

 

[Boiler 45,028]

It does not sound like they have savings, they have minimal income, not enough to pay for health insurance never mind anything else, and they are retired, so what is the plan?

 

Seems  like 2 weeks vacation in the US would be half their annual income.

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

The pension of $500 per month probably won’t even be enough for health insurance for one of them, much less any other costs. If you proceed with bringing them over once your wife has naturalized, you and your wife need to be very clear on understanding what it will cost you both to maintain them health-wise. Whether or not it will be required for immigration purposes by then, it is definitely something that needs to be properly understood by the sponsoring family.  

[carmel34 3,595]

4 hours ago, travis1983 said:

Any constructive advice is welcome in regards to bringing her parents over one way or another in regards to things such as finances, financials, etc etc.

Best advice is that you have 4 or 5 years, until your wife has US citizenship and their visa process is at the interview stage, to figure out how to pay for private health insurance and other expenses for a couple in their mid-60s in poor health to immigrate to the US via a petition through their daughter after she becomes a US citizen.  They will not be eligible for Medicare so it could be pretty expensive.  Look into it and you will find out how expensive it really is.  That will be the biggest hurdle in my opinion, but you have lots of time to prepare for it financially.  Good luck! 

Edited January 12, 2020 by carmel34

[optlh0 19]

I'm guessing they have PhilHealth over there (the Philippines government health insurance?). If so, that should cover a good amount of hospital visits at public hospitals if they're needed. You could probably get round the clock help at home for $1K per month over there?

 

While I'm not guaranteeing that's the cost, the point is, just the health insurance here will be over $1k per month, plus deductibles which are likely to run over $500/month (6K per year) if you use it a lot. That cost is probably on the low end for 2 seniors. That doesn't include any home care.

 

Plus as seniors in the Philippines they get senior citizen cards which entitle them to discounts, first place in lines, etc.. that they won't get in the US.

 

Just something to think about before bringing them here...