Help with my understanding of what it means to bring a parent to the US

[Love To Teach 161]

That's the problem. Unless she works somewhere where she can get health insurance through her employment, she is going to be in over her head. That is one reason I keep working at 67, so that I can carry my husband until he can get his own insurance.

Edited December 28, 2018 by Love To Teach

[Boiler 43,434]

Salons do not normally provide Health Insurance.

[Russ&Caro 1,548]

8 minutes ago, eckoin said:

She's in her early 50s and not in the financial position to live in the US without working. So yep, you got that right.

 

She wants to legally work in the US while she's here (and I think, if she got herself established right away, she'd gladly forego the Canadian residency requirement and wouldn't look back--but back to the original point, she's way over her head on medical costs considering her health status. If she told me she accepts $1,000+ per month, I wouldn't be here.)

 

I'm trying to be pragmatic here. I can help her pay for her medical costs, but I have children too, and we're not really in the position to drop $12k a year, and that's assuming that we're not dealing with deductibles and additional co-pays. 

 

She wants to work, doesn't work to work illegally (and I wholeheartedly support that), and she has friends who offered her jobs at their salons but with work authorization. 

Another thing about immigrating in her 50's is the possibility that her pension from whatever the Canadian retirement system is, would pay out far less than if she works into her 60's in Canada. If she chucked it all and moved to the US permanently her Canadian pension benefit might be truncated pretty severely. Meanwhile working 10-12 years in the US will result in little or no retirement benefit from Social Security.

 

If she could do what she has planned in her head, i.e. live and work in Canada for 6 months and do the same in the US, it would be ideal, but as others have stated that's going to be difficult.

[eckoin 211]

1 hour ago, Love To Teach said:

That's the problem. Unless she works somewhere where she can get health insurance through her employment, she is going to be in over her head. That is one reason I keep working at 67, so that I can carry my husband until he can get his own insurance.

 

1 hour ago, Boiler said:

Salons do not normally provide Health Insurance.

Yep, she'd be a contractor. Little chance to get health insurance through employment; she's not in that type of field. That she knows. 

 

58 minutes ago, Russ&Caro said:

Another thing about immigrating in her 50's is the possibility that her pension from whatever the Canadian retirement system is, would pay out far less than if she works into her 60's in Canada. If she chucked it all and moved to the US permanently her Canadian pension benefit might be truncated pretty severely. Meanwhile working 10-12 years in the US will result in little or no retirement benefit from Social Security.

 

If she could do what she has planned in her head, i.e. live and work in Canada for 6 months and do the same in the US, it would be ideal, but as others have stated that's going to be difficult.

She's always been a contractor in one way or another, so I think, pension wise, she'd qualify for bare minimum in Canada. I don't think she's relying on that at this time, or she says she isn't. Like a lot of Canadians in her position right now, she's relying on real estate values to coast her through retirement. Obviously there's me as a fall back, she knows that too. 

 

I don't even think she can legitimately work in two countries and maintain appropriate status like she expects. Is there a possibility? I suppose she could live in the US for the majority of the time and maintain GC status, and then head back to Canada for a few (<6) months, but then what's the point? You retain no residency benefits in Canada. Yes you're still a citizen, but you can't just show up at your doctor's office with your health card--legally anyway. 

 

Or am I missing anything? 

[eckoin 211]

3 hours ago, Ontarkie said:

The minute she crosses the border with her visa she will no longer be a Canadian resident for OHIP or any other tax related benefits. The 6 months 1 day is actually wrong it came to be because of the Snowbirds. Snowbirds can actually be away for a total of 8 months and keep OHIP (they can only be in the USA 6 months straight though) Snowbirds do not move, they do not give up their home, their residency. They are just traveling to get away from the cold. 

 

Canada is also cracking down big time on Canadians that abuse the health care system. So being a US green card holder and going back to Canada to use OHIP will catch up to her.

 

Now on to the Visa interview part. When the time comes to her interview they can ask for more proof you can handle your mothers medical costs and ask for proof. That is on top of the AOS you will submit. 

So in about 5 yrs time because how slow it is to get citizenship and how slow Montreal is, she may get to the US. 

Hey I just realized the gravity of your comment. 

 

E: I think I misunderstood, corrected below:

 

So you're saying that a Canadian can be away from Canada on a tourist visa, for 8 months out of 12 per year, with at most 6 consecutive months, to maintain OHIP benefits.

 

But if they're abroad, like the US, with a permanent residency in that country, like a green card, it's zero months? Specifically for the purposes of OHIP and nothing else? 

 

For the full record, she wouldn't be selling her home in Canada, she'd be renting it out. That's her ideal plan anyway. 

Edited December 28, 2018 by eckoin

[Ontarkie 13,916]

9 minutes ago, eckoin said:

Hey I just realized the gravity of your comment. 

 

E: I think I misunderstood, corrected below:

 

So you're saying that a Canadian can be away from Canada on a tourist visa, for 8 months out of 12 per year, with at most 6 consecutive months, to maintain OHIP benefits.

 

But if they're abroad, like the US, with a permanent residency in that country, like a green card, it's zero months? Specifically for the purposes of OHIP and nothing else? 

 

For the full record, she wouldn't be selling her home in Canada, she'd be renting it out. That's her ideal plan anyway. 

For tourist, traveling, and things like that you can be away for more than 6 months and keep OHIP. But you must maintain residency in Canada. Canadian tourists can only be in the US for 6months though. 

 

If she gets a visa to move to the USA. She stops being a Canadian resident the day she crosses the border and endorses her visa. So yes zero months OHIP is gone right away.   If she returns to Canada and uses the Canadian health care system that in itself declares her as a Canadian resident and immigration can use that as abandoning her GC.  She cannot be a Canadian resident and US resident at the same time as a green card holder. She will lose any HST/GST rebates if she is gets them all take effect the day she crosses.

 

She would also have to claim the rental income on US taxes and do her Canadian taxes as a non resident. She wouldn't get dinged twice but it would need to be listed. Members that know more about taxes can explain that when the time comes. 

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

I think the issues have been well covered. Just to highlight that the excesses and co-pays can be very high even with a decent coverage health insurance option. I’d suggest you do some research on your mom’s condition - what treatment costs are, what is normally covered under the various types of insurance schemes etc - to make her really understand the costs. And that you as sponsor could be held liable to pay if she tries to do what her friends do  

[Going through 5,668]

16 minutes ago, Ontarkie said:

If she returns to Canada and uses the Canadian health care system that in itself declares her as a Canadian resident and immigration can use that as abandoning her GC.

This is an important part to note.  Also, as a tourist she wouldn't be able to legally work in the US for a US employer to support herself, if she just wants to go back and forth.

Edited December 28, 2018 by Going through

[eckoin 211]

1 hour ago, Ontarkie said:

For tourist, traveling, and things like that you can be away for more than 6 months and keep OHIP. But you must maintain residency in Canada. Canadian tourists can only be in the US for 6months though. 

 

If she gets a visa to move to the USA. She stops being a Canadian resident the day she crosses the border and endorses her visa. So yes zero months OHIP is gone right away.   If she returns to Canada and uses the Canadian health care system that in itself declares her as a Canadian resident and immigration can use that as abandoning her GC.  She cannot be a Canadian resident and US resident at the same time as a green card holder. She will lose any HST/GST rebates if she is gets them all take effect the day she crosses.

 

She would also have to claim the rental income on US taxes and do her Canadian taxes as a non resident. She wouldn't get dinged twice but it would need to be listed. Members that know more about taxes can explain that when the time comes. 

Not worried about taxes, but this puts a more dire light on her OHIP. I just spoke to her earlier today and she was already thrown aback on residency requirements (yes, shocking), but losing the 6 months + 1 day (not that it would work it seems like) was news. 

 

Good to know. I laid it out, including what you said. This ended with "well I'll have to think about it" which is what I hoped for. Thank you so much everyone!!!

[CEE53147 559]

She also needs a license to wok in the US in many fields.  Does she even qualify?

[Ontarkie 13,916]

29 minutes ago, eckoin said:

Not worried about taxes, but this puts a more dire light on her OHIP. I just spoke to her earlier today and she was already thrown aback on residency requirements (yes, shocking), but losing the 6 months + 1 day (not that it would work it seems like) was news. 

 

Good to know. I laid it out, including what you said. This ended with "well I'll have to think about it" which is what I hoped for. Thank you so much everyone!!!

Many members have come on here thinking they could keep going back to Canada for health care. It's a shocker to many. Heck my Aunt used to live in Texas and thought as long as she went back up to Canada for even a day she could keep it. Sadly the bill she got in the mail disagreed. (I have no idea how they found her address. My guess is some sort of paper trail). That was in the 90's,  before Canada and the US started sharing much more information than they do now. 

Edited December 29, 2018 by Ontarkie

[mushroomspore 3,043]

1 hour ago, CEE53147 said:

She also needs a license to wok in the US in many fields.  Does she even qualify?

This is a good point. Not sure what licensing is like for hair stylists in the US but surely she will need to get that as I'm sure it is not transferable. As in, she can't convert her Canadian hairstylist certifications to American certs and just start working.

[Boiler 43,434]

I am not sure the Hairdressing matters much, she would be in her late 50's by the time she could move and had serious health issues.

[carmel34 3,531]

OP,  your questions have been pretty much answered, but having lived in the US and Canada at various times all of my life, I wanted to add my two cents and agree that the plan to live in both the US and Canada for 6 months to try and retain residency in both countries will not work.  I have had family members try this and they got caught, so don't even consider it.  The six months plus one day rule is designed to prevent it--you can be a dual citizen of the US/Canada, but have to choose residency in one or the other.  If your Mom's reason for wanting to live in the US is to avoid the cold winters up north, and if money is not a concern for you, then fly her down to Florida for five months each winter and put her in a nice AirBnB on the beach, and pay for an expensive visitor health insurance policy while she's there and risk paying for a major health crisis and hospital stay.  If your financial situation does not allow for this option, and it sounds like her career as a hairdresser would not, then she'll have to make the best of her situation in Canada--there are warmer winters in Vancouver or Vancouver Island.  You have five years to figure this out, so there is no need to make any decisions today.  Maybe in five years she will be used to the cold winters and be happy where she is.  Good luck in helping her consider various options during the long wait.

[kris&me 572]

finding an employer to cover insurance is while working as hair dresser is almost impossible

most of them rent a station and are self employed