JohnL

• Sister in law has been approved and recieved and email to schedule her interview  for  F2b immigrant visa. The attorney  has been trying for the last 2 months but website says there are no interviews available.  She emails the Embassy and they say the sooner she schedules  an interview the quicker the process will  be. In  multiple  emails they encourage her to schedule an interview appointment but there are no appointments available.  Is this George Orwell  double speak?

Sister in law has just got an email from the US Embassy.  They have paused all immigrant visa processing.  They told her they do not have a date yet on when they will start again.  She also sent me this article about the relations between the 2 countries.  https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/us-official-says-el-salvador-relations-paused-lack-interest-2021-11-22/

2 minutes ago, missileman said:

The fact is that a lot of uninsured people use Emergency Rooms for care which is not really emergency care.  They don't pay for their care, and someone else gets stuck with the bill.

I used to live in a really bad area in Calif.  Recycle Center and 2 convenience stores with in a block.  People would cash in their cans, bottles and plastic after looting the neighborhood recycle bins, buy booze and lay around drunk and passed out all day.  If I called the police to report that they were passed out drunk, they would never respond.  I learned to tell dispatch that they might be having a medical emergency.  A typical response would be an engine with 4 firefighters and an ambulance with 2.  They would sometimes make multiple trips everyday taking people to the emergency room.  The City tried to send me a $1000 ambulance bill on one occasion because a person was picked up passed out on the sidewalk in front of my house. I sometimes made 4 to 5 calls for service every day.  These were all US citizens.

13 hours ago, payxibka said:

If someone goes to the public hospital emergency room for treatment (because they have no insurance and the hospital cannot deny treatment), gets treated, and skips on the bill......  who in the end foots that bill?

Just like the rest of US citizens that have lost their health insurance since it has gotten way more expensive in the last 3 years and now, nobody is required to have insurance.

I know a woman who works for Walmart part time, 30 hours a week and no insurance.  She was involved in an auto accident that was not her fault and the guy ran.  Her Uninsured Motorist coverage did not apply because they could not identify the driver.  She spent a week in the hospital and came out with a $58,000 bill.  She will be paying on it for a long time or the hospital will write it off.

Also checked with the State Health Dept here in Idaho.  Insurance thru their Exchange is solely based on income.  If you make too much money you do not get a tax credit.  If you make not that much money you get the tax credit.  You cannot choose not to get the tax credit to avoid becoming a public charge.

7 minutes ago, missileman said:

So what happens if a new, uninsured immigrant requires medical care within the first 5 years?  Who pays for it?

Just like all the US citizens that are not required to have insurance or cannot afford it.....it will have to be an extreme emergency.  Are you thinking we should just let people die because they do not have insurance?

On 10/4/2019 at 7:52 PM, payxibka said:

That has been a concern for years.  Why should the American taxpayers bear that cost?  

I do not know about other states, only Idaho.  Even legal immigrants do not qualify for Medicaid here until they have been here for 5 years.  illegals and legals can qualify for temporary Medicaid for  having a child or an extreme emergency, like an auto accident.  Children, no matter what their legal status qualify  for a form of Medicaid called CHIP or Children's Health Insurance Program, but it is based on income.  I do not think anybody would want deny medical care in these instances.

I thought that marriage was a qualifying event  to add somebody to your insurance.  I also think that using the ACA Affordable Care Act is prohibited for new immigrants.  They think that getting a tax credit makes you a public charge.

Remember, you cannot use anything on the Affordable Care Act (ACA).  Apparently, getting a tax credit  makes you a public charge.   I found out the in Idaho they do not sell insurance that does not go thru the ACA.  Interesting.....what is a person to do?

My brother in law had his interview and was approved to come to the US.  He picked up his passport  at the courier service and was told there is no "sealed " packet to hand to Customs and Border Patrol upon entering the US.  Courier said it was done electronically?   Anybody ever heard of this?  Embassy website  says there is a sealed packet.

That took about 2 months. I also read an article that ICE is sending people from the NVC and Service Centers down to the southern border to process asylum applications.  That is bound to slow things up a bit.

My brother in law got his appointment scheduled for late Sept.  Link says you must register appointment with VIC (Visa Information Center) to get a UID number which is needed for the medical exam and to get your passport back.  When I click on that link it does not take me anywhere to register the appointment.  What is an old guy (me) doing wrong?

Mother in law, a green card holder, applied for her 2 unmarried children, filing a separate I 130 for each.  Wife and I are going to sponsor with an i 864, but need a co sponsor, due to income level.  A family fried, a US citizen would be the co sponsor.  So the question is that are 2 I 864 filed , one from one co sponsor and another from another co sponsor for each individual applicant?  $120 for each applicant even though there are 2 I 864's?  The other question is that one applicant is going to school for her Master and working in South Korea.  Can she do her interview and physical in South Korea instead of flying back to El Salvador once and maybe twice.  Question posed to the NVC twice in the last month by email and they have not responded yet.

Filing for 2 relatives.  Got notification they are ready for processing by NVC.  We are going to use a co sponsor.  Do we fill out 1 I 864 for both individuals?  Does co sponsor fill out a separate I 864?  If the fee is $120, is the total going to be $480 for 2 I 864's for 2 people?

Best to all.

Or the Kaiser Family Foundation

https://www.kff.org/disparities-policy/fact-sheet/proposed-changes-to-public-charge-policies-for-immigrants-implications-for-health-coverage/

Or the Mercury News

https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/03/28/trump-proposal-would-penalize-immigrants-who-use-tax-credits-benefits/

How about the Washington Post?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-proposal-would-penalize-immigrants-who-use-tax-credits-and-other-benefits/2018/03/28/4c6392e0-2924-11e8-bc72-077aa4dab9ef_story.html?utm_term=.0ddbfa7e1dec

Watch what benefits you use.  USCIS plans to change their definition of a public charge.  This can affect you even if your US born children go to Head Start, you claim the Earned Income Tax Credit when you file your taxes, or you get your health insurance thru an exchange and get a tax credit.  

https://www.vox.com/2018/2/8/16993172/trump-regulation-immigrants-benefits-public-charge

Republicans in their infinite wisdom want to now prevent  the reunification of families by reducing family based immigration in half.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/07/politics/cotton-perdue-immigration-bill/index.html

Does the petitioner need to report a change of address here in the US? Do immigration documents get forwarded by US Mail if I move?

Here is the link from the Calif Dept of Health Services http://www.dhcs.ca.gov/services/medi-cal/eligibility/Pages/Medi-CalFAQs2014b.aspx

Interesting that my mother in law can now get on Medi Cal and not worry about becoming a public charge. We are in the process of moving to Idaho and they have not expanded their Medicaid program so we will be paying for her.

Last Dec, I signed up the mother in law thru Covered Calif. and I also claimed her on my 2013 tax returns. My wife and 2 daughters are covered thru insurance at my job. For 6 months, we have $228 to Kaiser and there has been a approx $530 tax credit that has been going to Kaiser to pay for the total premium. Just received a package from the state that my mother in law is being transitioned to Medi Cal and that she qualifies for no premium payment. I spent 2 hours on the phone with Covered Calif and Medi Cal. They say, because of my income and amount of dependents, it is mandatory she go to MediCal, even though she has only been in the US for only 1 year. They called it MAGI MediCal and said there was no way around it, even though we were comfortable paying the $228 a month. I told them about no benefits for the first 5 years and the possibility of the USCIS declaring her a public charge at a point of entry and they said that there was no way that she could not collect MediCal unless I went out and made more money, or the wife went to work..... Am I the only one that is experiencing this?

There has been a lot of discussion on this. We have our mother in law covered on ACA for $208 a month. Here is the latest USCIS fact sheet. Apparently, green card holders have a lot more benefits available to them.

http://www.uscis.gov/news/fact-sheets/public-charge-fact-sheet

Best,

John

http://www.uscis.gov/news/fact-sheets/public-charge-fact-sheet

Your parents mau be able to get Medicaid. Here is a cut and paste from the latest USCIS fact sheet dated Nov of 2013.