MSP and pregnant American wife

[Sgeddes2014]

Hi there!

So I'm a bit confused after reading many different things and talking to several different people about MSP her in BC.

My wife and I (my wife being Amercian and I being Canadian) moved here to Victoria, BC in the beginning of August. I started a job that I get MSP through in the beginning of September, although, I had to apply for MSP myself. I know there is a 3-month waiting period and I should be hearing back soon, as it is e end of October and coverage would start in November.

My question is this: my wife and I are getting everything ready for the PR application, so she HAS NOT applied yet. My wife is here as a visitor and she is pregnant. On my MSP application, I listed her as my wife and requested she also be covered. Everything I am reading, however, states she won't be covered unless a PR application is active, IE it's been filed and waiting acceptance, etc. Now, talking to some people about this, they insisted their wives or husbands were automatically covered by MSP even though they weren't residents and only visitors. I'm confused by what people are telling me and what I am reading.

I'm not too worried right at this moment because my wife does have private, American insurance right now that covers her a certain %. I'm just wondering about this whole MSP thing. Could anyone offer me their knowledge to let me know exactly which is true? MSP or no MSP for my wife, haha.

Sorry I seemed to run on forever, I just want to cover everything so you can answer me best as you can.

Thank you! Also, I do not really need any rude comments. So if you plan on being rude, please do not answer.

 

[Leon]

Hi, provincial health care generally does not cover spouses on visitor status until they get PR or first stage approval for PR. Some provinces have been a little more open though to covering spouses that are in the process of being sponsored, however, nothing happens automatically. You would have to apply for your wife and see what happens. As far as I know, it is on a case by case basis so I don't think anybody can tell you right now 100% that your wife will be covered or not except MSP.

 

[margobear96]

http://www.health.gov.bc.ca/msp/infoben/pdf/covering-a-spouse-or-child-who-is-an-applicant-for-permanent-resident-status-in-canada.pdf

No automatic MSP. Once you submit your wife's Outland application and your sponsorship gets approved, you need to submit a change form adding your wife. The sponsorship approval (or fee payment date if not too much earlier) will start the clock for her waiting period. I also wrote a super dummy-proof cover letter attaching the above article as well as the documents required. (I did this through my husband's HR department though, not sure if there's much of a difference dealing directly with MSP.)