Insurance in case of a future pregnancy while waiting for PR

[quebecnewhusband]

Hello everybody,

I'm a canadian citizen, living in Montreal, Quebec. I'm getting married next week with a woman from Thailand, where I've spent half of my time these past 2 years. Once married, we will begin all the process for her to get her permanent residency in Canada, with me as the sponsor.

It can take up to 26 months for her to get her PR, (I'm hoping for faster since she's educated, has a good job here, and it's easy to prove that our relationship is real), but since she has a visitor visa that is valid for 5 years in Canada, we hope to be able to live together in Canada while waiting for her PR to be approved.

But 26 months is long and we are thinking about having a baby before that if possible. She's 35 and doesn't want to wait for too long. So my questions are :

1- Is there any insurance plan that covers a possible future pregnancy? (including pre natal tests, delivery and complications) I understand they would be expensive, but I'd still pay for it.

2- If not, is there any insurance plan that covers only the possible complications that might happen?

3- Also, I have a good job in Canada but it's not a permanent one (I'm a full time temporary employee since 8 years...). I don't have a private health insurance, but I could suscribe to the one offered by my employer. Is there a chance that this plan could cover the cost of pregnancy for my wife?

4- What are the cost of a normal delivery in Quebec? And of the pre natal testing?

She's not pregnant yet and we can still wait. But we just want to plan ahead to avoid a bad surprise.

Also, living in Alberta is absolutely not an option.

Thank you!

 

[Leon]

If you apply outland, her visa office is Singapore and according to the CIC website, the processing time could be up to 28 months, see http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/perm/fc-spouses.asp#asia

However, if she comes on a visit visa, you could apply inland as long as she commits to staying in Canada for the duration. In that case, she should have first stage approval in 7-8 months, see http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/perm-fc.asp and that should usually get her health care coverage as well as she can apply for an open work permit. Then another 8 months to get PR.

During the time she is staying in Canada, she should apply to extend her visitor status before she overstays her 6 months but having applied for sponsorship, you should not have a problem getting that approved.

Applying inland, she shouldn't risk leaving during the processing time because if for any reason she is not allowed re-entry, you will lose the application.

 

[quebecnewhusband]

This is very helpful, thank you. Applying from inland is definitely something that we will consider. We will be together in Thailand until July and we want it to procede as fast as possible, so that's a reason why we wanted to apply from outland. But now inland becomes a real possibility.

But just to be clear : Only with the sponsorship approved from inland, it's enough for her to get health care coverage with the RAMQ? Or if she first needs to find a job and get a work permit? Sponsorship approval from outland would not bring the same?

I thought she could only get coverage after getting her PR. ;D

 

[Leon]

You would have to talk to RAMQ about the details but most provinces would give health care to a person who has received first stage approval inland although possibly with a 3 month waiting period but Quebec has an exception on the 3 month waiting period for pregnancies.

Some provinces may give coverage after first stage approval in general, also for outland and there is a thread here from someone who got that through with OHIP.

Some provinces may be even more liberal and cover a person on visitor status who is in the process of being sponsored (AB, but you don't want to go there )

 

[quebecnewhusband]

You would have to talk to RAMQ about the details but most provinces would give health care to a person who has received first stage approval inland although possibly with a 3 month waiting period but Quebec has an exception on the 3 month waiting period for pregnancies.

Some provinces may give coverage after first stage approval in general, also for outland and there is a thread here from someone who got that through with OHIP.

Some provinces may be even more liberal and cover a person on visitor status who is in the process of being sponsored (AB, but you don't want to go there )

Thank you very much for your advices Leon! I will definitely need to ask the RAMQ about all of these options before we take the final decision.

 

[haver]

Hello! If your wife is not yet pregnant but is planning to get pregnant soon, there is one insurance plan available that will cover prenatal care and delivery up to $10,000 (80%.) Her due date has to be at least 10 months after the effective date in order to be eligible for the maternity coverage. This plan costs around $1100 per year.
If she gets pregnant before buying insurance there is only coverage available for emergencies up to 31 weeks, from a few companies.
You can send us an email to arbetov.office@gmail.com to get more information about these plans or visit our website.
Our toll free number is 1-8777-211-4301