K1 Visa and health insurance

[dhlincali 0]

Has anyone recently completed the K1 visa process, traveled to the United States and tried to apply for health insurance after marriage? Would my soon-to-be wife have to wait until Adjustment of Status is complete or after she obtains a Social Security card in order to be eligible for health benefits? How long does Adjust of status and getting a SS card take? I looked into it and it looks like it could take months? Any stories out there?

[Gosia & Tito 199]

Has anyone recently completed the K1 visa process, traveled to the United States and tried to apply for health insurance after marriage? Would my soon-to-be wife have to wait until Adjustment of Status is complete or after she obtains a Social Security card in order to be eligible for health benefits? How long does Adjust of status and getting a SS card take? I looked into it and it looks like it could take months? Any stories out there?

If you are talking health insurance thru your employer plan; no need to wait other than any waiting period the plan could have, which could be 30 days to kick in after registering. That is of course as an addition of a spouse (most plans have marriage as a life event and can add spouse anytime)

A SSN is not a requirement, and even if some insurance companies might need it at some point, most would give some time to obtain.

The only "valid" reason I've seen of an insurance company requiring a SSN is because they -stupidly- use it as the unique identifier for computer systems. In some cases, a "tokenized" number is used but still based on the actual SSN and as before, they need a SSN.

It is now recognized as a security issue (though don't think there is a law yet) to not print SSN in cards, etc; and thus, some use this tokenized number (based on the actual SSN); but that is not the real solution. But I digress.

You can obtain SSN within a couple of weeks of arrival, no need to wait for AOS or even filing it.

[Avery Cates 1,141]

Has anyone recently completed the K1 visa process, traveled to the United States and tried to apply for health insurance after marriage? Would my soon-to-be wife have to wait until Adjustment of Status is complete or after she obtains a Social Security card in order to be eligible for health benefits? How long does Adjust of status and getting a SS card take? I looked into it and it looks like it could take months? Any stories out there?

It really depends on your insurance plan I think, however on most plans, changes can only be made during either Open Enrollment periods that happen once a year, or during what's called a Qualifying Event. (Marriage is a Qualifying Event.)

I put my now wife on mine yesterday. There's no need to wait for AoS, and in fact you probably don't want to. With mine for example you have 60 days from the date of the Qualifying Event, which is the actual date of the marriage, to make any changes such as adding a spouse, or else you have to wait for the next Open Enrollment period, which probably won't be until October/November for most plans.

You would want to obtain a Social Security number for her 2-3 weeks after she arrives here. If she doesn't apply with at least 2 weeks before her I-94 expires, she won't be able to get one until AoS/EAD.

Edited February 1, 2014 by Avery Cates

[Pitaya 2,577]

~Moved from K- 1 Process to Family-based AOS Forum~

~Inquiry about AOS process, not K-1~

[Darnell 8,478]

if you are trying something on healthcare.gov (or a state site)

there is electronic verification that your new spouse will fail.

I would suggest looking at something else - many state providers have other deals when you go directly with them without ACA guidelines.

[noncompute 9]

Has anyone recently completed the K1 visa process, traveled to the United States and tried to apply for health insurance after marriage? Would my soon-to-be wife have to wait until Adjustment of Status is complete or after she obtains a Social Security card in order to be eligible for health benefits? How long does Adjust of status and getting a SS card take? I looked into it and it looks like it could take months? Any stories out there?

I'm going to guess you're in California by your username.

My wife (then fianceé) came here last year, we got her SSN within a week (go to socialsecurity.gov, get the form, go to the office). Straighforward.

I then got her on Kaiser Permanente, which is a great HMO in California. The cost was about $230/mo (no subsidy, or reimbursement from work). It was separate from me because we got the insurance before even being married. After you get her SSN, go to kp.org, Anthem Blue Cross, etc. Get quotes and get her insured. Unless you have a restrictive plan through work, there's no "open enrollment" #######.