Ducker

8 hours ago, scandal said:

I've been researching Travel Medical Insurance, and I think it could be a good solution for the initial months, until the Ukrainian adults are able to get jobs which hopefully would include a decent employer provided health coverage.

As an example, I'm looking at this Patriot America Plus https://www.imglobal.com/img-insurance-plans/patriot_plus .

 

For pre-existing conditions, coverage is for : Acute Onset of Pre-Existing Conditions (Insured person must be under 70 years of age) 

where "acute" is defined further as:

 

Should you experience a sudden and unexpected outbreak or recurrence of a pre-existing condition, this coverage provides necessary emergency care for any medical emergency that is life threatening or requires immediate medical treatment. Coverage is available for travelers under age 70, and maximum limits vary by plan and age.

 

In-network coverage is the United Healthcare (UHC) network, so pretty broad nationwide network of doctors and hosptials.

 

The policy can be purchased for any period of time from 5 days up to a year and is renewable up to 2 years. So that's plenty of time till either get them on employer provided care, or ACA.

 

For eligibility - 

(5) on the Effective Date and on subsequent renewal dates, must have legally departed the Country of Residence and legally
entered the Destination Country
(6) not have established a permanent residency in the Destination Country 

For I think this would work for U4U participants, since they would have left Ukraine and any 3rd country prior to  legally entering the USA (condition 5) and they are parolees, not permanent residents in the US (condition 6)

 

Regarding cost, I priced out 4 months of coverage for the family of 4 we are sponsoring and it came to about $700 (you can play around with  policy limits and deductibles to adjust the premium level). That's not bad at all, definitely something we could do. Assuming this isn't "junk" insurance. It seems legit, but hard to know.

 

Also, I recently found out that in Illinois the children will qualify for the state Allkids program, so apparently I only need to buy coverage for the adults. Other states may have similar programs.

 

Did some follow up research on this as well:  Healthcare.gov is definitely an option!  I called their support line can got instructions.

If you, like me and my wife, have private health insurance, no worries:  start signing up on Healthcare.gov but choose the option "coverage for someone else."  Your relatives will be listed as your dependents for both medical care and taxes.  If you choose that they have serious medical concerns (which two of mine do), they will be granted coverage during the special enrollment period.  The others can still enroll in Medicaid.

All the best.

18 minutes ago, Islapaz said:

 

 

 

 Did the beneficiaries got their travel document? We were approved May 6 and still waiting for the document. We have called USCIS now they say issue resolved, but clearly is not. This is soul breaking.

Yes, to clarify all 4 got their travel authorization documents processed within hours of me posting them.  As with everything YMMV.  So sorry it's taking a long time for you; I might suggest inquiring by phone. 

If you feel like it's dead in the water, you could also possibly re-submit the request for travel authorization by creating a new myuscis.gov account with a new email address for the beneficiary(ies), then trying to re-import the receipt number.

I also created a Travel Group for the four of them and this helped me get the requests created a little quicker, FWIW.

7 hours ago, Boiler said:

Travel Insurance would not cover usually pre existing conditions and also begs the question how long they would be in the US.

 

As I understand it the point of the I 134 is to show they have sponsors able to cover their expenses.

 

Refugees are eligible for Benefits but not Parolees.

Both Ukranians traveling through the Tijuana connection and Uniting for Ukraine applicants are granted humanitarian parole.  I will contact Healthcare.gov Marketplace as recommended.

Great news:  I filed their applications post I-134 approval last night and I woke up to all 4 of them already being approved!  So now we've got to move on this.

On 5/8/2022 at 1:27 PM, scandal said:

 

Now my main concerns are a) health insurance for them

 

 

Agreed, major concern!   Bringing over 4 of my wife's family, her two parents both have health issues.  I'm thinking foreign traveler's insurance.  I also heard that humanitarian parolees through the Tijuna connection can get healthcare.gov free benefits, hope that applies to Uniting For Ukraine travelers as well.

Lots of developments since this was first posted.  Some acquaintances with 2 family members from Ukraine recently passed through the Tijuana connection with no delay.  However that option is set to close on Monday and we were never comfortable with it for moving 4 of ours.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/u-s-launches-new-program-to-welcome-ukraine-refugees-but-no-longer-through-mexico

However this new process, open for applications on April 25th, sounds promising.

https://www.dhs.gov/news/2022/04/21/president-biden-announce-uniting-ukraine-new-streamlined-process-welcome-ukrainians

On 3/25/2022 at 9:48 PM, Jorgedig said:

The obvious answer to this is that they are much better off seeking to enter bordering countries as refugees.

Yes, when you are getting shelled it is obvious that you need to seek safety, thank you for helping us realize that.

My family is mostly in Poland but any comparison to the experience of visa applicants from other countries right now is quite inappropriate.

Back to the subject of the thread, visa options, as linked we have discovered that the Tijuana humanitarian parole option for Ukranians is quite valid and we are considering it, thank you.

https://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/health-med-fit/russians-are-blocked-at-us-border-ukrainians-are-admitted/article_14f813c3-4859-5578-b5e8-08a5f4e18eff.html

I have friends and relatives hanging out in the Ukranian countryside and they are getting shelled.

https://www.npr.org/2022/03/24/1088506487/us-ukraine-refugees

Read today that the USA will admit 100,000 Ukranian refugees.

My wife is Ukranian with a green card, soon to start a citizenship application.  Her mother, father, sister, and nephew are refugees now relocated in Poland.  Unfortunately her brother in law is of age and had to stay in Ukraine.

We are looking at applying for refugee status for the family.  As information becomes available, we'd love to jump on this application immediately!  Any help would be appreciated.

My wife received her green card this week, hurrah!  We'll be able to go back and visit her family this Fall.

The issue with name change that we had with the officer turned out to be her first name, not the last name, which he changed for us to my family surname as requested.  She'd just wanted to Americanize her Ukrainian name, but we can live with that.

Many sympathies to those of you still dealing with delays.

Had our green card interview on Tuesday in New Orleans--this was not the Big Easy!  

At the interview today the officer asked for joint tax returns —- gotcha. “Ok what else?” Showed him joint checking account. “Ok what else?” Uhh, ok here’s all our Instagram photos for the past year.... he asked for jointly signed mortgage, which we’d done, but I didn’t have (awkward shuffle through paperwork and phone emails).   He noticed that my wife hadn't put "0" in the field for number of children--glad we didn't get an RFE prior for something so petty.  He also noticed our change of address from Louisiana to Texas--I told him that we'd filed a change of address form a few months ago, and he's like "oh yeah I see it right here in the system."  Ugh, so much slack in this system.  Finally, he said we couldn't change her name through the I-485.  This is frustrating since this has been denied at the marriage license bureau in Florida, the SSN office, and now the USCIS.  Guess we'll have to do it through the Texas court system.

My wife was asked if she was a terrorist or criminal and thankfully she gave him the same answers she gave me  She stumbled over the "current address," thinking he mean her address in Ukraine, but we recovered--there were little brochures all over saying "marriage fraud is a federal offense."  Feels weird.

Hoo boy, glad we were in the perfect city to celebrate when he said “I think I have enough to approve.  In three weeks if approved, you’ll get your card.”  

That said, our status online hasn't changed yet, and I've heard horror stories of people waiting forever for their card for months, and it turned out the agency was just sitting on it.  I'll definitely make an Infopass appointment if we don't hear something in less than 30 days.

Hi all:

Been frustrating trying to get a name change for my wife--the Florida marriage license office wouldn't do it last year.  The SS office refused to do it, and now I've finished our green card interview and they refused to change her name using the I-485 as well.  We want to change her first and last name.

Can we do this in Texas court?  That's what the USCIS officer said to do.

1 hour ago, pending4ever said:

How do you set up getting e-mails from USCIS? I only received the emails when they first received my case but since then have just been constantly checking the my case status website. I opened an online account a few days ago (thinking this is how I will get email notifications) and added my cases there, but none of them look updated at all - they are all on "we received your case and there's nothing for you to do at this time".

Should be this.  I seem to have missed a few too so I unchecked, saved, and re-checked the options, also making sure it had my current cell number and email in Account Settings.

However in researching the bug by looking at emails, I think I found an edge case bug in the notification system.  If you've previously had a K1 Visa case open, for instance, it will report by email periodically "no updates....last action June 2018" for instance.  Because my wife's I-129F and I-765 processes were completed, I removed those cases.  Now I expect to get email updates on the I-485.

I see we're getting the appointment letter today; they still sent it to our old address and it's been forwarded even after entering an address change form, but all good!

Hurrah!  Interview was scheduled notification on the 28th of May...but I haven't gotten a letter with the date, place, and time yet.  Submitted a request of missing notification but hoping their mailing process is just slow... any ideas on how to get this appointment info otherwise, can I call or make an INFOpass appointment?

7 hours ago, Jjcouple said:

This might be a stupid question but on our adjustment application we checked that we want a social security number to be issued- when in the process does this get issued? (we went to the social security administration office about a week after my wife got here but was told she was not in the system yet) then later they mailed us a note after our K1 expired that they could not give us one because our documents were expired. Total waste of time but curious if we will get one since we marked the box in the application- anyone have luck with this? 

Okay I found this via desktop view but it looks a little different for whatever reason!

Glad you found it.  For everyone's benefit here's a full screenshot of my.uscis.gov.  I'm using Safari on Mac so your PC may look a little different.  The USCIS app is good for notifying you of updates, but if you've been sitting on your hands and wondering what's going on, it's worthwhile to check this website once a week, As you can see this has my wife's full case history listed, including the K1 visa.  Again, note that the I-765 and I-485 petitions have different numbers, so make sure to enter both.

5 minutes ago, K1visaHopeful said:

Well butter me up and call me a biscuit...is that a different site than we all know about or is it just your view from a PC?

Same site, my.uscis.gov, desktop view.  I find it more effective than the app for adding multiple cases and checking the history.  

7 minutes ago, NashvilleFO said:

Congrats! Did your status change from card being produced to card has been mailed or something?

Good question.  In my account I'd added the MSC number for the I-485, but not the EAD (different by one digit), so I was flying blind a bit in retrospect.  I went ahead and added it today.  To answer your question, here's what it looks like in my account, see screenshot.

Hi guys, I got "Case Is Ready To Be Scheduled" back in November 2018, a few days before "Fingerprint Review Completed."  As I understand it I need to wait to see "Interview Has Been Scheduled," and we'll get the appointment date mailed to us.

A wrinkle is that I had to notify them of a change of address from Louisiana to Texas in January.  They sent me back an email notification that this change was successfully made.

Does this mean that my wife's interview will be in Texas (Dallas or Houston) or back in the Louisiana (New Orleans) field office?

Many thanks for the information.

We've been patiently awaiting my wife's green card after K1; I'd heard it was usually quicker.  

Unfortunately due to the way the app works, I only saw the last update in the app, which was "Fingerprint Review Completed on Nov. 28th, 2018."  I thought we were stuck on that.  

It wasn't until I logged into the website today that I saw "Case is Ready To Be Scheduled For An Interview" happened on November 22nd, 2018.  Unfortunately we never got this notice mailed to us, which isn't unusual, we didn't get things mailed to us in the K1 process.

I've done a little research and see the next step to wait for notice of is "Your interview has been scheduled,"  correct?  

Does the processing time indicate the time from receipt of I-485, or the time after "Case Ready?"  

Hi guys, I see from the app that our fingerprint review was completed on November 30th.  Is it true that for K1'ed AOS applicants, interview for AOS can come in as little as 90 days after biometrics?

Sorry to be a little clueless, I followed the K1 process like a hawk but we are kind of taking it easy with the AOS.

1 hour ago, jackyjimenez said:

I am the beneficiary and I changed my last name. I put my married last name in every form and my maiden name where it says “other names used”. When I went to the SSN they couldn’t put my married name because they said the system didn’t allow her to put it. This Thursday is 4 weeks I went for the SSN and still nothing. 

I did the same with the I-485, I-864, I-765, and G-325a(s).  Just wondering folks, is there something else to make the married name change?  Perhaps I should make a name change request with the local SSA once we get a NOA back from our AOS.

As for SSN, I understand it's tough to continually check because any visit to the office is going to be a long wait.  Sometimes they won't divulge information over the phone, but you can call your local office and ask for an update.  Also it's best to look up the SAVE (interagency information) request in your name with USCIS.  

https://save.uscis.gov/casecheck/SearchCases.aspx

There are multiple IDs that your inquiry from the SSA to USCIS may have been referenced.  The officer was able to look us up by her passport number, but again, the SSA agent may have ID'd you by one of the other available methods, so search through them all.  We visited the state USCIS office with an InfoPass appointment and didn't have to wast much time, other than the long drive.  

https://my.uscis.gov/en/appointment

It did give us an idea of what was happening.  It is another nudge between agencies that might get things moving again for you.  The USCIS officer admitted that sometimes the SSA agent may just not know what they're doing, and this may contribute to their restrictive behavior when it comes to issuing cards.  

Ultimately I think it's best to keep trying at the SSA office until you find an agent that knows what they are doing.  We learned the same from a friend with a disabled daughter who needed to file for SSA benefits early.  Best wishes.

Put the AOS with I-765 packet in the mail yesterday, fingers crossed and godspeed.   We took a hint and got a fully completed DS-3025 back in Ukraine, so we sent that along in lieu of the I-693.  As always, many thanks to visajourney for this invaluable resource, without which we'd be clueless.

The SSN was a hassle, including 2 two-hour trips to the state USCIS office.  After the second SAVE request, we thought we were going to get stuck in perpetual runaround, but then the card arrived 3 weeks after the first visit to the local social security office.  We micromanaged the situation as much as possible, since it appears to primarily be a competency/training/individual attitude problem within the Social Security Administration.  The second lady that helped us was much better, and gave us her direct line within the office.  

My tip is that if you have another local Social Security office, and you aren't getting anywhere in your primary location, visit the other office.  I've been told after phoning in an inquiry that individual offices cannot see what applications the others are working on.

Got a question though:  what's the best way to go about a name change?  When we got a marriage license in Florida, they didn't want to write it in then.  Social Security didn't want to do this for us in our first card application.  In filling out the I-765 we requested a card under her married new name.  Is this going to work?  Still a little confused about what goes into legally changing my wife's name.

Yes, it would be nice for it to be found somewhere online, as well as linking this case to my account for status updates.  I'm not big on paper files, but obviously the federal government still is.   Worst case, I could make an InfoPass appointment with the state USCIS office; this is how we ascertained the A-number post-K1 admission.  Like the USCIS online account number, it is sent in one letter only for the NOA2, and never mentioned again...

I have a USCIS online account already, but can't find the account number anywhere.  Anyone know how to get it?