sharonmoss

Hello - I am a British citizen, married to a US citizen for 14 years. My mother and father had retired to Spain from the United Kingdom. My father just recently passed away and my mother is in poor health. She is still living in Spain, but is a UK citizen. She has no other family other than myself, is there a way that I can have her move over to the USA? How does immigration work and of course what about medical coverage? We have private insurance through my husbands job. My mother does have numerous medical conditions and does need medication and medical assistance which she gets at the moment free from the National Health. She is not doing well and I would really like for her to live here near us in Texas. I am unable to move over there, as I have two young children and my husband here. Any advice would be most welcome

ian-mstm

Unless you are a US citizen, I'm afraid not. A US permanent resident (= green card) isn't eligible to petition for a parent - only a US citizen can petition for a parent.

Ian

hobbes79

To be blunt, it's not going to work.

With no Social Security even, it's not a workable solution I'm afraid, even without concerns regarding immigration. No one will insure her and medical costs will be astronomic.

If you want to pursue it further and assuming you've had a greencard for more than 3-years, you need to apply for US citizenship. Assuming you get that within ~6-months, you could petition for your mother immediately afterwards. If you're lucky and everything goes like clockwork, it's not beyond the realms of possibility she could be here within a year.

Best of luck with whatever you figure out.

SanDiegogirl

You could petition for your mother to join you in the US once YOU become a US citizen.

She then needs to be prepared to pay out a LOT of money for health cover because she won't be eligible for Medicare for at least 5 years after her immigration (dependent on whether she is over 65 or not) and private health insurance is going to cost a fortune.

You Group scheme through your husband's company is not going to cover her.

Bob

The group scheme might cover parents, some do, most don't, but often cost a lot if they do.

Private cover probably won't be worth much because anything costly likely to happen and they'll cancel the cover....and it'll cost a fortune.

The best bet really is to move over and being with her. Having a husband and two kids doesn't preclude you from doing that. It might also come down to making a choice if the OH doesn't want to move and that'll be another difficult one for you to decide on.

scrubbedexpat099

Forgetting the Immigration side the US is not going to be a logical place for her to be.

Tricky, I wish you well in whatever you decide.