A young Mexican man who urgently needs a heart and liver transplant has been denied a U.S. visa for the second time, according to his family. He has a medical appointment in the U.S. in about a week.

Jose Chua Lopez, 20, doesn’t know if he’ll make it to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. His mother said Chuca was born with a heart defect and could die if he doesn't receive the transplants.

His father is an Arizona resident, and Chua himself had a visa until he was 15. But when it expired, his family did not have the money to renew it.  Chua has since applied twice for a visa but had been denied, possibly due to a paperwork error.

The State Department declined to comment specifically on the case, citing confidentiality rules, but a spokeswoman says the department is looking into it.