Custodial child to United States from Pakistan

[Denise1818 0]

My nephew is the son of my younger sister. They live in my village. My sis in law is aunt by marriage.

The nearest place for my nephew to get therapy for his autism is in islamabad, a 3 hour hour drive from my village. He went there for his diagnosis. My My sister is is looking into trying to relocate there. Maybe she can stay with friends. The therapy is pricey. 2000 US dollars per per month. But it is the closest place to the village. There is no place in the village for him to go.

My nephew is 2 years old and completely non verbal. The diagnosis my sister was told is severe autism.

My nephew's father works in KSA and we looked and there is nothing anywhere near him that could help my nephew. And it was the doctors in KSA who told my my sister to go back to Pakistan with my nephew for help.

[Boiler 43,392]

Did you look into how much it would cost in the US?

[Penguin_ie 5,984]

I have a severely autistic 7 year old; we did private therapy before we got help from the school system, and it is VERY expensive here in the USA.

I feel for your sister and the boy, I really do. early intervention is so important, but you couldn't get it for free/ cheap here; even if you can get him into the USA on a medical or student visa, you'd need to pay privately for all therapies and a special needs pre-school.

[aaron2020 11,651]

Hi,

If custody was all it takes to bring a nephew to the US, many of us would have done this already. It's not possible. The US is very strict about adopting a relative and applying for an immigrant visa. There are very specific laws on this. Custody is not enough to get a visa.

Furthermore, there is no free medical services. Why would the US let in a foreign citizen and pay for his medical needs?

Sorry, but there is no way to bring your nephew to the US for free medical treatment.

Best to send money to provide care in his home country.

Best of luck.

[Denise1818 0]

No one is talking about free treatment in this country. It's about quality of life. Pakistan is not a very accepting place with regards to children with disabilities. There are very few schools that offer special needs services. And nothing there is free. No medical insurance systems. My nephew will never be allowed to attend a regular school, and in the villages like the one in which he lives he will be shunned. Even in my own family ignorance leads many to speculate that black magic is the cause of his condition. Crazy but true.

We hope to find a safe place for my sister to live in Islamabad so she can get his therapy there. We don't have family there so we need to find a male relative who will live with her if she goes there. That's all we can do for now.

[Boiler 43,392]

Have you considered the B route for medical attention?

[Denise1818 0]

I have not looked into it because I assumed it was for those who need life saving surgeries and stuff.

[Penguin_ie 5,984]

He could not stay long term on the B visa, but he could get some intensive ABA therapy(ideally with his mom, so she can continue it at home, maybe get tested for Fragile X etc.

[Denise1818 0]

Definitely worth looking into. ABA is the recommendation for him. And my sis in law thinks that my nephew needs some testing for health issues. He gets fevers for no reason a dr can find and other things like lead exposure.