Getting Insurance for my wife and son

[HaoRan]

I'm trying to get health insurance for wife and son but Insurance company is requesting SSN or Tax ID, both of which I do not have.

 

I have receive their I-797C documents each with an "A" Number.

 

Does anyone have suggestions on how to do this (get insurance)?

 

Or do I need to wait until the Green Card and SSNumbers arrive?

 

Thanks in advance.

[dnoblett]

CR-1 and CR-2 visas get an I-551 stamp upon entry to the USA, about 2 weeks after entry to the USA got to SSA and apply for SSNs for each immigrant. Sometimes if you go back to the SSA office a day or so later they will give you a letter showing the issued SSN. SSN cards tend to show up in the mail within a week after applying for them.

[Randy W]

You don't say if the insurance is through your employer.

 

If it is, talk to your HR dept about what you need to do to get them covered before the SSN arrives. They are not a government agency, so they can't require one.

[george lee]

I'm trying to get health insurance for wife and son but Insurance company is requesting SSN or Tax ID, both of which I do not have.

 

I have receive their I-797C documents each with an "A" Number.

 

Does anyone have suggestions on how to do this (get insurance)?

 

Or do I need to wait until the Green Card and SSNumbers arrive?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

i had the same situation where i wanted to insure my wife while she was in china, but she had no ssn, so no coverage. you may also want to check if your insurance company coverage extends to china as well. i found out that my insurance does not cover outside of USA, so it really does not matter if she is cover or not. she has coverage under my insurance now, after recieving her ssn. good luck.

[HaoRan]

yeah, my wife and son are here. This is not through work as the price for family insurance at my work is nearly 750.00 a month. Much cheaper to buy outside through Blue Cross/Blue Shield (strange as that may sound, it's true).

 

I didn't go through the steps of getting a SSN for either of them because in one of my documents (DS-230) there was the option that we checked which will have them send an SS Card.

 

"Do you want the Social Security Administration to assign you a SSN and Issue you a Card?"

 

We selected YES in this option.

 

 

If I go for a SSN now it would screw up the process? Double issue of cards?

 

Thanks.

Edited November 19, 2009 by HaoRan (see edit history)

[weiaijiayou]

You should also make sure there is no cut-off date after which your wife can't be added to your insurance. Sometimes insurance companies won't provide insurance to people after e.g., 30 days after they arrived from a foreign country. They do this to avoid adverse selection (i.e., people seeking insurance only after they think something might be wrong). For people who go past the time limit, they need to wait until the start of the next year to be added.

[george lee]

yeah, my wife and son are here. This is not through work as the price for family insurance at my work is nearly 750.00 a month. Much cheaper to buy outside through Blue Cross/Blue Shield (strange as that may sound, it's true).

 

I didn't go through the steps of getting a SSN for either of them because in one of my documents (DS-230) there was the option that we checked which will have them send an SS Card.

 

"Do you want the Social Security Administration to assign you a SSN and Issue you a Card?"

 

We selected YES in this option.

 

 

If I go for a SSN now it would screw up the process? Double issue of cards?

 

Thanks.

 

 

sorry, i thought your wife is still in china, misread your post.

 

i also selected YES for my wife where SSA assigns a ssn and issure her a card. it took about 3-6 weeks for ssn to arrive. you may go to your local ss office and inquire about her ssn.

[Randy W]

It's VERY rare that that checkbox actually works for a family visa.

 

Go ahead and apply NOW - the SSA will know if they've already issued a number or not - they most likely have not.

[dnoblett]

yeah, my wife and son are here. This is not through work as the price for family insurance at my work is nearly 750.00 a month. Much cheaper to buy outside through Blue Cross/Blue Shield (strange as that may sound, it's true).

 

I didn't go through the steps of getting a SSN for either of them because in one of my documents (DS-230) there was the option that we checked which will have them send an SS Card.

 

"Do you want the Social Security Administration to assign you a SSN and Issue you a Card?"

 

We selected YES in this option.

 

 

If I go for a SSN now it would screw up the process? Double issue of cards?

 

Thanks.

From every thing I have read checking that box tends to do nothing, visit SSA and apply for the cards, you wont get issued double numbers, they look on their system and see if a number has been issued to immigrant. their A#