K-1 Visa, Health Insurance - YIKES! Help!

[Loren Y 2,732]

You have to suck it up. Welcome to the great healthcare we have here in the United States. I just got married a week ago and added my spouse to my insurance. 126.76 per pay period extra out of my check. So about 250 a month, but I planned on this and to cover her I threw about 7000 in a high yield saving account. And have not had to use it. And one poster said your spouse should be working in 6 months is going to be  a pretty optimistic estimate. It's not just the EAD, but they have to find a job unless he already has one lined up ,if so great, but figure a month for that with application and interview. Then most employees are not eligible for benefits for the first 90 days of employment. It varies based on the job. Some you are eligible the date of hire, but those a few and far between. So I would plan on more like 9 months. They do have what's called calamity insurance that isn't too expensive monthly, but it's only going to save you in the event of a serious injury like a heart attack or something. Start saving now, since my fiancee has been here I've been hemoraging money. There are so many things you can't even think about now you are going to have to get. My biggest was the 4200 I dropped for a trade school for her to get licensed by the state, so she can work. It was a cash special I got from the school, but if your thinking education know the pending immigrant is looked at as a foreign student, so high rates, plus non resident on top of that, and not eligible for any grants or financial aid, it really is not cool. Best advice is to save every penny and dime you can, you have time on your side, take advantage of it. Maybe if your in pretty good health take the cheapest insurance you can get from your employer, because when you get married it's a life change, so you can completely redo your coverage then, will give you money to save now.

[Todd55 31]

4 minutes ago, Loren Y said:

You have to suck it up. Welcome to the great healthcare we have here in the United States. I just got married a week ago and added my spouse to my insurance. 126.76 per pay period extra out of my check. So about 250 a month, but I planned on this and to cover her I threw about 7000 in a high yield saving account. And have not had to use it. And one poster said your spouse should be working in 6 months is going to be  a pretty optimistic estimate. It's not just the EAD, but they have to find a job unless he already has one lined up ,if so great, but figure a month for that with application and interview. Then most employees are not eligible for benefits for the first 90 days of employment. It varies based on the job. Some you are eligible the date of hire, but those a few and far between. So I would plan on more like 9 months. They do have what's called calamity insurance that isn't too expensive monthly, but it's only going to save you in the event of a serious injury like a heart attack or something. Start saving now, since my fiancee has been here I've been hemoraging money. There are so many things you can't even think about now you are going to have to get. My biggest was the 4200 I dropped for a trade school for her to get licensed by the state, so she can work. It was a cash special I got from the school, but if your thinking education know the pending immigrant is looked at as a foreign student, so high rates, plus non resident on top of that, and not eligible for any grants or financial aid, it really is not cool. Best advice is to save every penny and dime you can, you have time on your side, take advantage of it. Maybe if your in pretty good health take the cheapest insurance you can get from your employer, because when you get married it's a life change, so you can completely redo your coverage then, will give you money to save now.

I was under the impression you could get a work authorization slip in around 2 to 3 months.  I know the green card takes about a yr, but I thought my fiancé could work within a few months as long as she had the work authorization.

[martinzl 91]

How long it takes to get temporary work authorization pending green card approval may depend on where the application is being processed.  Ours took 6 months from applying for AOS.  I had my wife put on my health care coverage beginning with the first day of the month after our marriage. Basically doubled my healthcare cost but that's life in the US.

[Lucky2Lucky 2,526]

57 minutes ago, Todd55 said:

I was under the impression you could get a work authorization slip in around 2 to 3 months.  I know the green card takes about a yr, but I thought my fiancé could work within a few months as long as she had the work authorization.

Work authorization takes wayyy more then 2-3 months. And seems the wait time keeps growing.

[Todd55 31]

9 minutes ago, Luckycuds said:

Work authorization takes wayyy more then 2-3 months. And seems the wait time keeps growing.

thanks for the reply. well I guess my fiance and I are going to be eating ramen noodles and tuna fish for a long time. haha!  it is going to be really rough for the first year until she can get a job and we can have two incomes.  I plan to get a second job but it's still going to be very hard. however, the plus side is I have the love of my life with me, and with her by my side we can move mountains.

[Loren Y 2,732]

Here is the link for current processing times based on the last 90 days. Looks like about 150 days, or 5 months.

https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/eadstats.php?history=90

[Loren Y 2,732]

1 hour ago, Todd55 said:

well I guess my fiance and I are going to be eating ramen noodles and tuna fish for a long time. haha! 

If you only knew how true that statement is......

 

[Todd55 31]

10 minutes ago, Loren Y said:

If you only knew how true that statement is......

 

looks like you are well-prepared my friend. Yes, I'm bracing for some really rough times here for a few months coming up.  thank God my folks said they are going to help out with a nice monetary honeymoon present.  that should help us quite a bit.

[CEE53147 559]

$400/month is a bargain.

 

If a second job is going to be required, make sure there are no unplanned additions to your family because the cost of infant care makes the health insurance look minuscule.

[Loren Y 2,732]

27 minutes ago, Todd55 said:

looks like you are well-prepared my friend. Yes, I'm bracing for some really rough times here for a few months coming up.  thank God my folks said they are going to help out with a nice monetary honeymoon present.  that should help us quite a bit.

Sounds good. Just keep the wedding and everything reasonable. A lot of K1s just do a court house wedding, or something reasonable. I kept mine under about 1000 dollars total and had really one nice wedding. I just don't understand why people would drop 15-20k on a wedding when you are just starting out together. If you have the cash, great, do it big, but if you are still paying off your wedding at your 5 or 10 year anniversary, you went a little bit overboard.

[Redheadguy03 505]

20 minutes ago, Loren Y said:

Sounds good. Just keep the wedding and everything reasonable. A lot of K1s just do a court house wedding, or something reasonable. I kept mine under about 1000 dollars total and had really one nice wedding. I just don't understand why people would drop 15-20k on a wedding when you are just starting out together. If you have the cash, great, do it big, but if you are still paying off your wedding at your 5 or 10 year anniversary, you went a little bit overboard.

I agree 100 percent! I got married at my parents and just decorated everything. It was great and we spent probably under 1000 as well. Highest cost being the dress and cake. Definitely, don't regret it a bit. 

[geowrian 22,335]

Yup....$400/month is pretty typical now for a decent plan. At least with the employer sponsored plan, presumably they're covering a decent portion of the full premium.

There are cheaper short-term private options, although you do get what you pay for.

As noted, don't get travel insurance as it won't cover a new resident (even if they aren't a permanent resident yet).

 

5 hours ago, martinzl said:

How long it takes to get temporary work authorization pending green card approval may depend on where the application is being processed.  Ours took 6 months from applying for AOS.

The I-765 and I-131 due to AOS are processed by the NBC, not the local field offices.

[Stubmeister 31]

One thing you need to remember. When adjusting your W-4, you can now add another exemption so that less money is being withdrawn. This makes a big difference if you are claiming '0' and now adjust for 2! Your extra money or some additional money will come from there. I'm not a CPA, (nor do I play one on TV). Something to think about!

[Todd55 31]

12 hours ago, Loren Y said:

Sounds good. Just keep the wedding and everything reasonable. A lot of K1s just do a court house wedding, or something reasonable. I kept mine under about 1000 dollars total and had really one nice wedding. I just don't understand why people would drop 15-20k on a wedding when you are just starting out together. If you have the cash, great, do it big, but if you are still paying off your wedding at your 5 or 10 year anniversary, you went a little bit overboard.

yes, way ahead of you, courthouse wedding was what we had planned for quite a while now.  it's going to be very simple Low key and then we might go to a restaurant afterwards with a few family and friends.

Edited February 11, 2019 by Todd55
misspelled word

[Cathi 5,610]

22 hours ago, jennymarie1116 said:

For us, it was mostly a matter of timing and wanting to go the faster route.  Health insurance wasn't an issue when we first started our application, but has become one since I'm changing jobs (and, because premiums went up at my old job, it would have become one anyways even if I didn't change jobs).  I know there's pros/cons of both routes and I'm glad we are on the path we're on, but we're just trying to navigate the sticky period between him coming here and him working - which became stickier!   

 

Yet another reason the CR-1 is the superior visa option.

 

The costs people go through to be together a few months sooner boggles the mind. It just isn't worth it.