Australians Waiting For Interview at US Consulate Sydney

[tdrysdale 2]

On 12/13/2020 at 7:28 PM, ClaireH93 said:

Cant help you with a Dr recommendation (im in qld, had medical on 20th November) but im January 4th 8am as well! 

Feels like forever away! 

That's amazing! Ours is 11 a.m. I think...would love to say hi to you if you are still there!

[Lil bear 4,201]

On 12/12/2020 at 2:58 AM, Mayflower girl said:

Hi all,

 

My husband Paul has been in the US three weeks today and yesterday he received his green card. We are still waiting on his Social Security card and were told by USCIS that it will come about 2 weeks after the green card.

 

To recap:

Interview date 11/16 Approved! Passport and visa mailed out the same day

Received passport back 11/17 (He had it sent to the Travelodge in Sydney where he was staying as he didn't need to return to Melbourne for anything.)

Flight to San Francisco 11/20

Arrived in the US 11/20

Green card received 12/10

I know we are unusual in that we are retiring to the US. I returned earlier than Paul because I was 65 and needed to complete my 10 years of work history for SS in order to qualify for Medicare. (I was 6 months or around $3000 of earnings short.) I thought (and had been told) that this was to qualify both of us. However, when Paul arrived and I asked about him qualifying for Medicare based on my work history I discovered that while he will eventually qualify on that basis there is a US residential period he has to satisfy. It's 5 years for non-US citizens. So we've had to take out an (Obamacare) marketplace health insurance policy for him. As an IR1 visa holder he is eligible for citizenship after 3 years so while I was never going to pressure him to do this it now makes economic sense as once he's a citizen we can get him on Medicare. So this is another aspect of not being a 'public charge' I guess. 

 

But everything is going well so far and we are looking forward to Christmas when our son visits from Tennessee. 

 

The process continues!

 

Diane

 

 

Just letting you know our situation .. we are both AUST citizens but lived in the US from March 1980 to October 1988. When we returned to Australia we never intended returning to live in the US but we ended up with our 2 dual citizenship children and 6 grandkids in the US so we immigrated .. again .. in 2016. My husband had 36 SS quarters and I had 20 from our first period in the US. He then worked for 3 years .. retired Dec 2019.... and is now on Medicare even though he is not a yet USC and has not been an LPR for 5 years yet. I am also now on Medicare as his spouse , and we are taking SS income this April (delayed starting in order to maximise the payout). If you are fully vested in SS now , and he is over 65, I would encourage him to apply for Medicare.. he will have to either go into the SS office with his documents or mail them in. He can apply for Medicare over the phone .. the online application won’t work for his situation as I discovered. 

[Mayflower girl 6]

10 hours ago, Lil bear said:

Just letting you know our situation .. we are both AUST citizens but lived in the US from March 1980 to October 1988. When we returned to Australia we never intended returning to live in the US but we ended up with our 2 dual citizenship children and 6 grandkids in the US so we immigrated .. again .. in 2016. My husband had 36 SS quarters and I had 20 from our first period in the US. He then worked for 3 years .. retired Dec 2019.... and is now on Medicare even though he is not a yet USC and has not been an LPR for 5 years yet. I am also now on Medicare as his spouse , and we are taking SS income this April (delayed starting in order to maximise the payout). If you are fully vested in SS now , and he is over 65, I would encourage him to apply for Medicare.. he will have to either go into the SS office with his documents or mail them in. He can apply for Medicare over the phone .. the online application won’t work for his situation as I discovered. 

Hi Lil bear, That's interesting and contradicts what I was told over the phone by Social Security. I had 38 quarters when I arrived in March and had already turned 65. I had to hurry up and earn my last 2 quarters by June 30 in order to 1. qualify fully for free Medicare Part A and enrol within the period around my 65th birthday as required and 2. qualify for Medicare Part B without paying the lifetime penalty for subscribing 'late'. I got a job at Walmart filling online grocery orders to do this as I just needed  something--anything--to get me over the line. I thought (and had been told) I was not only setting myself up but also setting up my Australian husband who is also 65. If your husband is an LPR I wonder how you were determined to be entitled when I am a citizen and my husband isn't entitled. Maybe I got the wrong information but also maybe your previous 8 years of living here was taken into account. My husband has no such previous residence period. Hubby just got his green card last Thursday and we have to follow up with the SSA about his SSN. Once he has that then it sounds like it will be worth it to try for Medicare for him again. We only have the residence advice from one person at the SSA who had to go off and ask her supervisor to confirm this. Thanks again for telling us your experience. I am waiting to age 70 to claim Social Security as that will maximize my payout (which is going to be lessened by the amount I have in Australian super.) 

[Lil bear 4,201]

16 minutes ago, Mayflower girl said:

Hi Lil bear, That's interesting and contradicts what I was told over the phone by Social Security. I had 38 quarters when I arrived in March and had already turned 65. I had to hurry up and earn my last 2 quarters by June 30 in order to 1. qualify fully for free Medicare Part A and enrol within the period around my 65th birthday as required and 2. qualify for Medicare Part B without paying the lifetime penalty for subscribing 'late'. I got a job at Walmart filling online grocery orders to do this as I just needed  something--anything--to get me over the line. I thought (and had been told) I was not only setting myself up but also setting up my Australian husband who is also 65. If your husband is an LPR I wonder how you were determined to be entitled when I am a citizen and my husband isn't entitled. Maybe I got the wrong information but also maybe your previous 8 years of living here was taken into account. My husband has no such previous residence period. Hubby just got his green card last Thursday and we have to follow up with the SSA about his SSN. Once he has that then it sounds like it will be worth it to try for Medicare for him again. We only have the residence advice from one person at the SSA who had to go off and ask her supervisor to confirm this. Thanks again for telling us your experience. I am waiting to age 70 to claim Social Security as that will maximize my payout (which is going to be lessened by the amount I have in Australian super.) 

The only catch I can think of is that non earning spouse  must have been married for the time that it took to collect the earning spouse 40 quarters. If your marriage doesn’t straddle that period then he will have to wait until he is a citizen .   My experience with SSA.... I spoke to multiple SSA people over  the time I was trying to sort out our eligibility ..  speak to 5 people and you’ll get 5 different answers. Eventually we determined that the only way to really get the right answer was for him to apply for Medicare part A.. we did and he was registered.  I do not believe that our prior period of LPR status had any bearing in this.  Sign up as soon as your SS quarters are registered...  then once you have the Medicare card,  and he has his SSN, apply for him ..We are waiting also until Peter is 70 to take SS and I will get spouse income as well 

 

Social security payments are not affected by your assets 

[Mayflower girl 6]

35 minutes ago, Lil bear said:

The only catch I can think of is that non earning spouse  must have been married for the time that it took to collect the earning spouse 40 quarters. If your marriage doesn’t straddle that period then he will have to wait until he is a citizen .   My experience with SSA.... I spoke to multiple SSA people over  the time I was trying to sort out our eligibility ..  speak to 5 people and you’ll get 5 different answers. Eventually we determined that the only way to really get the right answer was for him to apply for Medicare part A.. we did and he was registered.  I do not believe that our prior period of LPR status had any bearing in this.  Sign up as soon as your SS quarters are registered...  then once you have the Medicare card,  and he has his SSN, apply for him ..We are waiting also until Peter is 70 to take SS and I will get spouse income as well 

 

Social security payments are not affected by your assets 

I earned most of my SS quarters obviously before I immigrated to Australia and before I married Paul. I earned a few later while I was in Australia by working at the US Consulate Melbourne but then due to the totalization agreement between Australia and the US the consulate stopped taking SS payments from my pay as they were paying into super for me. So my quarters froze at 38. I had quite a battle at SSA to keep my eligibility to get the last two quarters during my 65th year enrollment period and it did take talking to multiple people so I know what you mean by that. It is the Totalization Agreement which affects my SS payments. It deems that super and Social Security are equivalent so that if you are fully vested in both your SS payments will be reduced depending on your super balance. However, if you have fewer than 40 SS quarters your SS payments are not affected by your super balance. As we all know, however, you need the full 40 quarters for free Medicare and Medicare is tied to Social Security unlike superannuation. So the two retirement systems are not equivalent. I have Medicare now and Medicare Advantage. Just waiting on his SSN and we will see what happens when we apply for Medicare for him. I wouldn't have tried until I read your post so thank you!

[Lil bear 4,201]

3 hours ago, Mayflower girl said:

I earned most of my SS quarters obviously before I immigrated to Australia and before I married Paul. I earned a few later while I was in Australia by working at the US Consulate Melbourne but then due to the totalization agreement between Australia and the US the consulate stopped taking SS payments from my pay as they were paying into super for me. So my quarters froze at 38. I had quite a battle at SSA to keep my eligibility to get the last two quarters during my 65th year enrollment period and it did take talking to multiple people so I know what you mean by that. It is the Totalization Agreement which affects my SS payments. It deems that super and Social Security are equivalent so that if you are fully vested in both your SS payments will be reduced depending on your super balance. However, if you have fewer than 40 SS quarters your SS payments are not affected by your super balance. As we all know, however, you need the full 40 quarters for free Medicare and Medicare is tied to Social Security unlike superannuation. So the two retirement systems are not equivalent. I have Medicare now and Medicare Advantage. Just waiting on his SSN and we will see what happens when we apply for Medicare for him. I wouldn't have tried until I read your post so thank you!

Great. Yes using the totalisation formula changes things around. It looks like he may not qualify for spouse Medicare because of the timing of your earnings and marriage .. but it’s worth putting it in ! I’m sitting in Melbourne right now ...finally was able to get a flight to see my 92 yr old parents .. 2 weeks quarantine was “ fun”... not... but at least they are safe ... Headed home to MO tomorrow. 

[Mayflower girl 6]

8 minutes ago, Lil bear said:

Great. Yes using the totalisation formula changes things around. It looks like he may not qualify for spouse Medicare because of the timing of your earnings and marriage .. but it’s worth putting it in ! I’m sitting in Melbourne right now ...finally was able to get a flight to see my 92 yr old parents .. 2 weeks quarantine was “ fun”... not... but at least they are safe ... Headed home to MO tomorrow. 

Thanks Lil bear, No one mentioned the timing of my earning the quarters but most were earned when I was young between the ages of 15-25. Then I earned 6 quarters after I was married and living in Australia. Then the last 2 this year. How did you say he should apply for Medicare? You said online wouldn't work. So it's over the phone?

[Lil bear 4,201]

Just now, Mayflower girl said:

Thanks Lil bear, No one mentioned the timing of my earning the quarters but most were earned when I was young between the ages of 15-25. Then I earned 6 quarters after I was married and living in Australia. Then the last 2 this year. How did you say he should apply for Medicare? You said online wouldn't work. So it's over the phone?

Yes. Over the phone application unless he can get into his local Ssa office. Ours is still shut down   

[Mayflower girl 6]

Just now, Lil bear said:

Yes. Over the phone application unless he can get into his local Ssa office. Ours is still shut down   

Ok we'll give it a go. I can't imagine doing quarantine. Glad you got to see your parents. Enjoy your return flight!

[yvonme 124]

On 11/14/2020 at 4:45 PM, teeshainaus said:

Yeah, moved pretty quickly! No, we are actually in QLD - just trying to avoid a 2-week quarantine for my husband if possible. Because we are all here together in Australia while we do the immigration process for my husband (the kids and I are dual citizens already), we didn't feel a great urgency to go through quarantine if we didn't have to. Hopefully the plan at the recent national cabinet meeting will come to fruition, and by Christmas there will be no more border restrictions! 🤞

 

On 11/15/2020 at 9:12 PM, BLST said:

Congratulations! I just received K1 expedite approval on 11th Nov. NVC sent case to Sydney on the 12th Nov. I followed the visa journey tip of tracking my case via DHL. ( brilliant tip, exciting to see your case move) My case is set for delivery to the consulate tomorrow! So it seems to move fast. I can keep you updated on my process.  

I would love more information on expeditaton. I have not seen my fiance in a long time. He is in Brisbane. 

[Olliejay 1]

I am trying to organise my medical appointment and was asked for an 'AA' number. Does anybody know what this is and where I can find it? All I have is my case number. 

[BLST 11]

3 hours ago, Olliejay said:

I am trying to organise my medical appointment and was asked for an 'AA' number. Does anybody know what this is and where I can find it? All I have is my case number. 

Yes, it’s on your DS-160. Under ‘confirmation number’ and also written underneath the barcode on the DS160 

[Bec 63 0]

NVC Expedited to post on Nov.9 2020 and also my Appt.has been cancel .and later on they stated you case been transfer to US  Syd,Consulate for further.Just want to know who apply for this expedited without your knowlege. Visa IR5.Dec.10 the US Syd consulate send you email regarding if you want to update your DS-260 which no were they had open your case and to update  and they had a no.1 to 4 to responded to there email'

[ErinB 17]

Heads up team: 

 

Soft border closure between NSW and VIC. Anyone going to Sydney for the interview, it’s technically in the “orange” zone so we can still go - but it’s about 10km away from a red zone, and things are expected to get worse. They’re warning that people who travel to Sydney may not be able to get back unless they go into hotel quarantine. 
 

Keep an eye on the updates over the next few days. 
 

my interview is on Tuesday so this is just SUPER

[Eisa 5]

1 hour ago, ErinB said:

Heads up team: 

 

Soft border closure between NSW and VIC. Anyone going to Sydney for the interview, it’s technically in the “orange” zone so we can still go - but it’s about 10km away from a red zone, and things are expected to get worse. They’re warning that people who travel to Sydney may not be able to get back unless they go into hotel quarantine. 
 

Keep an eye on the updates over the next few days. 
 

my interview is on Tuesday so this is just SUPER

My interview on the 5th of Jan . Hopefully everything be ok for you on Tuesday. I think you should apply for a permit.