What do you call a person who has never worked their entire life? Retired?

[Ashraful Haque]

I'm mot quiet sure how to answer the following questions. I'll be answering the questions on behalf of my grandma who doesn't speak English. So I'm basically going act as her translator. These are some embassy interview questions.

1) What do you do for a living? How much do you earn?
My grandmother has been a housewife her entire life. I'm confused about this question since I can't say she is retired. How do I say she doesn't work and her children take care of her?

2) How will you be financing your trip?
3) How much do you think your stay in the US will cost you?

Answer 2: Her son will sponsor the trip.
Answer 3: She has no idea since her son, who is a US citizen, has always sponsored her/her trips/stays?

Is 'sponsor' a good word to use here? If so. Is sponsor a trip/stay correct? Lastly, can you sponsor a person?

 

[5jj]

1) What do you do for a living? How much do you earn?

I look after my family.
My children support me financially.

2) How will you be financing your trip?

My son is paying for it.

3) How much do you think your stay in the US will cost you?

It will cost me mothing. My son is paying for everything.

I would not use 'sponsor'.

 

[SoothingDave]

You can say she is a homemaker or that she "doesn't work outside of the home."

I think "sponsor" is fine.

 

[probus]

My understanding is that "sponsor" is a defined term in US legislation related to immigration. I once tried to get my brother, a US citizen, to sponsor me for a green card.

 

[Rover_KE]

Like Soothing Dave, I’d call her a homemaker, and say she had never had paid employment.

’Sponsor’ is not used in that sense in BE.

 

[tedmc]

I think "sponsor" is used in official context, e.g. a company sponsoring a football match, or an event.

 

[emsr2d2]

In immigration terms, "sponsor" is used extensively in the UK (and at British embassies/consulates etc). It's what they call the person who is going to be responsible for a visitor to the UK during their stay. The sponsor doesn't have to completely cover the costs of the trip but the visitor is expected to stay at that person's home and the sponsor would be expected to help them out if, for some reason, they lost all their money! It depends, to a certain extent, on the nationality of the visitor to the UK, the prevailing economy of that person's country and the recorded history of immigration abuse by people from that country/region. It's called profiling. It's always been done and it always will be. It can dictate whether someone is granted a visa or, for people who don't need a visa on arrival, whether they're granted leave to enter on arrival.