Travel Insurance or Health Insurance

[SophieTheGamer 9]

Hey Everyone,

 

My interview is on the 21st of August and am hoping to be moving to the US end of September once approved. My husband has Health insurance but I'm not really sure if that will cover me either way I'm unsure if I should be purchasing travel insurance as health insurance

until we sort it out or if I should look into something else. Ahhh its really hard cause I don't wanna get caught without insurance and stuck with a massive bill. Halp Me !

 

Thanks,

Sophie

[mlh 93]

You can use travel insurance when you are immigrating.

 

Immigration should be considered a life-changing event, so he should be able to add you to his insurance as long as it's done within 30 days of you getting here.  In our case, my husband entered in July 2015 to help me move into our new house and activated his visa then, but had to go back to the UK until Nov to finish work. 

 

We went with a temporary insurance for the remainder of 2015 until I got him onto my insurance during open enrollment in Nov of that year to start 2016.  If you look at einsurance.com, you can see some options to find one that will fit your needs.  It's fairly reasonable.

[SophieTheGamer 9]

2 minutes ago, mlh said:

You can use travel insurance when you are immigrating.

 

Immigration should be considered a life-changing event, so he should be able to add you to his insurance as long as it's done within 30 days of you getting here.  In our case, my husband entered in July 2015 to help me move into our new house and activated his visa then, but had to go back to the UK until Nov to finish work. 

 

We went with a temporary insurance for the remainder of 2015 until I got him onto my insurance during open enrollment in Nov of that year to start 2016.  If you look at einsurance.com, you can see some options to find one that will fit your needs.  It's fairly reasonable.

I was thinking of maybe buying a few months of travel insurance then once im there and have my green card and SSN we can switch to his or Ill activate my own with a Job. Can I ask how long did it take to get your green card mailed and SSN once he arrived? I've never not had a job and I wanna try get a job as soon as possible once I arrive. My husband is a student for another year so rather than eat into my savings I wanna work as soon as possible. Im entering the US ona CR-1.

[mlh 93]

1 minute ago, SophieTheGamer said:

I was thinking of maybe buying a few months of travel insurance then once im there and have my green card and SSN we can switch to his or Ill activate my own with a Job. Can I ask how long did it take to get your green card mailed and SSN once he arrived? I've never not had a job and I wanna try get a job as soon as possible once I arrive. My husband is a student for another year so rather than eat into my savings I wanna work as soon as possible. Im entering the US ona CR-1.

Sorry that was a typo on my post.  You CANNOT use travel insurance when you are immigrating.  You'll need to get the short term insurance that I referred to if you cannot get added to your husband's policy.  

 

Since you have a CR-1, as soon as you get the stamp in your passport when you enter the US, you are eligible to work.  You don't have to wait for your greencard to actually arrive.

[SophieTheGamer 9]

42 minutes ago, mlh said:

Sorry that was a typo on my post.  You CANNOT use travel insurance when you are immigrating.  You'll need to get the short term insurance that I referred to if you cannot get added to your husband's policy.  

 

Since you have a CR-1, as soon as you get the stamp in your passport when you enter the US, you are eligible to work.  You don't have to wait for your greencard to actually arrive.

Okay but most jobs require a SSN so how do you get around that? How long did his green card and SSN take to come through?

[mlh 93]

26 minutes ago, SophieTheGamer said:

Okay but most jobs require a SSN so how do you get around that? How long did his green card and SSN take to come through?

We ticked the box on the application so that when he activated his visa on entry, they sent all of his paperwork to the SSN office and got his SSN card in the mail in about 10 days. You also don’t va e to have the GC physically in hand to go to the office directly and apply for a SSN. The stamp on your passport acts as your temp GC. 

 

Edited to add:  You can see the timeline in my signature. 

Edited August 2, 2018 by mlh
Add comment about timeline.

[AussieBubba 4]

Hi Sophie the Gamer,

 

I asked at the DMV in Colorado Springs a couple of weeks ago, apparently you can go to the social security office and request a letter (I think it was called a SNAP letter) which will have your SSN on it and use that. Our health insurance company said that once I enter the US as a resident and have a SSN then they can add me to my wife's policy.

 

Hope that helps.

[SophieTheGamer 9]

2 hours ago, AussieBubba said:

Hi Sophie the Gamer,

 

I asked at the DMV in Colorado Springs a couple of weeks ago, apparently you can go to the social security office and request a letter (I think it was called a SNAP letter) which will have your SSN on it and use that. Our health insurance company said that once I enter the US as a resident and have a SSN then they can add me to my wife's policy.

 

Hope that helps.

Yeah thanks, Im just so concerned so I may buy a policy for a week or so just to cover myself. I'm a nurse here in Australia so I know exactly how much it costs if anything goes wrong and I definantly not gonna get without insurance even for just a week. Too risky. Thanks Mate

[Ryan H 3,812]

Moved from IR-1/CR-1 Progress Reports to Moving to the US and Your New Life In America forum; topic pertains to issues post POE.