Visitor visa for parents

[VarunM]

Hi,

I have been searching since last couple of days on these forums regarding my parents visa from India but still got some doubts. My apologies if these are already answered somewhere as I tried to find but couldn't land on one which could clear my doubts. Since it is my first query/post on this kind of forum please be gentle with me if I am doing any mistake or posting at wrong place.

My situation: My wife has got her ILR last year and I am on ILR dependant VISA valid until March 2018(eligible for ILR after that). We both are working full time at the moment. I want my parents to visit me this July 2016 and stay with us for 3-4 months (actually for summer time). We recently bought a 2 bedroom flat in London where 1 room is not occupied by anyone so basically can be used by them. We are only two people currently living at the property and it is quite spacious.

Parents situation: My parents visited me in UK in 2011 on my graduation (got visa for 6 months but stayed in UK only for 3 weeks). My parents are not working at the moment and I am supporting them by sending them some money every month. They also get a little amount of rent from a property but that is all in cash. Their ages are 64 and 71. My dad used was a business man and stopped working at the age of 59. He has our house and one more property on his name. Both they has not much cash in their bank account at the moment but I can send some to show if required.

My queries are:

1: I wanted to sponsor their visit by showing all the funds in my UK account. But after reading some posts I understand that they need to show some funds in their own accounts in India as well. Is this correct or can I show all the funds from my account in UK and apply for the visa?
2: If they have to show funds in their account how much they need to show each? Can they show funds in the same account which is under my father’s name?
3: Do the funds in account(s) needs to be 28 days old or longer?
4: If they are not working, how can we prove that they will go back to India after intended stay? Last time they sent some income tax returns for this but they are not working at the moment so how about now?
5: Since I send money to them every month, will it cause any effect on their visa since I am supporting them?
6: My mom does not have any asset on her name and very less cash in her account? How can they prove she will go back to India?
7: How much I need to show in both cases where they show the funds or I?
8: Should they apply for family visitor or general visitor visa?
9: What are the requirements to get them long term 10 years visa. Can they apply for 10 years straight away or should they go for 6 months for couple of years and then go for a long term visa?

Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks,
Varun