DV 2016 OC Selectees

[AcidPops]

Great - they offer good plans. Can you give us an idea of the cost for your situation?

Sure thing. It's $223.75 for 3 months with a policy limit up to $500,000 and $0 deductible, but there are cheaper options too. I'm 25 and single. The plan will be to take out ACA compliant insurance once I get a job, but you can cancel the short time coverage at any time and they refund you the remainder of the policy. I went through the PDS and looked good and spoke to someone on the phone and they were really helpful! Seems like a good option. Headed to New York tomorrow morning!! Thanks for everyone's help in this forum, it really is an invaluable resource.

 

[Britsimon]

Sure thing. It's $223.75 for 3 months with a policy limit up to $500,000 and $0 deductible, but there are cheaper options too. I'm 25 and single. The plan will be to take out ACA compliant insurance once I get a job, but you can cancel the short time coverage at any time and they refund you the remainder of the policy. I went through the PDS and looked good and spoke to someone on the phone and they were really helpful! Seems like a good option. Headed to New York tomorrow morning!! Thanks for everyone's help in this forum, it really is an invaluable resource.

Excellent - that seems like a sensible deal - and no worries about a foreign policy that gets concerned you emigrated. My wife had a minor medical thing recently (vertigo) that needed a trip to the ER. We have a good PPO insurance plan through my work (it's a family plan and the policy cost is $22,000 per year, of which I pay about one third). Even with that insurance the few hours in the ER resulted in a bill of about $7k of which I will pay nearly $1000. You just don't want to be here without medical cover.

 

[AcidPops]

Excellent - that seems like a sensible deal - and no worries about a foreign policy that gets concerned you emigrated. My wife had a minor medical thing recently (vertigo) that needed a trip to the ER. We have a good PPO insurance plan through my work (it's a family plan and the policy cost is $22,000 per year, of which I pay about one third). Even with that insurance the few hours in the ER resulted in a bill of about $7k of which I will pay nearly $1000. You just don't want to be here without medical cover.

Wow yeah that's nuts... that's the one thing about moving to the US that makes me nervous. Policy has been taken out now, so should all be OK I hope your wife is OK now and sorry to hear you still had to pay so much!

 

[Guarapa]

shall we go ahead and book the medicals or wait for the 2NL first (any ideas when we should be receiving it)

Hi Carlos
I didn't interview in OC however FYI my CN became current (for March) in the January VB released on Jan 9th, got my 2NL on Jan 25th. I presume you will receive yours around Easter time; be patient, you're getting closer
I tried to schedule the medicals immediately away but I was informed that was too much in advance and should wait until 1 week before the interview date. They told me the physician gives priority to immigration-related appointments so not to worry about that. Best is to call and get first-hand info directly from them.

 

[Carlos/Maria]

thanks - guarapa

 

[LazyDoggie]

Hi all, thought I'd check in and let you know how things are going. I've been in LA since Wednesday and tomorrow I'll be starting a month of travels down south and through the east coast.

Activation went well, since we Aussies arrive at LAX at the crack of dawn there wasn't much waiting around. Went through customs pretty quickly, the officer noted that the address on my arrival card was different to the one one my envelope so he asked me if I wanted to update it. He then weirdly asked if I had a phone number I could update as well for the new address so I was just going to give him my friends number, and then he asked what about yours? And I said uh, I can give you my Australian number? And he said no, an American one. I was like ummm I just got here and haven't left the airport, I don't have one yet. Lol. But he said it didn't matter anyway. Then he said he had to pass me on to another officer to finalise the change of address - I got sent over to the left side of customs and had to sit in a waiting area. The officer was helping out another likely DV couple before me who were also changing their address. I waited for maybe 15 mins before the officer handed me a piece of paper all about the green card, he got me to sign another paper to confirm the address change and that was it. He said "welcome to America."

I spent my first few days here just recuperating from jetlag and homesickness, but in the past few days I got to go the Oscars red carpet and a couple of TV show tapings. Not a bad way to spend my first week - although it's felt like a very long one!

On my first day I also opened an account with Bank of America which was very easy. I went to Chase initially but they couldn't do it without a secondary ID (e.g. utility bill). But had no problems of BoA. Plus, the lady who opened my account said she also won the green card lottery about 16 years ago! I bought my SIM and phone plan as well before I arrived had it delivered to my friends house which I highly recommend people do if they can. Definitely saved me some unneeded stress and activity on my first day.

Plus, I just found out the other day I've got a paid internship in LA starting next month! Glad I'll have something to keep me busy for the first few months.

Hope everyone else here is going well.

Hi @violetion, just wondering what were the requirements for opening an account with BOA. Do they require a SSN? I want to open an account immediately once I land - I do not wish to carry a lot of cash around plus fee for international transfers from Fiji is exorbitant - so what would be the best approach? I do not have a SSN now - my only documents would be the passport, I-551 stamp and proof of residence in US.

 

[EmilyW]

BoA will open without an SSN. We were able to open ours with no issues.

 

[eskimokisses]

For those that did a shortish activation trip, what did you do in terms of insurance (travel and medical/health insurance) as once we land and activated we are LPR, even though it is for a short time if on shorter activation trip? Did you do a shorter policy to cover for that time and then do a different policy when you actually made the move permanently? Any recommendations?

 

[EmilyW]

For the activation trip, I took out regular travel insurance for the trip. From memory, it cost me around $120 for the four of us for the duration of the trip.

For our permanent move, I took out incoming immigrant insurance, which was $800 for three months for the four of us. Very basic catastrophic insurance, just to hold us over until I find work.

 

[eskimokisses]

For the activation trip, I took out regular travel insurance for the trip. From memory, it cost me around $120 for the four of us for the duration of the trip.

For our permanent move, I took out incoming immigrant insurance, which was $800 for three months for the four of us. Very basic catastrophic insurance, just to hold us over until I find work.

Thanks Emily, do you remember if for the regular travel insurance you have to specify that you were LPR? I was just wondering if that has any implications on a regular travel insurance policy.... I will have to investigate further We are considering doing a 2 - 3 week activation trip so we would definitely need to be covered during that time.

 

[EmilyW]

No, they didn't ask about our residency for the activation trip and I figured they didn't need to know as we were still living in Australia.

 

[eskimokisses]

No, they didn't ask about our residency for the activation trip and I figured they didn't need to know as we were still living in Australia.

Good point
how are you guys settling in by the way?! Are you guys already in a rental? Was that easy to do without credit history or more difficult?

Did you ship anything over? Has that arrived yet?

So many questions lol! Is it ok if I PM you sometime

 

[EmilyW]

Totally PM me.

We're settling in great. Love it here. We had our rental sorted before we left. We didn't ship anything. We had five/six suitcases (can't remember which now), and carryons.

 

[Britsimon]

Thanks Emily, do you remember if for the regular travel insurance you have to specify that you were LPR? I was just wondering if that has any implications on a regular travel insurance policy.... I will have to investigate further We are considering doing a 2 - 3 week activation trip so we would definitely need to be covered during that time.

No, they didn't ask about our residency for the activation trip and I figured they didn't need to know as we were still living in Australia.

You have to be cautious about this. Everything is fine until you have a really big claim. But if they see a 6 figure claim (which is not unusual over here) come through the mail, you can bet they will look for every out possible to get out of paying. So, since the activation trip is essentially the same as the final move, they could try and argue that you were on the final move, and therefore not entitled to use travel insurance. You could probably win that argument by showing ties still back home - but really - why have the hassle when "new GC holders" insurance is available and for similar costs.

 

[EmilyW]

^ That is important to consider. But you aren't officially a permanent resident until you get that stamp. That introduces the madness of having Australian travel insurance covering your flight in (because you're not a permanent resident and still just a tourist) and then your new GC holder insurance kicking in once you have the stamp. Insurance in the US = hella confusing and expensive.

 

[Britsimon]

^ That is important to consider. But you aren't officially a permanent resident until you get that stamp. That introduces the madness of having Australian travel insurance covering your flight in (because you're not a permanent resident and still just a tourist) and then your new GC holder insurance kicking in once you have the stamp. Insurance in the US = hella confusing and expensive.

Haha - interesting point about the flight. But presumably, given the lack of hospital facilities on the average 747, the chances of incurring big bills tend to start after the flight is over - but yeah - perhaps double coverage is called for.

And yeah - healthcare over here is a mess. Only Bernie had a reasonable plan for that, and he is pretty much history now...

 

[EmilyW]

Bernie's plan is ethically beautiful and I love the way he talks about it. Economically, not so great (which could generally be said for any command economy).

And yes, the double insurance is interesting. We did Australian travel insurance for the activation trip, but doubled up on the permanent trip over as our plan only covers us WITHIN the US. So I had insurance for one day in Australia and then the GC insurance kicked in the day we landed. It was.... tangled.

 

[SusieQQQ]

Being an LPR and actually being resident are not the same thing.
We had home country health insurance for most of the first year of being LPRs, before we made the final move. It was not a problem for either coverage or the required exemption on our US tax returns.

 

[Britsimon]

Bernie's plan is ethically beautiful and I love the way he talks about it. Economically, not so great (which could generally be said for any command economy).

And yes, the double insurance is interesting. We did Australian travel insurance for the activation trip, but doubled up on the permanent trip over as our plan only covers us WITHIN the US. So I had insurance for one day in Australia and then the GC insurance kicked in the day we landed. It was.... tangled.

OK - quick off topic before Mom tells me off.

USA already spends more per capita on healthcare, without covering everone and without better health outcomes. So - UK for example is spending 3.5k per head, and covering everyone with high quality healthcare, while USA is spending 8.5k per head but only covering 90% of the population. Why does the USA spend so much per head? Lots of people taking profits from a privatized wild west system. Bernie's point was that a single payer system could cover everyone at less than the current spend, and, according to data from every other similar first world country, he is correct.

http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2012/jun/30/healthcare-spending-world-country

 

[violetion]

Hi @violetion, just wondering what were the requirements for opening an account with BOA. Do they require a SSN? I want to open an account immediately once I land - I do not wish to carry a lot of cash around plus fee for international transfers from Fiji is exorbitant - so what would be the best approach? I do not have a SSN now - my only documents would be the passport, I-551 stamp and proof of residence in US.

No need for SSN! I went to Chase initially, but they wouldn't let me do it without SSN and proof of address. BoA were much more straight forward and just went ahead and did it - then told me to come back in once I have the SSN. No dramas.

Also, @SusieQQQ you are a wiz - my SSN came the day after I posted about it here, exactly 10 business days after arrival!