visitors visa for mentally disabled sister

[bettyboop]

Hi. I am a naturalized american citizen and my mother is a legal US resident. I have 5 other siblings here in the US who are all nurses and are all american citizens as well. My question is: I have a 44 year old sister in the Philippines who has mental disability. We want to bring her over here in the US for short visits (3 months at a time) under a tourist/ visitors visa. What documents do we need to present? Obviously she doesn't own a home, does not work and just basically depend on us for financial support. We don't have plans of having her live here in the US as she is well taken care of by our relatives in the Philippines. We just want her to be able to celebrate Christmas, her birthday and some other special occasion with us. Is there a special visa for people with disabilities who will just come to the US for a visit? Would greatly appreciate any information that might help us.

Thank you.

[Tezza]

Hi. I am a naturalized american citizen and my mother is a legal US resident. I have 5 other siblings here in the US who are all nurses and are all american citizens as well. My question is: I have a 44 year old sister in the Philippines who has mental disability. We want to bring her over here in the US for short visits (3 months at a time) under a tourist/ visitors visa. What documents do we need to present? Obviously she doesn't own a home, does not work and just basically depend on us for financial support. We don't have plans of having her live here in the US as she is well taken care of by our relatives in the Philippines. We just want her to be able to celebrate Christmas, her birthday and some other special occasion with us. Is there a special visa for people with disabilities who will just come to the US for a visit? Would greatly appreciate any information that might help us.

Thank you.

There's no special visa for someone who is mentally disabled. I guess the consular office would be wary of her becoming a public charge while here, which could put a negative factor in the situation. Also, they may want to address the type of care and medication required for her, is that all available to her if she were to visit here. You would probably want to try and find some kind of health insurance that covers her for the duration of the vacation as well, to alleviate the public charge issue slightly.

The fact that you're all naturalized citizens may also spark a worry. They will see very clear immigrant intent here, in that you, 5 of your siblings and your mother all live in the US, not to mention that you guys financially support her needs and perhaps you're now trying to bring in your disabled sister to be closer to you. It sounds harsh, but they're very wary of things like this.

She, or her guardian will have to assemble a lot of documents to prove definite ties to the Philippines. Since she won't be able to provide any documents on owning her own home, any employment, vehicles etc, it's going to be difficult and I am not sure how to advise you. I would say perhaps gather up documents from where she does live. For example, is she in a care home or a hospital on a permanent basis? You could provide a letter from them explaining they're aware of your sister's vacation to the US for a certain amount of time and that she will be coming back by a specific date.

If she has a legal guardian or permanent carer, I assume they will be coming to the US with them? Perhaps they can provide documentation from their employer (if it's a carer agency or something) stating that she's accompanying your sister for a certain duration and will be returning.

I hope I've shed some light on it, I hope others can provide further information for you. If not, maybe find an attorney to get some advice.

Good luck with it all and let us know how it goes.