US citizen, Canadian (pregnant) wife, immigration to US in less than 3 months

[merbers9 0]

Hi everyone,

I am an American citizen living in Canada with my Canadian wife. We are moving to Chicago in October. My wife is currently 7 weeks pregnant, and will therefore need immediate medical coverage. My job has full insurance coverage and employees are allowed to add family members for an extra monthly fee that comes out of our salary. I therefore have the following questions:

1) If we intend to move to the US October 1st, can we begin the Green Card process with consular processing now, with the intention of moving before it is completed? I have read conflicting information of whether my wife will be able to enter the US while awaiting consular processing. Will this speed up the process or will we be forced to start all over when we get to the US anyway? 

2) Should we instead apply for a Green Card while she is already in the US, and therefore wait until we cross the border in October? 

3) While she has her immigration status pending, will she be able to be covered under my works health plan? Does her pregnancy have any impact on that? 

Thanks for the help. 

[Hypnos 6,579]

1) You can begin the process through DCF now; you may or may not have her immigrant visa by then, although with DCF it's more likely. Obviously, she wouldn't be able to enter in October if she hadn't received her visa by then.

 

(Edit) There is no longer DCF in Canada. You would need to file an I-130 through the normal process, and it will take a year or so for your wife to receive her visa. She will not be able to immigrate in October.

 

2) No, that would be immigration fraud since you're planning it from outside the US.

 

3) That would be a matter for your health plan; some will cover her, others won't.

Edited July 20, 2017 by Hypnos

[merbers9 0]

DCF?

[Hypnos 6,579]

Direct Consular Filing.

 

It's the fastest method for obtaining an immigrant visa since you file directly with the consulate/embassy, but it's only available in a handful of countries around the world, and it stopped being offered in Canada several years ago.

 

You must now use the traditional I-130 NVC immigrant visa process; as I said, this will take around a year.

Edited July 20, 2017 by Hypnos

[Coco8 1,059]

5 minutes ago, Hypnos said:

1) You can begin the process through DCF now; you may or may not have her immigrant visa by then, although with DCF it's more likely.

There is no "direct consular filing" in Canada.

 

I'm sorry, but if you are married the only option is IR1/CR1 spousal visa and it takes 12-14 months. 

 

The issue with adjusting status directly in the US, as you ask about, would be fraud because she would be entering the US with the intention of AOS (adjustment of status). Everyone will tell you that you cannot that because otherwise they would be violating the TOS of the forum. 

 

Immigration is exceptionally long in the US. Much more than any other country. 

 

 

[merbers9 0]

We happen to be in the United States right now, so we could actually file from here. 

[Hypnos 6,579]

You could, but she couldn't leave for at least 90 days after filing without abandoning her application.

[merbers9 0]

I see. If we applied from Canada would she be allowed to enter the US as a visitor? 

[Hypnos 6,579]

Probably for short visits, yes.

[Coco8 1,059]

31 minutes ago, merbers9 said:

We happen to be in the United States right now, so we could actually file from here. 

 

(1) If you are already in the US you can AOS, but it could take 3-4 months until she can leave the country.

(2) If you apply for IR1/CR1 (by the way, it is not done at the consulate, you have to mail the application to Chicago), she will probably be allowed to the US but for short visits and probably not very frequent. 

 

Back to the health insurance question, I think you could add her to your insurance even if she is not a resident. Maybe you want to do that just in case she needs medical attention when she is visiting. 

 

 

[acidrain 325]

If you can I would encourage you to do AOS (adjustment of status inside the US) because it was the truth when you crossed the border you were not intending to immigrate. This will likely be your only shot to do this. As others have mentioned it will only be a few months she cannot leave. Most work plans cover spouses and do not require a SSN. It is when you sign up through the marketplace (Obamacare) family members require SSN's. When we looked into private insurance we got a quote for $800/month for me, my spouse and my son. I'm glad we never signed up as me and my son never made it across. You can always go to an insurance broker. Our broker told us since I do not have a green card we would not be eligible for Obamacare subsidies until I did.

 

Filing abroad is an extremely difficult experience and it would be extremely difficult for you and your wife to expect a baby. Visits are extremely stressful because you don't know for certain if she will be able to cross. Most people travel across with no problem but the more visits often triggers secondary inspection. With secondary inspection triggers the need to prove your wife will go back to Canada at the end of her stay. Keeping two places is often not cheap and having to fly all the way to Montreal to complete the interview process is not ideal nor is having to travel to the select locations where your medical exam done.

 

You may get lucky (insert sarcasm here) and get Nebraska as your service center if you file abroad. In total I'm expecting this process to take anywhere from 12-13 months. If your wife applies for advance parole with AOS she can leave the country after about 90 days. I wish I was in your shoes because the way we did everything was totally wrong. I've been separated from my spouse for a total of 4 months so far and it's been very difficult on our entire family.

Edited July 21, 2017 by acidrain

[Keith & Arileidi 437]

I think i could probably give you some help with the insurance thing. 
I have a pregnant wife and  I also have Cadillac insurance from Blue Cross Blue Shield through my employer.
My wife ABSOLUTELY needs an ITIN or social security number to stay on my insurance.

If the OP is serious about adding her to his US insurance plan. He needs to make an appointment with his local IRS office and bring the proper paper work to obtain the ITIN for his wife.
The second option would be just to wait until he files his next US tax return with his ITIN application attached but that would be 4- 6 months after his projected due date.
The OP  cant claim a life event until his child is born, and even the life event would only affect the new child's health coverage.

Just to add one note...
7 weeks pregnant

30+ days schedule IRS meeting ( for me it was 60 or so for the Detroit office)

>6 weeks to get ITIN.
90 or more days for insurance to kick in. (may or may not apply)

That would be cutting it pretty close for coverage of a dependent....so i would get a step on it.

Its tough having a foreign wife, but at least the OPs is in a 1st world country with socialized medicine.
I would love to be in his position lol.

[Transborderwife 4,666]

I'll be honest, I don't know why anyone would give up Canadian healthcare to birth in the USA without the assurance of coverage.

[amicablebride 25]

15 hours ago, merbers9 said:

Hi everyone,

I am an American citizen living in Canada with my Canadian wife. We are moving to Chicago in October. My wife is currently 7 weeks pregnant, and will therefore need immediate medical coverage. My job has full insurance coverage and employees are allowed to add family members for an extra monthly fee that comes out of our salary. I therefore have the following questions:

1) If we intend to move to the US October 1st, can we begin the Green Card process with consular processing now, with the intention of moving before it is completed? I have read conflicting information of whether my wife will be able to enter the US while awaiting consular processing. Will this speed up the process or will we be forced to start all over when we get to the US anyway? 

2) Should we instead apply for a Green Card while she is already in the US, and therefore wait until we cross the border in October? 

3) While she has her immigration status pending, will she be able to be covered under my works health plan? Does her pregnancy have any impact on that? 

Thanks for the help. 

I wouldn't risk it. During immigration, we had to prove my status to my husband's insurance company -- I think it was Blue Cross. It was such rigamarole, and there was no clear definition as to what my status was (according to them) I was a spouse who was waiting for my green card, lawfully here on the K1 visa, but his insurance over complicated everything, and eventually took me off the policy. I was without insurance for several months until I got my green card (and his insurance company needed ALL the paper work and proof resent, but they also couldn't just start fresh. They needed us to appeal the fact I was taken off ... for not being a permanent resident).  At tax time, we were being charged $400 for the months I was without insurance! We fought it though, saying it was their fault.. we couldn't get in touch with anybody to appeal or resolve the case. Luckily the $400 charge went away. Others might not be as lucky.

 

I know you probably want your child to be born in the United States, but don't depend on insurance. They will find any loophole they can to get out of covering the costs if an immigrant is involved. Even though she's your spouse. Be prepared to cover basically all the medical bills. If it were me, I'd honestly just have the baby in Canada. She's still covered there. It's 100% free. Then they can immigrate together... and eventually you can all apply for dual citizenship. I've been in the U.S. almost 2 years now, and I would rather go home to Canada to give birth. I'm terrified of the hefty medical bills / deductibles even though we both have insurance.

My husband had great insurance, but had surgery for his appendix and still had to pay $2000 in fees that weren't covered. In Canada, this surgery would've been completely free... no hassle. No deductible.

 

My honest opinion, and what I would do:

Start the paper work now. File from Canada. Meanwhile, enter the U.S. as a visitor in October. Show the US Customs proof that your wife plans on returning to Canada within 6 months, still has ties there, etc. 

Have the baby in Canada, free of charge. Once paperwork resolved / spouse visa approved, she can now enter as a lawful resident. Then immediately apply for her green card. Just something to think about :-)

Edited July 21, 2017 by amicablebride
forgot to mention something

[amicablebride 25]

1 hour ago, Transborderwife said:

I'll be honest, I don't know why anyone would give up Canadian healthcare to birth in the USA without the assurance of coverage.

EXACTLY! Couldn't agree more.