Is it possible to get my 86 year old grandmother to Canada from South Africa

[SAinfoseeker]

Most of her friends have passed away and family all moved so she is very lonely. I would like to try and get her here if possible. My main concern is her age and health care. She has money and can afford to pay for doctors and most things but I am afraid of major hospital charges. The big fear is the unknown cost of these things. I know hospitalization can be very expensive. If there is any way to get her here, does anyone know of any kind of affordable health insurance that she could get?

Thanks

 

[scylla]

You will have to sponsor your grandmother as a permanent resident to allow her to come to Canada to live permanently. The forms are here:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/famcls.asp

The good news is that permanent residents have access to free health care.

The bad news is that it currently takes 5+ years for applications to be process and approved for the parent/grandparent immigration class.

Your grandmother will also have to pass a medical test in order to be approved for permanent residency.

 

[SAinfoseeker]

You will have to sponsor your grandmother as a permanent resident to allow her to come to Canada to live permanently. The forms are here:

The good news is that permanent residents have access to free health care.
The bad news is that it currently takes 5+ years for applications to be process and approved for the parent/grandparent immigration class.
Your grandmother will also have to pass a medical test in order to be approved for permanent residency.

So does that mean she would not be able to stay here during the 5+ years. At her age that is not likely to work. But I guess it would not hurt to apply. She already made it to 86 so who knows.

With out permanent residency is there any other way for her to come here. What are the restrictions on length of stay if she was visiting.

Thanks for your response Scylla.

 

[scylla]

She can apply for a visit visa. A visit visa would allow her to visit for six month. At the end of the six months, she could try applying for an extension to try to stay longer. However sooner or later she would have to return to South Africa (i.e. they will not keep extending her visit indefinitely).

As a visitor, she would not receive free health care and would have to purchase insurance or pay out of pocket.

Also, to be approved for a visitor visa, she will have to show strong ties to her home country to prove she will return at the end of her visit to Canada and has no intentions to remain in Canada permanently.

Hope this helps.

 

[wilson]

She can apply for a visit visa. A visit visa would allow her to visit for six month. At the end of the six months, she could try applying for an extension to try to stay longer. However sooner or later she would have to return to South Africa (i.e. they will not keep extending her visit indefinitely).

As a visitor, she would not receive free health care and would have to purchase insurance or pay out of pocket.

Also, to be approved for a visitor visa, she will have to show strong ties to her home country to prove she will return at the end of her visit to Canada and has no intentions to remain in Canada permanently.

Hope this helps.

Yes indeed. I too agree with this opinion.
As she is 86 years already, if approved,she could get her PR, in her ninetees. Meanwhile if she arrives in Canada on a TRV, she should have a coverage of medical insurance for the entire duration of her stay on TRV. The hospital and medical expenses are too high in Canada and also the medical insurance premum will be considerably high for seniors.

 

[SAinfoseeker]

Thanks for your help folks. I guess we will have to think about this.


SAinfoseeker

 

[SAinfoseeker]

Just a couple more question for the knowledgeable people here.

If we file the permanent resident application, and then she applied for a visitor visa during the wait, could she reapply for the visitor visa every year if she returned to South Africa after each visit? She does have a home and property in South Africa.

Lets say she was to reapply for the visitor visa while she was here and got the extension to 1 year, then returned to South Africa after that, how long would she have to wait to reapply for another visitor visa to return to Canada again?

I am just trying to see how much time she could possibly spend here during the 5+ years wait for permanent residency.

Thanks again

 

[Jurjen]

She can apply for a new visitor visa every time. Visiting an emigrated grandchild is a good reason to keep coming back. However, the embassy personnel could get the impression that one trip she will not return and then they can deny her (even if the visa has been granted, there's always the risk of being refused to enter Canada at immigration at the airport). If access has been denied, it could automatically cancel the PR application. So be careful what you do!

By the way: Your grandma's case is exactly why procedures take so long and so much effort. They want to make sure that not everyone just comes to Canada for the free health care without working to pay it back through taxes.

 

[missmini]

apparently now it will take much longer than 5 years...some say 13 years; check the articles in this thread:

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/reduced-family-reunification-visas-for-parents-and-grandparents-t64319.0.html

also there r cases of parents or grandparents rejected because of too many health problems and Canada would spend too much for their health care; try the search function on this forum and u will see

 

[SAinfoseeker]

They want to make sure that not everyone just comes to Canada for the free health care without working to pay it back through taxes.

I think that is a very unfair comment. Especially if you actually read what I previously stated. The reasons she wanted to come here have nothing to do with free health care. I said she could pay her way but was worried about catastrophic hospital bills. My very first post also asked if anyone knew of reasonably priced health care insurance she could get. No one responded to that point which makes me assume that there is no such thing as reasonably priced health insurance.

She is not an example of your point at all.

 

[scylla]

SAinfoseeker -

To answer your question regarding how often your grandmother will be able to visit - unfortunately no one here can answer that since it will be up to the CIC. Each case is individual and there are really no general rules to go by.

Although your grandmother has strong ties to South Africa, she might still be rejected (even for the initial visa). If she obtains the first one, she may be rejected for subsequent visas if the CIC feels she is visiting Canada too often and behaving more like a resident than a visitor.

Also, once you file for her PR, the CIC will know that she is interested in remaining in Canada long-term. This might impact her ability to qualify for a visit visa while she waits for the PR approval to be processed. Or it might not.

Long story short, no one here can really tell you what you should expect.

 

[SAinfoseeker]

apparently now it will take much longer than 5 years...some say 13 years; check the articles in this thread:

also there r cases of parents or grandparents rejected because of too many health problems and Canada would spend too much for their health care; try the search function on this forum and u will see

I read the story in the Star this morning. That was not what we were looking for.

I know her age will be a concern, but she is in great health. No health problems so I am sure she would pass a medical. I think my next step would be the visa route and try to find out just how much this type of health care might cost for 6 months at a time. I am hopeful that if she pays for any regular doctor visits we may be able to find affordable insurance just to cover the hospital bills.

Thanks

 

[Baloo]

They want to make sure that not everyone just comes to Canada for the free health care without working to pay it back through taxes.

I think that is a very unfair comment. Especially if you actually read what I previously stated. The reasons she wanted to come here have nothing to do with free health care. I said she could pay her way but was worried about catastrophic hospital bills. My very first post also asked if anyone knew of reasonably priced health care insurance she could get. No one responded to that point which makes me assume that there is no such thing as reasonably priced health insurance.

She is not an example of your point at all.

Actually Jurjen's comment is not out of line.

In your OP you said :

My main concern is her age and health care. She has money and can afford to pay for doctors and most things but I am afraid of major hospital charges. The big fear is the unknown cost of these things. I know hospitalization can be very expensive.

The intent seems to be, that you want to get her into Canada in case there are major hospital charges.
The title of this thread is not "how can my grandmother visit Canada", but "Is it possible to get my 86 year old grandmother to Canada from South Africa".
You then stated "Most of her friends have passed away and family all moved so she is very lonely", that does not sound like you are describing a temporary visit to me.

You went on to say

If there is any way to get her here, does anyone know of any kind of affordable health insurance that she could get?

Arranging insurance where she lives is a more logical option, surely it makes sense to to this right now?

Travel insurance would normally include repatriation of the visitor in case of a major problem. In any case this insurance (to cover all eventualities) would be very expensive.

i am sure that you know, as a visitor to Canada she would not be entitled to free healthcare.

 

[scylla]

SAinfoseeker -

Just as an FYI - the medical is not completed as part of the first stage of the application. Instead, your grandmother will be asked to attend the medical 3-4 years after you first apply.

 

[SAinfoseeker]

Actually Jurjen's comment is not out of line.

In your OP you said :
The intent seems to be, that you want to get her into Canada in case there are major hospital charges.
The title of this thread is not "how can my grandmother visit Canada", but "Is it possible to get my 86 year old grandmother to Canada from South Africa".
You then stated "Most of her friends have passed away and family all moved so she is very lonely", that does not sound like you are describing a temporary visit to me.

You went on to say
Arranging insurance where she lives is a more logical option, surely it makes sense to to this right now?

Travel insurance would normally include repatriation of the visitor in case of a major problem. In any case this insurance (to cover all eventualities) would be very expensive.

i am sure that you know, as a visitor to Canada she would not be entitled to free healthcare.

I believe it was out of line to try to use my grandmother desire to join her family here as an example of ripping off the Canadian medical system. I said what I said in the subject because I knew nothing of any of the processes to get her here until I got my first response from scylla. I am no veteran of this stuff. I was not describing a temporary visit. I wanted to know what methods were available to get her here, preferably permanently. There never was any attempt to rip off Canadian medical system. When I mentioned major hospital bills I meant while she was here in Canada, not because of any lack of medical care in South Africa what so ever. I never ever considered that her South African medical coverage would protect her while in Canada. I will look into that. I made it very clear what the reason was for her wishing to join family here in Canada. She is lonely.

To me it looks like both of your attempts to protect Canadian medical system lead you to leep to the wrong conclusion. I am quite sure that if you had read all of the posts here and not just the subject line you would not be saying these things. She wants to do everything right and I tried to make that clear.

Thank you.