Spouse on tourist visa need insurance

[buluke 0]

Hello quick question hoping someone can answer.  I married my wife in February and she has a tourist visa so she is going to come here to the US and wait it out with me. I know POE is not guaranteed but for the sake of arguement let's assume she is allowed entry for a moment. 

 

I contacted my employer and told them I want to add my wife to my insurance and explained the situation and that she doesn't have a ssn number. They seem to be confused as that is how United health Care identifies their customers. They told me what to enter as a temp ssn number and they will see if they can't get uhc to play nice with me since by contract my company has to give me and my family insurance.

 

My question is, has any one dealt with this scenario before? If UHC insist she has a ssn number, does anyone have any idea how to get a temp or anything like that?  I suggested her Chinese ID number. 

 

Any feedback would be appreciated. 

 

As far as POE, lawyer says it's perfectly legal for her to come here as long as she goes back before expiration date. I have the luxury of dealing with multiple city Immigration and customs agents and have spoke with about 8 now. They all said it's not an issue for her to come in married on a tourist as long as we know she has to go back after. 

 

Thanks for any suggestions. 

Edited March 10, 2017 by buluke

[yuna628 9,680]

10 minutes ago, buluke said:

Hello quick question hoping someone can answer.  I married my wife in February and she has a tourist visa so she is going to come here to the US and wait it out with me. I know POE is not guaranteed but for the sake of arguement let's assume she is allowed entry for a moment. 

 

I contacted my employer and told them I want to add my wife to my insurance and explained the situation and that she doesn't have a ssn number. They seem to be confused as that is how United health Care identifies their customers. They told me what to enter as a temp ssn number and they will see if they can't get uhc to play nice with me since by contract my company has to give me and my family insurance.

 

My question is, has any one dealt with this scenario before? If UHC insist she has a ssn number, does anyone have any idea how to get a temp or anything like that?  I suggested her Chinese ID numberick.

 

Any feedback would be aporeciated. 

 

As far as POE, lawyer says it's perfectly legal for her to come here as long as she goes back at expedition date. I have r the luxury of dealing with multiple city Immigration and customs agents and have spoke with about 8 now. They all said it's not an issue for her to come in married on a tourist as long as we know she has to go back after. 

 

Thanks for any suggestions. 

1) You say you are married and have a spouse, but you've listed yourself as a K1 which is for fiancés not spouses. What visa are you seeking?

2)An SSN is not a requirement to obtain health insurance, however - if you are obtaining a spousal visa the spouse cannot live in the US with you while waiting for it to go through. So why do they need insurance at this time until they have proper paperwork, especially considering they will have to return to their own country and not have use of the insurance anyway? She could obtain temporary travel medical insurance for herself - since she is a visitor no penalty would apply. It is rare to find one that would cover pre-existing conditions though (which may be a concern to you if she has any health issues).

3) No it is not an issue for her to visit you on her tourist visa so long as she returns home (and provided she is let in), but because she is on a tourist visa she cannot do things that persons that have a K1 visa or a spousal visa can do yet - such as being eligible to obtain an SSN. Remember I said that not having an SSN doesn't prevent you from having health insurance, but it does often make the process a lot easier by dealing with people that haven't got a clue. She simply cannot obtain one yet.

Edited March 10, 2017 by yuna628

[f f 725]

ssn is not required for health insurance, you can give i94 number instead all they want is a unique identifier.

 

when my step child was visiting a couple of years ago hr treated it as if the child moved into the area then moved out since each move triggers a special enrollment period for health insurance.

 

good luck

[Lemonslice 4,886]

Marriage certificate, anme and birth date are enough details to identify your wife to United; if you want, just tell them you will follow up with them when she receives her SSN.  My husband also added me right after marriage and long before I moved to the USA, that way, I was covered when visiting.

 

[buluke 0]

58 minutes ago, yuna628 said:

1) You say you are married and have a spouse, but you've listed yourself as a K1 which is for fiancés not spouses. What visa are you seeking?

2)An SSN is not a requirement to obtain health insurance, however - if you are obtaining a spousal visa the spouse cannot live in the US with you while waiting for it to go through. So why do they need insurance at this time until they have proper paperwork, especially considering they will have to return to their own country and not have use of the insurance anyway? She could obtain temporary travel medical insurance for herself - since she is a visitor no penalty would apply. It is rare to find one that would cover pre-existing conditions though (which may be a concern to you if she has any health issues).

3) No it is not an issue for her to visit you on her tourist visa so long as she returns home (and provided she is let in), but because she is on a tourist visa she cannot do things that persons that have a K1 visa or a spousal visa can do yet - such as being eligible to obtain an SSN. Remember I said that not having an SSN doesn't prevent you from having health insurance, but it does often make the process a lot easier by dealing with people that haven't got a clue. She simply cannot obtain one yet.

 

I need to change my info from k1 to spousal.  Originally we were going to do K1 but we are now married and doing spousal visa. She won't be "living here" she will be visiting which is indeed legal to do even as a spouse. I will change the k1 information I forgot all about it until you reminded me. 

 

Thank you for the replies, I will try to give the number you mentioned above. My insurance is good so I would like to have her covered while she is visiting throughout he process. 

 

 

Thanks again for the replies