northusa44

Most reasonable observers would conclude that there is little risk to the US public from someone who has finished the six-month course of TB treatment and has the negative tests (and multiple trips to the US panel physician) to show it. This is why they want to wait until after the six months treatment is finished to try the waiver. I continue to think that such a waiver would have a chance of approval, as separation from a spouse (plus all of the financial loss they are dealing with due to uncertainty) certainly is an unusual and trying circumstance (I would push back on calling this separation an 'inconvenience'). But it looks like the timing may not work out given how long the waiver process is. In any event, I greatly appreciate the time that you and others have taken to respond to this thread. The info on timing is especially useful and appreciated. If they do file the waiver, I will try to provide an update about how it turned out. But they may not given the timing.

This is in regards to the family acquaintance I wrote about last time. To provide a bit more background, both he and his wife were supposed to come to the US on green cards (sponsored by a family member). Beginning with the pre-interview medical exam in China, he was eventually found to have active TB (after the initial tests, he had to wait two months for the sputum results, which showed active TB). His wife was negative for TB and was able to come and is now here, living with other family (she followed up with a doctor here regarding TB, just in case). He is now a couple months in to a 6 month TB treatment course, under supervision by an embassy-approved doctor. Since he is not in the same city as that doctor, he cannot do DOT (daily observed treatment), and thus needs to wait one year after completion of the six months treatment for the interview to be rescheduled. They are planning to file a I-601 waiver of inadmissibility application, with the argument being that the separation of spouses makes this an extraordinary circumstance that is resulting in undue psychological and financial stress for each due to both the separation and the fact that neither can plan for the future. Before they file, I just want to confirm that the only possible downside to a denial of the waiver is that they have to wait the full year? In other words, and so long as they are honest in the waiver application (which they will be), USCIS/the embassy would not cancel the whole green card application due to denial of the waiver, correct? They realize the waiver is a very uncertain thing, but it is still worth it for them to try so long as the worst-case scenario is just doing the wait that they would have to do anyways. The separation and uncertainty really is very difficult for all involved; we have also contacted the local public health department, and they have expressed that they would be fine with him coming, especially once his treatment is complete and he has negative test results to show it (and his test results are already negative). Thank you! (also, if anyone knows timing for responses to the waivers, that would be great--if these waivers have a three-year wait to be reviewed, it obviously would not make sense to apply)

Just giving this a bump--would love to hear from one or two more with experience, just to confirm the good advice given above.

Thank you! Will be curious to see if others have had the same experience?

Asking for a friend: . We know someone who is applying for a green card (consulate processing, China) but unfortunately was found to have tuberculosis. They do not live in a city with DOT (Directly Observed Therapy) available and the panel physician said they need to go the 6 months of testing + 1 year of waiting route before rescheduling. The panel physician for the consulate has been in pretty close contact. Our friend is now about a month plus into treatment at a local hispitral and the panel physician wants them to come to his city to do sputum testing. This will require a 3.5 hour flight. The panel physician said they will have to do this at least twice. I'm pretty sure that the panel physician is following the guidelines in the Technical Instructions for Panel Physicians (Tuberculosis Technical Instructions for Panel Physicians | CDC). The two relevant sections (scroll down or ctl + f search) are "Tuberculosis Treatment and Monitoring" and "Tuberculosis Treatment Monitoring" (the latter is also linked to "Sputum Collection") .The former section specifies rules for DOT and non-DOT treatment. Again, my friend is doing the non-DOT treatment since there is no panel physician anywhere close to their city My query is whether the panel physician is correct in still asking them to make this very inconvenient/expensive trip to go in-person to the panel physician for sputum testing? We are pretty confused as to why they need to do this if they are doing the non-DOT route. In other words, why can't they do the sputum testing with the treating physician at their treating hospital? (With that said, the above document itself does not seem to clearly state in the latter section whether the sputum testing is DOT/non-DOT and whether it is supposed to be done with the panel physician or not) If anyone has any experience with this we would very much appreciate thoughts. We don't want to inconvenience/upset the panel physician with queries about this unless it is clear that they are incorrectly interpreting the document. (mods: I would very much appreciate not putting this in 'China'--this is such a niche question that I would like to know experiences for people from around the world for)

Just want to give this a boost--can anyone else confirm that legal residents are eligible for Obama Care AND the subsidies that are offered with the plans?

To confirm, this is true of the subsidies as well? For some reason I was under the impression that we might have to full pay ObamaCare. If not, we are very happy people! (I think we have a track to a job with benefits including healthcare for her, so Obamacare will likely be a fairly short-term thing for her)

Right, I don't think she does. They told her they could start as is but would need to send a picture of the green card by May. But I agree even this may not be needed.

I spoke to healthcare.gov recently about my MIL (new permanent resident). We went through their enrollment procedures and at the end were told that she qualifies for subsidized coverage, with some of the offered plans at a 0 dollar premium. I answered everything asked as truthfully as possible and was frankly shocked at how good of a deal this is. First of all, does this seem right? I did just find a very long, older thread on here in which some reported very low subsidized plans as well, so perhaps new green card holders really are eligible for the subsidies via tax credit? I just want to make sure that they did not somehow misunderstand our situation in a way that will cause headaches for us down the road. Secondly, they stated that her coverage could start soon but that we would need to show the green card to them by mid-spring. My understanding is that if all goes well we should get the green card in the mail by then--does anyone have any experience to report on recent green card times?

Perfect, thanks! We have heard of this as well and will certainly consider it. Anyone have any others? Again, just shopping around for a short-term insurance plan that covers unexpected illness/accident.

My MIL just arrived here with her IR-5 immigrant visa (thanks to all who helped with this!). We are trying to find a short-term health insurance plan to cover any unexpected accidents or illnesses while we work on getting either healthcare.gov or employer (I think my employer may hire her) insurance. I seem to recall seeing companies offering short-term insurance for green card holders 1-2 years ago (some of them said the plans were a maximum of 6 months if I recall correctly), but I haven't been able to find any available plans while searching today. Can anyone point me to one of these short-term bridge companies that will give insurance to green card holders? We just want a plan that will cover a car accident, sudden and unexpected illness, etc. (We called IMG about the Patriot plans but were told these are only for visitors planning to return home. I'm still not 100% sure the call agent had this right, so I may call back and try again tomorrow with them. But additional options would be very much appreciated.) Thank you in advance!

Yep--they won't let you into the immigrant visa without one. Is there anything from the exam that she needs other than the vaccination record? (come to think of it, I think the exam results are probably together with the vaccination record--I will check with her, though answer still appreciated if possible)

My MIL finally has her visa following the consulate interview and is scheduled to come to the US soon. We have reviewed the consulate and other material and as far as we can tell, she only needs her passport w/ immigrant visa and vaccination records to show at the border when she lands. Is this correct? (she was not given a sealed packet, so we are assuming it was sent electronically; we have already paid her immigration fee) Just want to make sure that we are not overlooking anything that she needs and/or that she might be asked to provide at the border!

Thanks once again!

Thanks! So we already know that this does not hold the visa up as one of my in-laws was granted a visa shortly after the medical. I suppose my question is whether border control checks vaccination status and whether they are likely to give them any trouble if the booster shot has not been given? Again, the paper they have both indicates that a booster shot is due one month after the first shot AND states that if distance is an issue (which it is since they are a 3 hour flight away from the US-approved doctor) they can get the booster in the US.

At their pre-consulate green card interview health check, my in-laws were required to have a number of vaccinations. They did all of these. For chickenpox, the doctor gave them a shot and then checked a box on the vaccination sheet to say that a booster was due 1 month later. But there is a note at the top of the sheet saying that if the applicants are unable to travel back to this US gov-approved doctor due to cost, distance, etc. they can wait until they get to the US to get the booster. It is looking as if they will not be able to come to the US until the spring, about 4-5 months after the health check. They also live a 3-hour airplane flight away from the city (Guangzhou) in their country where their health check was conducted. Does anyone know if their vaccination record will be checked at the border when they fly to the US and if the lack of the booster shot will be an issue? Per the note on the sheet, it should not be given the distance, but I want to make sure that the fact that they are 3-4 months beyond the 1 month booster shot date will not be an issue. Thank you!

Thanks! Yep, that is the checklist we have been working off of. For anyone--any questions in particular that they should be prepared for? I am assuming questions will basically be about parent-child relationship with my wife and plans for living/work once they come over here? My MIL's interview is very soon--fingers crossed!

Thanks! That is very good to know regarding my MIL and I'll have to check with them about whether the doctor said anything regarding my FIL. If anyone else has experience with this in Guangzhou, I would love to hear more!

Ok, well, things never seem to go smoothly for us. After 3+years, my parents-in-law were finally supposed to have their green card interview at their country's consulate next week. They went to their medical appt. today. My mother-in-law passed, but my father-in-law's chest x-ray was suspicious and he has to go the 3 sputum tests +2 month-wait-for-results route. We want to confirm that my mother-in-law can still attend the interview even though my father-in-law cannot? (he cannot, right?) The hospital suggested that she can still attend the interview next week--is this right? Is there any chance that the consulate will cancel her interview if they cancel his (and if so, is there anything we can do to prevent this)? And should we untick the box in ustraveldocs that says that she will be attending the interview with someone else (my father-in-law)? All things being equal, we would prefer that she get her part of the interview over now if possible, since there would be significant additional cost for her to return given the need for another airplane ticket (or two if two trips), thus the questions. (plus their plane back doesn't leave until after the original interview date) Thanks to any and all help! The time apart, made worse by that whole pandemic thing, has really been tearing my wife up--I understand the reasoning behind the need for the 2-month wait, but still a tough pill to swallow, though hopefully just a minor hiccup.

We are getting pretty close to their interview. My parents-in-laws have prepared a whole bunch of original documents with notarized gongzhengchu translations, including for birth certificates, marriage certificate, and hukou. They are taking evidence of the real estate they own and passports, as well as their (good) police records, and the various interview registration paperwork. They are also taking original document w/gongzhengchu notarized translations for my wife's birth certificate, as well as copies of our passports, I-864 and I-864As (one each), and my wife's naturalization certificate. They will be doing their medical exam a week or so before the interview. We also provided them with tax records （including W-2s) covering the years since we filed the I-864 and I-864 A, as well as for our home and our new (much higher paying) jobs--we are almost three times the 125% poverty level for our household number now (we included both employment verification letters and pay checks). We also wrote up a quick letter to the officer to explain the new/better income and bigger house. So we have prepared everything that the interview checklist they provided us asked for. A few quick questions: 1. Are we missing anything else that might be helpful? 2. Does anyone have experience with the Guangzhou consulate and how the interviews go, especially for parents? 3. Our lawyer said he does not think it necessary to refill I-864s and I-864As to have ready for the new income/jobs; instead, he suggested we do what we have done by providing the employment verification letters and paychecks. What does everyone here think? I know some will prefill these and have them ready to hand in if asked for--in addition to what our lawyer said, we are frankly concerned that my parents-in-law (who have very limited English ability) will get confused by all the paperwork and hand over the wrong thing. But we might do it if people here think it is a good idea. As always, many thanks in advance!

Thanks, very helpful!

And another query as we prepare: just to confirm, the consulate could technically ask for an original of any of the many documents we submitted with the NVC application, correct? I would assume that there are some (such as our passports) that they would in practice not ask for? Does anyone happen to have any thoughts on the sort of documents that consulates most want to see originals for? We have originals of everything, but there are privacy/fear of loss/security issues, etc. in sending some overseas, thus the query. Obviously my parents-in-law will have originals of everything on their end. Thanks to all who reply!

Thanks, very helpful! Now I forget--do they prefer transcripts over returns? Or is either fine to attach for 2021 and 2022?

My parents-in-law finally have another green card interview scheduled at the consulate. For those of you who have seen my posts, it has been a long three years, but hopefully they are almost there. Two quick queries as we prepare for their interview: 1. We just noticed that the NVC had asked for 2021 taxes prior to their initial (but later canceled) interview date last fall. Somehow we missed this and did not upload the taxes (for the I-864s we had used our 2020 taxes). I assume the thing to do is to upload both 2021 and 2022 now (since another year has passed) into the NVC system? 2. Both my wife and I recently finished grad school and now have much higher paying jobs than our old ones (our combined I-864/I-864A in 2021 had our household income only about $10,000 more than what was necessary for sponsorship). After reading forum posts, it sounds like the thing to do is to have them bring our employment verification/salary letters as well as paystubs to the interview (as well as our deed for our house)? Thank you very much in advance to any and all help! (thought I posted this last night, but don't see it in my content; mods feel free to delete one of these if I did in fact post this somewhere)

Ok! After waiting almost a year to reschedule my parents-in-law consular processing green card interviews, they have a new interview date. (2022 interview had to be canceled due to covid) Here's to hoping this will be a good end to 3+ years of trying for their green card. A couple of questions for now (I am sure there will be more): 1. We just saw that last year, prior to when their first green card interview was supposed to be, NVC sent a request for our 2021 taxes. (we filed 2020 taxes with the I-864/I-864A) Somehow we missed that message and so never sent the 2021 taxes in the NVC system. We are thus planning to upload both 2021 and 2022 into the NVC system prior to the interview. Does that make sense to everyone? I wouldn't think the delay would be an issue? 2. Both my wife and I finished grad school in the last year and now make significantly more than we did when we filed the I-864/I-864A way back in 2021. From reading through forum posts, it sounds like the best thing to do is to get employment verification letters, two paystubs for both of us, and write a brief letter of explanation, and have my parents-in-law take it with them just in case they want to see more financial ability on our end (we were perhaps $10,000 over the minimum when we filed the I-864s). Is that right? Thanks as always for any and all responses/help!