Health insurance for a K1 visa holder

[DaveAndAnastasia 2,096]

By far the easiest thing to do for insurance for a K-1 beneficiary, assuming the petitioner has employer-based health insurance, is to marry ASAP and add your new spouse as soon as you can (at least with some employers you can add your spouse retroactive to your wedding day; mine let me do that). Yes, even if you're able to add your spouse retroactively that still leaves them uninsured for a few days, but that's not too big of risk normally, and most short-term plans aren't that great.

[Sarah&Facundo 602]

I added my husband right after we got married which was a year before he got a green card. On my plan (and I believe most plans) you are required to register with them within 60 days of marriage because it is a life-changing event. After that, you can not add them until the next year. The key is getting married right away when entering and not waiting the whole 90 days because you have to actually be married to add them to your insurance.

[Adamaris 21]

45 minutes ago, DaveAndAnastasia said:

By far the easiest thing to do for insurance for a K-1 beneficiary, assuming the petitioner has employer-based health insurance, is to marry ASAP and add your new spouse as soon as you can (at least with some employers you can add your spouse retroactive to your wedding day; mine let me do that). Yes, even if you're able to add your spouse retroactively that still leaves them uninsured for a few days, but that's not too big of risk normally, and most short-term plans aren't that great.

Ok. Sounds like a good idea, the plan is marrying the first week. 

[Adamaris 21]

11 minutes ago, Sarah&Facundo said:

I added my husband right after we got married which was a year before he got a green card. On my plan (and I believe most plans) you are required to register with them within 60 days of marriage because it is a life-changing event. After that, you can not add them until the next year. The key is getting married right away when entering and not waiting the whole 90 days because you have to actually be married to add them to your insurance.

Ok, we will do that, thanks!

[chi6488 94]

My spouse was never asked about interim insurance for her or my step daughter at any time before at interview or during travels into the US.  We married the first week and I added her and step daughter to my group plan.

 

During the AOS interview the interviewer saw that I was paying roughly 1k monthly for the family's health insurance he looked up and said she would be getting her green card in a couple of weeks.  Interview over.

 

Take that for what it is worth

Edited October 1, 2020 by chi6488

[Zoeeeeeee 797]

11 hours ago, Limey said:

I assume its going to depend somewhat on the requirements that your petitioner's insurance company has.

 

In my case I was getting married around 14 days after entering the USA on a k1. My (now) wife investigated adding me to her company health insurance and was told it would take a week or so after we were married and had the marriage certificate to show them. So this would mean I was not covered for 21 days or more after entry. So I could be covered several months before adjusting status.

 

I checked my global travel insurance that I had in the UK and they confirmed that it would only cover me for the first 24 hrs in the USA, since it was not travel but emigration.

 

I used this company to purchase a 1 month health insurance policy to cover me until I was covered by my wife's company policy. From what I recall it was a fairly quick and easy process. One month wasn't too bad, but if you were going to spend quite a few months on it, it could get costly.

 

https://www.sevencorners.com/immigrant-medical-insurance

 

My greencard interview was waived and I was never asked to provide any details of health insurance cover at any stage of my immigration journey, though my entry to the US was 5 years ago so things might have changed.

I went with Seven Corners also, for the first month when I emigrated - I actually ended up claiming, as I sliced my hand open on Thanksgiving and it ended up getting infected. They reimbursed me in full - it took a while but they paid out 🙃.

[qrk 104]

On 9/30/2020 at 8:06 PM, Adamaris said:

What documents did you have to provide and does she had coverage immediately?

We were asked for a  copy of the marriage license and copy of the US K1 visa page on the passport.

[Adamaris 21]

4 minutes ago, qrk said:

We were asked for a  copy of the marriage license and copy of the US K1 visa page on the passport.

Ok. Thank you for your answer. 

[YuyuNYC 31]

It depends on your fiancé's Insurance company and the plan that she has.

(1) Some insurance companies won't allow you to be added until the new cycle starts which will be around end of the year. 
(2) Some won't add you until you have a SSN
(3) Some can add you to the plan immediately if there's a life event changes. (Such as Marriage)

Your fiancé would need to ask the insurance company to confirm the above; and ask her company if they are willing to add you to the plan.

[Adamaris 21]

4 minutes ago, YuyuNYC said:

It depends on your fiancé's Insurance company and the plan that she has.

(1) Some insurance companies won't allow you to be added until the new cycle starts which will be around end of the year. 
(2) Some won't add you until you have a SSN
(3) Some can add you to the plan immediately if there's a life event changes. (Such as Marriage)

Your fiancé would need to ask the insurance company to confirm the above; and ask her company if they are willing to add you to the plan.

The provider is United healthcare and the plan is plus choice, My fiancé requested the information but no response yet, if someone have experience in this matter with this provider, please let us know, the info will be highly appreciated. 

[Limey 551]

On 10/2/2020 at 9:07 PM, Adamaris said:

The provider is United healthcare and the plan is plus choice, My fiancé requested the information but no response yet, if someone have experience in this matter with this provider, please let us know, the info will be highly appreciated. 

My wife's company's provider is United Healthcare. I don't know which plan it is but I assume their requirements for adding  a spouse would be the same for all policies. In my case I think we needed to provide them with a copy of the marriage certificate and possibly a copy of the k1 visa (to show that I was going through process to become legal resident). I did already have a SS number (as I'd been on a J1 about 20 years earlier), but I don't recall that being a requirement to add me. We certainly didn't have to wait for a new year or cycle to being - I was added for the start of the next month, which was around 9 days after our wedding.