Hi, I\'m new here, so please bear with me if this is a common question. :)
What is the protocol for health insurance while waiting for permanent resident approval? My husband in Canadian, and I\'m a a US citizen. We moved to Vancouver a few months ago and have been working on medical/police clearance in order to submit our application. Based on the CIC website, it looks like the process can be 9-18 months before approval, and so I am wondering what others have done to make sure they have health insurance during the interim.
I am just concerned because it now seems like I might (potentially) not have insurance for 18mos + however long it takes to apply for the insurance card. One of my concerns is finding insurance in case we get pregnant during the 2 year space.
Thank you in advance!
You don\'t have to apply for inland immigration just because you are in Canada. You are allowed to apply outland, which is usually quicker. In the meantime, there are ex-pat insurance companies, and you can pay for the maternity coverage as long as you don\'t have the baby in less than 9 months of taking out the insurance.
Catherine - Thanks for your info - that is so helpful! How do you apply outland - is it following the steps for \"living outside canada\", OR can I submit the \"living inside canada\" paperwork to a US office?
you need to have your spouse fill out bc health forms and put you on it. He will get it within three months, and no more than three months. You will get your PR card faster than you think, it took me five months start to finish. don\'t bother looking on line for your information on the cic site. it is always lagging, and causes more worries. I landed october 1 and will get bc health on the first of january. If I got here the day prior, I would have gotten health December 1. get temp insurance it is cheap, but it is only good for something extreme. I had it for the first couple months and then let it lapse,just couldn\'t justify it.
cheers
ps. make sure you have all of your requirements done, such as medical, don\'t wait for the cic to require anything, because it will hold you up.
There are separate forms for inland and outland. You can download them from the CIC website. All you need, I think, is a US address to receive stuff at. I filed inland, so I\'m not the best one to ask about outland.
when you file outland you can still receive stuff at a canadian address. The forms will have places where you can specify what your residential address is and what your mailing address is.
\\'foppa21nyc\\' pid=\\'55174\\' dateline=\\'1293693749\\ Wrote:Catherine - Thanks for your info - that is so helpful! How do you apply outland - is it following the steps for \"living outside canada\", OR can I submit the \"living inside canada\" paperwork to a US office?
Yes, applying outland means using the \"living outside Canada\" forms. Despite the wording, you can be anywhere in the world--including Canada--while your outland application is being processed, i.e. there are no residency requirements for this. However, you would need to make sure to maintain legal temporary status in Canada if you decided to wait out your processing there as a visitor. (I\'m not as well-versed on the procedures for extending temporary status, but it is usually rather straightforward if you are already applying for PR and there are plenty of threads floating around with more info on this.)
As for where/how you apply. Inland applications get sent to Vegreville, Alberta. Outland applications, however, are sent to Mississauga, Ontario and--once they have approved the sponsorship portion--
they forward the entire file to the applicant\'s overseas visa office. In your case, this would be Buffalo, New York. This does mean that if Buffalo determines you require an interview, you\'d need to be able to travel to the States for that.
A good place to start reading to better understand the main differences between Inland and Outland processing:
http://immipedia.ca/Overseas_vs_In_Canada.
EDIT: Another thing to keep in mind is that the processing times on CIC\'s website for outland applications can be misleading. They are for 80% of the cases. However, with straightforward and COMPLETE applications, these processing times are usually much shorter. People with straightforward cases and no complications (i.e. no documents lost along the way and/or requested by Buffalo later on) have generally been processed more in the 4-6 month range recently. Of course, every situation is different and ultimately it does depend on your individual situation, how well you put together your application, how busy the visa office is, how long it takes them to get background checks done, whether any red flags come up while they\'re processing it, etc. But it\'s something to keep in mind and, usually, the main reason people recommend outland over inland for US citizens.
Thank you so much for everyone\'s reply! This is so helpful. My husband was originally handling all the paperwork, but I recently took over that job ;) so it\'s all still a little new to me. It looks like at this point, it might be better for me to apply outland (even though my inland app is basically ready to go once I receive my police clearances back). My only concern now is that I have a visitor status in Canada and so technically can\'t leave the country - not sure what this means if I need to do an interview in the states and if the border/immigration will make the exception and let me back in! Also, since I realized how long it is truly going to take (my husband\'s estimates were WAY off), I just submitted my visitor status extension. I guess I will get researching on doing it as an outland application - if I do, it seems I can use my current Canadian address for everything and not need a US address, is this correct?
As for the health insurance, this would definitely be helpful if the process outland was a fraction of the inland\'s time. We just purchased travel insurance for me, but i think I should also look into private insurance too just to be sure.
Thanks again to everyone!
Rinnez- Thank you so much for you post! This is all so helpful, and I am seriously considering switching to the outland application now. Is this how you applied - outland while in Canada? Your timeframes look like they are moving along much faster than what I was anticipating with an inland application. I just got my medical done (in Vancouver) on Dec 8th, and am waiting on my FBI and NY state police clearances and will then be able to apply.
Quote:My only concern now is that I have a visitor status in Canada and so technically can\'t leave the country - not sure what this means if I need to do an interview in the states and if the border/immigration will make the exception and let me back in!
There is always the chance that you\'ll be turned away at the border, even if you are visa-exempt (which you are, as a US citizen). However, if you have already filed for your husband to sponsor you and (preferably) he has already been approved--and you show up with the proper documentation and proof--chances are good that you\'d be allowed back in with a visitor record. Another useful link, since it probably has it worded better than I would:
http://www.us2canada.com/visitorrecord.php. The evidence of having filed a PR application that they mention could include things like a copy of the receipt for when you paid your PR fees, the letter you will have received from Mississauga stating your husband was approved to sponsor you and that your file was sent to Buffalo, any correspondence sent to you from Buffalo, etc. It\'d also be a good idea for your husband to have proof that he can support you while you\'re waiting in Canada (since you won\'t be able to work as a visitor), such as bank statements, a letter from work indicating salary, etc. What they\'ll be concerned about is making sure you really have filed for PR already, that you guys are a genuine couple that are eligible to file this way, and that you will not have cause to work illegally to support yourself while being in Canada as a visitor.
Quote:I guess I will get researching on doing it as an outland application - if I do, it seems I can use my current Canadian address for everything and not need a US address, is this correct?
Yes, you can list a Canadian mailing address for receiving correspondence from them while your file is being processed.
Quote:Rinnez- Thank you so much for you post! This is all so helpful, and I am seriously considering switching to the outland application now. Is this how you applied - outland while in Canada? Your timeframes look like they are moving along much faster than what I was anticipating with an inland application.
No problem. Yes, I\'ve applied outland while being in Canada--although my case may not be as straightforward as some. But in any case, my timeline is generally the norm for processing through Buffalo (so far anyway). In fact, I actually received the \"in process\" update a few weeks later than most others did. Now it\'s just playing the waiting game, hoping I won\'t need an interview and going from there. The holidays have probably slowed things down a bit, too.
don\'t worry too much about being turned away at the border. This is a statement on your temporary visa, but it implies that you have not fullfilled requirements set forth to enter Canada, it is not an arbitrary. Go outland, you can be here on a visitors visa and go outland, the turn around time is incredible, and they have cut back on CIC budget so it may take longer than expected now.
Read your packet and make sure you send the paper work to the proper place, they forward it to Buffalo. Remember they send it to Buffalo!
Also, I spoke with immigration at the border for information on moving here, and they were quite nice and willing to talk, however I lived two hours from the border and now live 5 minutes from the ferry now.
Good luck