Older dependent relatives

Some very helpful posts & links in this thread - I've tried to go through as much as possible before I started seeing stars

I just have a few questions....first some background

Regarding my mother in law who lives in Pakistan, and is 71. She is a widow. Her health has progressively failed over the last 5 years. She is diabetic, has had heart surgery / procedures after 2 heart attacks & cannot walk for more than a few minutes, any walking is with a walking stick.

All her medical / medication records are available at a UK surgery where she is registered

She used to visit us every 2 years but long distance travelling is now quite difficult.

She holds a current / valid British Overseas Passport - has no right to work or claim benefits etc whilst in the UK

What options- if any (in terms of Home Office /Schemes/Applications) do me & and my wife (both UK citizens from Birth) have in the UK to allow her to come and live her final years with us in our home?

Many regards

Could try Adult Dependant Relative visa, but it's very expensive and comes with an almost 100% chance of refusal.

AIUI, BOC isn't worth anything unless stateless and as such she should not have registered with a GP as a visitor, and reading between the lines here it sounds like she have spent long periods in the UK on visit visas, another definite black mark.

Regards further options:

1. EU Surinder Singh route, involved complete relocation of you and your family in another EU state, lock, stock or smoking barrel for around a year, bring ur MIL over on EEA family permit then move back to UK. Trouble is probably not enough time to sort before Brexit and in any case UK is dragging their feet with these applications.

2. Move back to Pakistan

3. Pay for her treatment/a carer in Pakistan, this is what the UKVI would expect.

gollywood wrote:She holds a current / valid British Overseas Passport

Does she or has she had at any time in the past any other nationality?

Note that I am inquiring about nationality. She may have had another nationality even if she never got a passport for that nationality.

Given that she is in Pakistan, it is worth checking if she has Pakistani, Indian (given her age) and any East African (guessing that she may have been from East Africa based on her having a BOC) nationality.

secret.simon wrote:

gollywood wrote:She holds a current / valid British Overseas Passport

Does she or has she had at any time in the past any other nationality?

Note that I am inquiring about nationality. She may have had another nationality even if she never got a passport for that nationality.

Given that she is in Pakistan, it is worth checking if she has Pakistani, Indian (given her age) and any East African (guessing that she may have been from East Africa based on her having a BOC) nationality.

Thanks Simon.

She has only ever held UK Passports, her 1st one being in the 1960s I think. (Yes via East African route)

She has been a Pakistani resident since then, holding an obligatory Pakistani ID Card but never a Pakistani passport. She also holds a NICOP (National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis)

Wanderer wrote:Could try Adult Dependant Relative visa, but it's very expensive and comes with an almost 100% chance of refusal.

AIUI, BOC isn't worth anything unless stateless and as such she should not have registered with a GP as a visitor, and reading between the lines here it sounds like she have spent long periods in the UK on visit visas, another definite black mark.

Regards further options:

1. EU Surinder Singh route, involved complete relocation of you and your family in another EU state, lock, stock or smoking barrel for around a year, bring ur MIL over on EEA family permit then move back to UK. Trouble is probably not enough time to sort before Brexit and in any case UK is dragging their feet with these applications.

2. Move back to Pakistan

3. Pay for her treatment/a carer in Pakistan, this is what the UKVI would expect.

Thanks for stating the options. As you say, probably difficult in reality (eg relocation) & prohibitively expensive.

I probably overplayed the 'visited every 2 years' - it is in fact 4 visits in total since 2001, and for weeks or couple of months at most.

Brexit

gollywood wrote:She also holds a NICOP (National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis)

That is bad news. NICOP, as its name suggests, is issued to overseas Pakistani citizens.

If your mother-in-law had no other nationality other than her British overseas citizenship, she could have registered to become a British citizen and then could come and live in the UK. But because she does have another nationality (Pakistani), evidenced by her holding a NICOP, she cannot go down that route.

It seems the only options open to you are the ones listed above by Wanderer. Be aware that if she is in the UK on a visit visa, she should be paying for all her medical needs and medication at 150% if she is getting it through the NHS. Failure to pay may cause issues further down the line.

As regards your remark on Brexit, your mother-in-law's situation has nothing to do with Brexit. Not sure what is the relevance of that remark.

secret.simon wrote:

gollywood wrote:She also holds a NICOP (National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis)

That is bad news. NICOP, as its name suggests, is issued to overseas Pakistani citizens.

If your mother-in-law had no other nationality other than her British overseas citizenship, she could have registered to become a British citizen and then could come and live in the UK. But because she does have another nationality (Pakistani), evidenced by her holding a NICOP, she cannot go down that route.

It seems the only options open to you are the ones listed above by Wanderer. Be aware that if she is in the UK on a visit visa, she should be paying for all her medical needs and medication at 150% if she is getting it through the NHS. Failure to pay may cause issues further down the line.

As regards your remark on Brexit, your mother-in-law's situation has nothing to do with Brexit. Not sure what is the relevance of that remark.

Re Brexit, just a general 'sigh' at how things are panning out (or not!)....nothing to do with MIL situation