northusa44

Thanks! But I think, though I'm not certain, that what you wrote is wrong in our case. I am aware of the 100% poverty level rule. But read through this thread, in which many have gotten Obamacare for 65+seniors with 0 or little income. I've been reading elsewhere online, and from what I can tell, and as with the above cases for 65+, if one is ineligible for Medicaid, they are eligible for Obamacare (there is a long debate in that thread about whether one can choose not to be a dependent if earning under the dependent maximum; this debate does not apply to my in-law since they are in the coverage gap between that dependent maximum and 100% FPL. We called Obamacare and faithfully reported expected income, etc. The reported income was no more than an expected $3000 for the year. We also told them our state. And Obamacare then gave us a near 0 dollar premium quote. There are two possibilities. Either that Obamacare rep was wrong, or the law actually allows Obamacare for those under 100% FPL if they are ineligible for Medicaid (which my in-law is, since we are in a state that has expanded). Again, would love more input (and Tesco, do write back if you've got more info--like I said, I'm not 100% sure on this, thus the query.)

*I think the critical thing here is whether I am right about ACA subsidies being available to immigrants who are under the usual minimum (~15,000) in income in states that have not expanded Medicaid. I've seen references in several places to this, but I have not been able to find this put explicitly. What I am seeing is that Obamacare is basically available to any immigrant who is not eligible for Medicaid (and therefore, in my state that has not expanded Medicaid, this would include those earning under ~15,000). If anyone has more info on this, I would appreciate it!

Before filing taxes for my green card-holder in-law, I just want to double-check that we are OK with what happened last year in terms of Obamacare. My in-law was on Obamacare (with subsidies) for a few months in 2024. At the time, they did not have work, so I believe we estimated their income on the low end (I honestly can't remember if we estimated 0 or a few thousand; whatever it was, we made an honest attempt). Then, in early fall, they were hired full-time. They wound up coming off of Obamacare and onto their employer's plan for the last few months of the year. By the end of the year, they had made more than the dependent maximum (something like $5200 for 2025; i.e. even if we wanted to we cannot claim them as a dependent for tax purposes) but less than the Obamacare minimum of ~$15,000. Without getting into specifics, let's just say they made~10,000 for 2024. We live in a state that has not expanded Medicaid. My understanding is that we are thus OK in terms of taxes because Obamacare is available even if income is under the Obamacare minimum when Medicaid is not available (with the exception that we might be asked to refund the difference between the subsidy we received vs. the estimated income we gave), but I want to see if anyone knows more about this and can either confirm or give more info (or tell me that I am wrong about the Obamacare minimum not applying when Medicaid is not available fit). I.e. if you think that we need to call healthcare.gov to report all of this, do let me know/state why. Secondarily, and with all the stuff going on with immigrants in the US, do also write if there have been any new administration changes to immigrants and Obamacare that would be relevant to this. Thank you!

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!