Moving overseas with a disabled child

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My DH and I would love to emigrate to a warmer country. We both have jobs and skills that are very transferable and a decent amount of capital. However we also have a severely disabled son with learning disabilies who will be dependent on us for life.

Does anyone know of any countries we would have a reasonable chance of moving to? We are happy to home educate our son and he does not have any more severe medical needs than any other child but I am aware that we would not be able to get a visa for many countries due to the perceived cost to the state.

We are considering moving to Ireland for 5 years so we can get European passports but are there any other options?

You’d first need to find out which countries you are eligible for. It’s no good researching the climate and medical provisions of a country you have no chance of moving to. Waste of time. You would then have a short-list to work with and you can start looking at the climate and medical provisions from there.

It’s harder than some people think. Even for highly-qualified and experienced professionals. I can only speak for where I live but many people think if they have good skills or qualifications the foreign country will take them. Not so. I emigrated to the US as an IR-1 immigrant (spouse of US citizen). For the US, for example, the vast majority of immigrants here are from the family categories. If you have around $500,000 and are not fussy about where you move to here then you can get an investment visa (EB-5 category) that will give you green cards if you open a business that will employ 10 people here. If you want to be more selective with your area you will need $1million. To come to the US on a work visa requires a company to sponsor you. You can’t just apply for a job here then waltz into the embassy and get a visa. The number of employment visas is very limited with an annual cap. The H-1B visa, for example, is typically oversubscribed by about 4 to 1. Also check if you will both need to apply for work visas on your own merits. Not all employment visas allow the spouse to work too.

Other people can probably chime in with what the requirements are for the countries they live in.

Unfortunately I think your options will be very limited. We looked into moving a while ago (years) and have a child with a physical disability, he is likely to go to university, live independently etc and us no ongoing ‘illnesses’, however there was almost nowhere he could get a visa. We did limit ourselves to English speaking countries though which is quite a limitation.

The only way you can really know what your options are is through an immigration agent. As a Spaniard, once you get your resident status your child will have a public education spot and disabled education kids in Spain is very good.

The problem as you already know is whether you will qualify for the visa considering you are bringing a minor with a severe disability and the amount of money in resources he will need.

Most countries will reject your application on this alone.

You could look at the UAE but look closely at the rules for sponsoring your son when he is an adult. No drain on the state as you will have to use your medical insurance or pay for therapy, treatment etc yourselves.

As @annabell22 said, some countries allow you to sponsor adults as dependents. I'm in Thailand and I'm sure that's the case here, as I know foreigners can sponsor their parents. Depending on your professions, it could be easy to find a job here or impossible (some roles are protected for locals and some industries would require Thai speakers). Also, while you can certainly retire here, you can't become citizens.

Other countries in Asia may be worth a look as culturally they may be more likely than western countries to allow you to sponsor dependents with disabilities and, in the long run, to sponsor your child as a dependent adult.

Best of luck!

Unfortunately I think Australia would not be an option. Friends of ours were desperate to come here, he had the kind of IT job that would have put him on the “skills in demand” list, she had a medical job that again would usually have guaranteed her a visa but one of their two children is profoundly disabled. I know they pursued the idea quite hard but were told they would not get a visa.

Btw maybe post on the Craicnet forum about disability provision in Ireland if you are thinking of going down that route.

Second At steal is being out. I have known experienced medically qualified folk that have been denied due to kids mild SNs.

No idea how it converted to that. Second Australia being out.

Canada (the land of woke) is surprisingly militant against disabled children. My friend had skills in a shortage occupation and everything was fine but they would not budge on this point. It's probably not on your list anyway due to the weather!

I third Australia being a no go. Not a chance, in fact one of my friends failed her medical as she was too overweight.

Just to counteract what is being said, there was an episode of WDU where the family had a small son with congenital heart disease (he needed further surgeries) and he got clearance for a visa.