Australians Waiting For Interview at US Consulate Sydney

[AussieAmy 13]

On 10/15/2020 at 11:42 AM, Jem.G said:

Just check and my Visa was Issued today 🥳🙏

Can't wait to have it in hand and move on!

Congratulations JemG I’m so happy for you. 🥳🥳🥳

 It’s been quite a roller coaster journey.
I had my medical last Monday and interview Tuesday. APPROVED pending documentation.
I don’t know how long it will take from this point forwards but I do feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

I had already booked return flights for January 😂 I was going to visit regardless of the outcome and having something to look forward to really helped keep mine and my husbands morale. 
Not sure what I’ll do with the return ticket now 😂

Edited October 16, 2020 by AussieAmy
Incorrect wording

[Duke & Marie 1,389]

On 10/15/2020 at 10:03 PM, PriscillaQOTD said:

I decided to go look for the executive order that he signed because the pre-existing condition thing is huge and I know he's trying to get the Affordable Health Care Act removed with the 'promise' of a better plan yet there has been no plan in the 4 years he's been in office and there still is no plan he has outlined, just a vision...which doesn't bode well. The executive order just reads: “It has been and will continue to be the policy of the United States to give Americans seeking healthcare more choice, lower costs, and better care and to ensure that Americans with pre-existing conditions can obtain the insurance of their choice at affordable rates.” This has no legal backing and is just speaking in general terms and is not an order. All we can do is wait and hope I guess. 

 

He’s not getting rid of it as a whole, just section that permits people to go and obtain insurance of their choice.. currently everyone has to pay for it, resulting in our family insurance costs jumping over 500 a month for something we don’t want or use..  permitting choice means we’re no longer mandated to pay the extra money for healthcare we don’t want or use since we have private health...hence his saying it’s more affordable, cause we’ll go back to saving that 500 a month.. it’s just a wording thing... the EO has Just as much standing as all of the other EO’s that affect immigration etc.. 

Edited October 17, 2020 by Duke & Marie

[ChelseaLAllen 12]

Hi There!

 

I have a question I did my medical with Dr Rappaport last Friday on the 16th how long did it take for your results to be at the consulate?? like 5 business days??

Just so I can have a rough idea

 

Thankyou

[PriscillaQOTD 23]

5 hours ago, Duke & Marie said:

He’s not getting rid of it as a whole, just section that permits people to go and obtain insurance of their choice.. currently everyone has to pay for it, resulting in our family insurance costs jumping over 500 a month for something we don’t want or use..  permitting choice means we’re no longer mandated to pay the extra money for healthcare we don’t want or use since we have private health...hence his saying it’s more affordable, cause we’ll go back to saving that 500 a month.. it’s just a wording thing... the EO has Just as much standing as all of the other EO’s that affect immigration etc.. 

I understand what you’re saying but creating the mandate is what makes the healthcare affordable to begin with. By having more people purchase health insurance it brings the premiums for everyone down. At the same time most states do no even charge the financial penalty for not having health insurance anyway so you can choose to not have health insurance without penalty in those states. The penalty is similar to the Medicare penalty that we have in Australia. For a household income for 2 people of $70000 the penalty in some states would only be $1300 and then there are exemptions you can apply to reduce it. So from my understanding you technically don’t need to purchase the $500 a month that you’re describing?

[PriscillaQOTD 23]

6 hours ago, Duke & Marie said:

He’s not getting rid of it as a whole, just section that permits people to go and obtain insurance of their choice.. currently everyone has to pay for it, resulting in our family insurance costs jumping over 500 a month for something we don’t want or use..  permitting choice means we’re no longer mandated to pay the extra money for healthcare we don’t want or use since we have private health...hence his saying it’s more affordable, cause we’ll go back to saving that 500 a month.. it’s just a wording thing... the EO has Just as much standing as all of the other EO’s that affect immigration etc.. 

The EO does not have defined statements that can be legally acted upon. He doesn’t explicitly say that pre-existing conditions will not be affected. He just says it’s their goal to ensure that this will happen. This is not legally enforceable and he knows that. Unlike the immigration EO that clearly states the legislation put in place to prevent certain visas from being obtained in no uncertain terms. There are numerous articles explaining why it is not legally enforceable. Regardless of which party people may back it’s important to be critical of what politicians are doing to ensure the safety and well-being of all Americans. By making the mandate within the affordable health care act unconstitutional, it dismantles the entire Act and if there’s even the slightest possibility that he could remove it and not protect pre-existing conditions then Americans are back to square one with unaffordable health care. I hope this doesn’t happen but at the same time you have to be critical. 

[PriscillaQOTD 23]

47 minutes ago, ChelseaLAllen said:

Hi There!

 

I have a question I did my medical with Dr Rappaport last Friday on the 16th how long did it take for your results to be at the consulate?? like 5 business days??

Just so I can have a rough idea

 

Thankyou

Hi Chelsea! Botoole had his status change from refused to admin processing about 9 days after the medical. We had ours done on the 7th and 6 days later we received the email from the medical centre which means they have sent it to the consulate but our case hasn’t been updated yet. Hoping this will happen Monday? I’ll keep you updated. 

[ChelseaLAllen 12]

1 minute ago, PriscillaQOTD said:

Hi Chelsea! Botoole had his status change from refused to admin processing about 9 days after the medical. We had ours done on the 7th and 6 days later we received the email from the medical centre which means they have sent it to the consulate but our case hasn’t been updated yet. Hoping this will happen Monday? I’ll keep you updated. 

Thank you for that

Im hoping that my results will at least be sent prior to my interview on Wednesday the 21st! and it may delay processing maybe a couple extra days...thats the impression I am under. 
Please keep me updated Thankyou!!!

[Duke & Marie 1,389]

2 hours ago, PriscillaQOTD said:

I understand what you’re saying but creating the mandate is what makes the healthcare affordable to begin with. By having more people purchase health insurance it brings the premiums for everyone down. At the same time most states do no even charge the financial penalty for not having health insurance anyway so you can choose to not have health insurance without penalty in those states. The penalty is similar to the Medicare penalty that we have in Australia. For a household income for 2 people of $70000 the penalty in some states would only be $1300 and then there are exemptions you can apply to reduce it. So from my understanding you technically don’t need to purchase the $500 a month that you’re describing?

 

I’m not on about a penalty... our insurance premium went up $500 per month to subsidise those that don’t have the insurance... not exactly fair so it’s not our purchasing extra insurance. It to cover those that can’t afford to buy, pushing private health to a point it’s barely affordable and forcing many to leave private health care onto the ACC. Eventually the cost of private will be too much and the only thing left will be public health and 340m people draining it with little or no funding that eventually forces taxes by around 7% increase that’s non refundable to everyone that’s employed 

Edited October 18, 2020 by Duke & Marie

[PriscillaQOTD 23]

9 minutes ago, Duke & Marie said:

 

I understand that you may not have health issues and don’t want to carry the burden of other citizens but the issue with that is that you never know when you will need it yourself. If something terrible happened and you became poor and had a pre-existing condition, before the Act you would not receive healthcare and that’s crazy. Since the Act 20 million more people now have coverage. Coming from a country like Australia where you have seen the benefits of healthcare for all it’s surprising that you would have an issue with it. The US spends enormous amounts of money on its military but instead of focusing on that they make you believe that a universal healthcare system would make taxes totally unreasonable even though all other western countries successfully do it. If your taxes did rise 7% it would be based on your income and would still be cheaper than paying an extra $500 per month for your insurance? I don’t want this to be a political discussion but I feel like people need to care about the well-being of their fellow citizens because you never know when the tables will turn and you will need help yourself. 

[Duke & Marie 1,389]

13 minutes ago, PriscillaQOTD said:

I understand that you may not have health issues and don’t want to carry the burden of other citizens but the issue with that is that you never know when you will need it yourself. If something terrible happened and you became poor and had a pre-existing condition, before the Act you would not receive healthcare and that’s crazy. Since the Act 20 million more people now have coverage. Coming from a country like Australia where you have seen the benefits of healthcare for all it’s surprising that you would have an issue with it. The US spends enormous amounts of money on its military but instead of focusing on that they make you believe that a universal healthcare system would make taxes totally unreasonable even though all other western countries successfully do it. If your taxes did rise 7% it would be based on your income and would still be cheaper than paying an extra $500 per month for your insurance? I don’t want this to be a political discussion but I feel like people need to care about the well-being of their fellow citizens because you never know when the tables will turn and you will need help yourself. 

If the US didn’t spend so much on its military, australia would have been Chinese occupied years ago, so you can thank the us for that.. 

 

health care should be accessible to all in hard times agreed, which it is under Medicaid. But when people turn it into a lifestyle the cost burden becomes too much when 120m working people are subsidising 40m who pay little or nothing for better healthcare than those who are paying for it. 
 

unlike Aus the medical costs of operational procedures are not price regulated which makes costs higher hence the us having so many good doctors.. 

 

7% of the combined income of a professional couple Vs the 500 x 12 months is far greater than 6k a year to receive the same public health care as someone who’s getting it for free. Making the working class poorer overall and further widening the financial gaps between the rich and poor 

[PriscillaQOTD 23]

3 minutes ago, Duke & Marie said:

If the US didn’t spend so much on its military, australia would have been Chinese occupied years ago, so you can thank the us for that.. 

 

health care should be accessible to all in hard times agreed, which it is under Medicaid. But when people turn it into a lifestyle the cost burden becomes too much when 120m working people are subsidising 40m who pay little or nothing for better healthcare than those who are paying for it. 
 

unlike Aus the medical costs of operational procedures are not price regulated which makes costs higher hence the us having so many good doctors.. 

 

7% of the combined income of a professional couple Vs the 500 x 12 months is far greater than 6k a year to receive the same public health care as someone who’s getting it for free. Making the working class poorer overall and further widening the financial gaps between the rich and poor 

Haha the military have not been keeping China from attacking Australia, as there has been no threat of that. They have been in Afghanistan and other countries. I’m a US citizen born in Florida and it makes me cringe whenever I hear Americans say things like that and talk like we are the saviours of the world. 
 

I’m kind of confused how you agree that we should have Medicare for all yet complain that the working class shouldn’t pay the premium for it. That’s exactly how that works. There will always be people that need help and can’t contribute to healthcare as much as others. Sure there may be a small group doing the wrong thing but being poor is certainly not a ‘lifestyle choice’. I come from a middle class family and have faced no adversity or health condition an even I wouldn’t make those remarks. It’s hard to break out of a cycle of poverty and a lot of people face adversity on top of that which makes it even harder.

The extra $500 I mentioned is on top of the insurance you already pay which I’m assuming is a lot based on your $500 a month increase. So this alleged 7% tax would still be cheaper than paying your total insurance bill. As it’s based on income the poor would still get the same benefits but would pay very little in taxes for it so the divide would not increase. This lie they tell you that the US has better doctors is totally outrageous and needs to stop. There is world class healthcare and the best doctors in every country. There are people that actually fly to other countries from the US to get cheaper and better surgery. 
 

For the sake of the other members on here not having to read these off-topic posts I will end my responses here. I hope for the sake of America that things progress and the healthcare system improves to match the rest of the civilised world. 

[sydnekins 7]

7 hours ago, ChelseaLAllen said:

Hi There!

 

I have a question I did my medical with Dr Rappaport last Friday on the 16th how long did it take for your results to be at the consulate?? like 5 business days??

Just so I can have a rough idea

 

Thankyou

I also had my medical exam with Dr Rappaport! Her office works pretty fast, I had my exam on Friday the 9th and I received an email saying it was sent to the consulate on Tuesday the 13th so I'm expecting the consulate to pick it up any day now

[ChelseaLAllen 12]

1 hour ago, sydnekins said:

I also had my medical exam with Dr Rappaport! Her office works pretty fast, I had my exam on Friday the 9th and I received an email saying it was sent to the consulate on Tuesday the 13th so I'm expecting the consulate to pick it up any day now

Yesss I felt like they work very fast! when did you have your interview?? Hmmm so they haven't even picked it up one week after! 

[PriscillaQOTD 23]

2 hours ago, sydnekins said:

I also had my medical exam with Dr Rappaport! Her office works pretty fast, I had my exam on Friday the 9th and I received an email saying it was sent to the consulate on Tuesday the 13th so I'm expecting the consulate to pick it up any day now

Oh wow that is really fast! My husband had his medical at O'Connell St with Dr Aldous on the 7th of Oct and didn't get his email until the 13th. I noticed my case status date changed in the visa check on the same day so I'm assuming the consulate received it. As both of our medicals were sent on the same day let me know if your case status changes from refused to admin processing and I'll let you know as well!

[sydnekins 7]

1 hour ago, ChelseaLAllen said:

Yesss I felt like they work very fast! when did you have your interview?? Hmmm so they haven't even picked it up one week after! 

I had my interview on the 07th! Hopefully they send yours soon!