Elderly Parent/Grandparent Settlement - Urgent Advice Please

[if2190]

Hello - I would just like to begin by saying I have used this forum and read through so many helpful posts which has enabled me to successfully obtain a spouse visa for my husband. We are halfway through the process and will need to be applying for Further Leave to Remain in the next couple of months...

However, something else has come up just today. I am writing this as a grandchild to my grandmother, who is currently residing in India. Unfortunately, we woke up to the news this morning that my uncle has passed away very suddenly and unexpectedly. This has come as a huge shock - he was only 51 years old. My grandmother is widowed and my uncle was her only relative in the country and her sole reason for remaining in India for all these years. My mum moved to the UK 30 years ago when she got married. My grandmothers other son is in Australia. Both have full time jobs and commitments and are unable to relocate to India to be with her. They have been making 2-3 trips per year to India and spending 1-2 weeks there at a time. But my uncle was her main carer and relative - she is 87 years old. Her health is okay for now but she is increasingly frail and her cognition is declining. She is very forgetful and starting to show signs of short term memory loss. In recent months, for her safety both she and my uncle moved into a residential home that his friend owned. This is to avoid her cooking herself when he was out working and have someone available if she falls or hurts herself (which she has done previously). It is not a care home perse so he used to assist her with dressing, bathing, prompting to eat and many other ADLs.

He was in charge of all her finances (she doesn't have a bank account), did any shopping she required, took her out whenever she needed anything etc. I have been through the very helpful post Amber put up immigration-for-family-members/adult-de ... 87771.html
and can see that for the majority of those she was semi or fully reliant on him.

My mum and her brother are flying out urgently today for only 5 days. We have no idea whether we will be able to find any of her important documents e.g. passport/birth certificate as they were all in his possession. All we can do is search. I have got information for the local passport application office and we will be contacting them tomorrow to see if we can book an emergency appointment to have a passport issued.

The care home owner has said she would try to help continue on with the care my grandmother had but only for the short term and as a favour. What terrifies us is her having absolutely no relatives or close friends in India to look after her. She has been through so much heart break and honestly, it kills us to think about leaving her behind alone. We wouldn't even be able to transfer her money if she required it as she does not have the ability to go out and collect money from a WU or have a bank account it can be transferred into.

We are financially secure. I have a mortgage and keep up all payments. We have savings. My mother and uncle earn well and have savings. We could afford care in India but my grandmother would most definitely succumb to loneliness and grief. Her declining cognition (we haven't had her formally assessed yet but she is showing signs of dementia) is a huge factor in all of this. She adores me (i'm her Godchild) and my siblings and my mother was her only girl who she thinks the absolute world of.

I know that these type of settlement visa's are rarely granted. My questions are

1) do we have a potential exceptional circumstance and is it worth the risk of applying
2) As she would be living with me, would I be her sponsor? As a family we are very close and my mum and remaining uncle have been and will continue to financially support her - I would be able to offer her housing and personal care (as I have had previous experience of this). My husband and my working hours would mean we have more hours in the day to spend with her. My mother and uncle would be frequently visiting her. (My mother just doesn't have the space in her house and no one is home during the day)
3) Would me being her sponsor affect my husbands FLR application coming up soon in any way? i.e. would the government feel I am taking on too many sponsorships?
4) Is there any way to fast track this application?

Thank you in advance for any advice you can give.