Please Help Me Save My Parents! I Need to Raise Funds to Reapply for My Elderly Disabled Parents' Visa Application. After the first application was declined, and my parents were nearly deported, we had to attend Court. Even though the Judge was disgusted at how far this case had come, and after ruling in our favour, the Home Office gave us a 2.5 year visa and both my parents have to reapply and pay all the fees all over again!

I am doing something I never thought I would do, and that is asking people for help! This is a desperate plea for help to fund a rejected Visa Application and a new further visa application to allow my elderly disabled South African parents (who are both in their late 80’s and who both have very bad health) to continue to live with us in the UK. After us all having to attend an unbelievably emotional Court trial in Wales because of a rejected visa application and with the prospect of my parents being deported to a country where they would be homeless, we won our case for them to live with us in the UK. The Judge was disgusted that the case had come this far and said that my parents should never have had to endure such treatment and said that the application should never have been allowed to get this far. He said that they should be allowed to live out their days with us to look after them and keep them safe for the rest of their lives "as they did for me when I was a child".

We thought that that would be the last we heard from the Home Office, but were astounded to only receive a 2.5 year visa, and were advised that we had to reapply after that time, thus forcing us to once again pay for all the costs for the reapplication of the visas and Home Office fees, NHS costs, Solicitor costs, Barrister costs, etc. These fees are astronomical, and have caused a great amount of financial stress already on us all.

I beg you to read this explanation, and help me find a way to help my parents fund their appeal and reapply for new visas, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to do it, and if you are able to help, or know someone who could help, then I sincerely thank you and would be eternally grateful to you all.

I am one of two children, but sadly lost my brother to a brain tumour years ago when he was just 14 and I was 11. Sadly, as I don’t have any other siblings, or any other family to take care of my parents, the onus falls on me, and I would give anything to be able to give them the care and assistance that they are now needing and deserve in their old age. My parents have no immediate living family, let alone anyone who would be able to help or care for them in any way, and I am beside myself with worry for their well-being.

My parents were born in South Africa, moved to Zimbabwe, but moved back to South Africa because of all the unrest and political problems Zimbabwe faced, and how unsafe it was living there at the time. For many years my mother was the caretaker of a block of flats in Cape Town, South Africa, and my father the handyman in the same block. With the caretaker’s position, they were afforded a flat to live in while they were carrying out their duties for the Landlord. Sadly my father had a bad stroke which left him hospitalised for a few weeks, and which resulted in paralysis on his right-hand side and his speech being affected. Unfortunately, this meant that he no longer had a job, and my mother was to become his full-time carer, and as well as having the caretaking position at the block of flats she had to look after my father on a full-time basis. She still had to continue with her work, as if she didn’t, they would have nowhere to live. My father is unable to perform daily tasks for himself like bathing, eating, dressing and needs help with everything. His mobility is very badly affected as is his speech and personal bodily functions. He gets very emotional since his stroke, and more often than not ends up crying and is not able to hold much of a conversation with anyone.

Because of how ill my dad had been how and tired my mother was, they so desperately needed a break. Their only grandchildren were turning 16 and 21, and because my parents had missed most of the kids’ childhood days, we thought it would be a fantastic opportunity for them to come on holiday so that they could have a break, and also be able to celebrate the forthcoming big birthdays.

Unfortunately shortly after their arrival in the UK my mother became very ill. I think it must have been the stress of my father’s stroke, coupled with having to cope on a daily basis, but her body seemed to go into rebellion when she arrived. After several visits to the doctors and hospitals and lots of tests/scans/cameras/etc., the doctors decided that it would be detrimental if my parents flew home, and said that they most certainly would not be able to care for themselves if they were to return.

My parents came over to the UK to celebrate our son’s 16th birthday and our daughter’s 21st birthday, and to spend time with us as a family, but my mother got sick three months after arriving. They paid for every bit of medication and all her hospital treatments, and when we first applied for their visa to stay, they had to pay three years NHS costs in advance to cover any future medical bills.

I therefore made an application to the Home Office to look favourably on my parents and grant them the leave to stay with us in the UK so that I could look after my parents and keep them comfortable and safe. Because of this application, the owner of the block of flats where my parents lived, had to give them notice as he could not keep my mother’s job open, and because of their ill health, he said that my mother would not be able to perform her caretaking duties, and therefore could not continue to live in the flat. He passed away shortly after this, and the flat my parents were staying in is now no longer available to them, which means that they would be homeless if they were to return to South Africa.

My mother has some severe medical problems, which include an artificial leg, a disabled foot on her other leg, heart failure, kidney disease, macular degeneration, arthritis in her knees and back, hearing loss, memory loss and various other medical problems which affect her mobility and prevent her from doing much anymore. She has fallen several times since she has been with us, as has my father. The heart failure, kidney disease and some arthritic problems were what she was diagnosed with after her arrival to the UK, and her memory, hearing and eyesight have deteriorated severely since being her. She suffers debilitating pain in her legs, knees and back, and she is not very mobile at all. She struggles to walk or stand or perform any daily functions in the home, and as she has become so forgetful, leaving her unsupervised in the kitchen can be very dangerous as she sometimes forgets that the stove/oven is on. I would therefore be very worried about them if they had to be sent back to South Africa, as neither of them would be able to look after themselves or each other.

For the application, we had to obtain proof from old age and care homes in South Africa of the monthly living costs for these, and were told that you had to be under 60 years of age to apply for a room, and that there was a 15 year waiting list at the homes! My parents are in their 80’s, so they don’t stand a chance really! Some homes only took ladies and not men, so my parents would be separated and their marriage would be split up just so that they could find living accommodation in Cape Town! They have no immediate family left, and because we cannot get proof that they have no one else to look after them in South Africa, their application was denied.

After thirteen months of worry and intense stress, the Home Office came back to us asking us to obtain further letters from the Dr and asked the Drs to confirm what their previous letters had already stated, and confirm if my parents could fly home, and if not, when they would be able to fly home! This meant more visits to the Dr to obtain another letter. The Dr gave a very in-depth three page letter explaining how ill my parents are, and how they would not be able to look after themselves, and the letter also indicated that because of my mother’s heart problems, she has potential heart failure, and that it would not be safe for her to fly home to Cape Town.

The Home Office however rejected their application on the basis that my parents were ill before they arrived in the UK, and stated that the British Heart Foundation’s website says that it is safe for people with heart problems to fly!

We had to attend a Court trial and each of us were subjected to a bombardment of questions by the Judge, the Home Office Representing Officer and our Barrister. It was the most stressful and emotional day of our lives! The Judge was horrified that the case had got that far, and said that the Home Office should allow my parents to live out their days in peace and with their loved ones and allow them be looked after by their only daughter and their family, and be kept safe. A glowing Court Judgment was given to us. The Judge wished us well, and said that we should be allowed to stay together. We thought that we had won our case, and were so emotional, only to receive a letter a week later from the Home Office granting my parents a two and a half year visa, and being told to reapply again after that time!!!

I cannot explain how we are all feeling right now and how devastated we are to have to do it all again and go through yet another application!! We have done everything via the correct channels. This has already been an incredibly costly but extremely necessary fight, and monies to fund this appeal have been depleted as have our credit cards. The exchange rate from the Rand to the Pound is so bad and with us having had to make an extremely expensive appeal to the Home Office, re-instruct an agent and a Barrister, book the Court for the hearing, ask witnesses to give evidence as to why my parents cannot look after themselves and prove this, and now having to reapply and pay all the fees all over again, we need to try and find the necessary funds to do all of this. I cannot physically believe that a rejection was even an option. I am not asking for anyone in authority to look after my sick and disabled parents. I am doing what any daughter could and should want to do, and that is to take care of my very elderly, disabled and incapable parents and help them live as comfortable a life as I can, and to let them enjoy their last days/months/years with the only family they have. I am so scared that sending them back would have a seriously detrimental affect on them, and would potentially result in the unspeakable and untimely death of one or both of them because of all this stress caused! This coupled with the fact that if they were sent back, they would have absolutely no home to go to, no one to look after them, and once they arrived at the airport in South Africa – they would have nowhere to go to! Please, please help us to make this new application to enable me to get permission for my parents to live with us in the UK, and help me make them as comfortable as I physically and possibly can!

Thank you for taking the time to read our story and thank you for from the bottom of my heart for your help!