pregnant... what are my options?

[Lemonslice 4,859]

Just wanted to add that Nexus cards are free for kids under 18 too...

[Ms Hogan 295]

And what if you go into labor early? What if there is a waiting period for the care in the state you're moving to? There are a lot of things to consider.

[hikergirl 277]

MsHogan is correct. Most provinces have provisions that they only cover you to the end of the month that you become a resident of another country.

I would wait and POE after the baby’s born and you have all their documentation in place i.e. Birth Certificate & CRBA

[smrowe 12]

And the medicare you mention, that would be considered government assistance for the portion that covers the birth and recovery, since that's your health care and not the child's (I know, there's little difference, but still). So while your child could be covered under state health insurance, for example, you cannot be. Also, be wary of applying for things like WIC, since that provides nutritional support to the mother during the prenatal and nursing stages.

[D&A2013 0]

Congrats on the baby and immigration!I recently had my son in Canada and am now starting the process for my I-130. My son is american because of his father by filing a report of birth abroad (only cost 100$ and 165$ if you're getting a passport at the same time). I don't believe you lose your benefits unless you relinquish it. Canada is one of the few countries that can maintain dual citizenship and therefore maintain the benefits. As long as you have an address in Canada you are fine. I am so grateful to have given birth in Canada and saved a medical bill.

[Ryan H 3,812]

Moved from IR-1/CR-1 Process & Procedures to Canada regional forum; topic and subsequent discussion has been more about country specific issues than about the visa process itself.

[The Mean Lady 604]

Congrats on the baby and immigration!I recently had my son in Canada and am now starting the process for my I-130. My son is american because of his father by filing a report of birth abroad (only cost 100$ and 165$ if you're getting a passport at the same time). I don't believe you lose your benefits unless you relinquish it. Canada is one of the few countries that can maintain dual citizenship and therefore maintain the benefits. As long as you have an address in Canada you are fine. I am so grateful to have given birth in Canada and saved a medical bill.

I don't think this is technically allowed.

I've seen a lot of people in the canadian forum complaining about people coming back into Canada to have their babies for free.

Your healthcare system is paid for by the people living there.

It isn't REALLY free.

If you don't live there, then you are taking advantage of the system.

And now we're in the canadian forum so those people can weigh in!

Fantastic!

Edited January 23, 2013 by KDH

[hikergirl 277]

Health Care is definitely based on where you have your PRIMARY residence. You can’t be a resident of both Canada and the US, you have to pick.

The people who come back to Canada for surgeries or whatever when they are not fulfilling the residency requirement are defrauding the province and the people of Canada.

I hope they start cracking down on it more.

[The Mean Lady 604]

Health Care is definitely based on where you have your PRIMARY residence. You can’t be a resident of both Canada and the US, you have to pick.

The people who come back to Canada for surgeries or whatever when they are not fulfilling the residency requirement are defrauding the province and the people of Canada.

I hope they start cracking down on it more.

Yeap, there you go, that's what I thought.

That was my hesitance in suggesting to POE and come back and have the baby and leave again.

There's no difinitive answer to this question, IMO until you find out an interview date.

OP- I just noticed your I-130 is already approved.

There's a VEEERRRRYYY good chance you'll already have a visa to move prior to having that baby.

The best option, if you don't have secure healthcare in the US, is to slow down the immigration process and move after the baby is born.

Take your time turning in papers to NVC because otherwise you could find yourself cutting the 6mo expiration on the visa POE very very close.

Not to mention mountains of bills in the US.

Otherwise have your husband add you to his employer insurance plan.

Edited January 23, 2013 by KDH

[NikLR 13,227]

I had thought we can continue to reside in Canada after POE for a short time because you may need to move stuff, sell a house etc... Even when you move provinces it takes 3-6 months for residence to change over and I truly thought with the moving process that you may get that even if moving to the USA. I was not trying to tell someone to do something illegal in any way. I agree that slowing the process is probably the best choice due to legalities I didn't think of in my original post.

[The Mean Lady 604]

I had thought we can continue to reside in Canada after POE for a short time because you may need to move stuff, sell a house etc... Even when you move provinces it takes 3-6 months for residence to change over and I truly thought with the moving process that you may get that even if moving to the USA. I was not trying to tell someone to do something illegal in any way. I agree that slowing the process is probably the best choice due to legalities I didn't think of in my original post.

Well, I mean, if you still have a residence in Canada and you're still working on moving, then imo, that's fine.

I think there's a fine line there on what is right and wrong lol.

[hikergirl 277]

I had been starting to look into the POE and then head back up and finish everything up here thing (before I got my NOID) and it seemed like a big technical quagmire if it was too long of a delay.

First the health care mess because I had looked and saw that they only cover until the end of the month that you leave Canada. If you are a LPR of the US how can you say you are a resident of Canada still? What date do you use for your Canadian exit taxes & US tax returns. It should be your POE but if your working, living and claiming Canadian Health Care for months then it should be the actual date that you leave Canada to go live. Then if you do that, are you screwing with your chances of Removing Conditions and Citizenship because it should be the POE date instead.

I have read somewhere that the different government departments are going to have greater access to CBSA records of arrival and departure. I know they already check in-country EI claims against CBSA records and I think I read that some other departments are going to be looking at them more closely for fraud investigations.

Anyways, I had decided that it was going to be too much of a headache to try and figure everything out and make sure it was all completely above board and was going to just POE when we were ready to cross for good.

[The Mean Lady 604]

I had been starting to look into the POE and then head back up and finish everything up here thing (before I got my NOID) and it seemed like a big technical quagmire if it was too long of a delay.

First the health care mess because I had looked and saw that they only cover until the end of the month that you leave Canada. If you are a LPR of the US how can you say you are a resident of Canada still? What date do you use for your Canadian exit taxes & US tax returns. It should be your POE but if your working, living and claiming Canadian Health Care for months then it should be the actual date that you leave Canada to go live. Then if you do that, are you screwing with your chances of Removing Conditions and Citizenship because it should be the POE date instead.

I have read somewhere that the different government departments are going to have greater access to CBSA records of arrival and departure. I know they already check in-country EI claims against CBSA records and I think I read that some other departments are going to be looking at them more closely for fraud investigations.

Anyways, I had decided that it was going to be too much of a headache to try and figure everything out and make sure it was all completely above board and was going to just POE when we were ready to cross for good.

Oh goodness.

Thank god we don't have to worry about all of that.

My husband works 1 day a week.

We don't own much stuff or a house.

We'll get the visa, my parents will drive up, and we'll gtfo of town lmao.

[NikLR 13,227]

Well it's a good reminder to people to try and get most of their stuff done before POE and not to leave it until the last minute or POE before they're really ready to start living in the USA.

[Hugglebuggles 60]

I think hikergirl has it right. You can't claim to be a resident of two countries at one time, it just doesn't work. There are consequences on both sides if it is discovered. If you use the healthcare services after you're claimed POE date, you may get stuck paying it back.

The medical assistance program you mentioned would be considered a means tested benefit. Your sponsor would be responsible for paying this back, which would be your husband. As the mother of a 4 month old, I would seriously suggest you securing health insurance before moving to the US with a baby. There are so many things that can and do happen. Relying on government assistance is not something I would mess with, there are too many variables.