MSP coverage - paying PR sponsorships fees early?

[Tarikla]

Hello,

My wife and I are in the process of getting the necessary documents for her PR application, with me as her sponsor (I am a Canadian PR). Since we live in BC, we know that we can get MSP coverage while her PR application is in progress.

The exact wording is this :

Adding Your Spouse and/or Your Children to Your Account who has Applied for Permanent Resident Status in Canada
If you are covered by your employer, union or pension plan, contact your benefits office for the appropriate form. If you look after your own coverage, you can obtain an MSP Account Change Form (HLTH 203) online (online submission or PDF version - 586KB), by visiting a Service BC counter, or by contacting Health Insurance BC.

The MSP application forms must be submitted with copies of the following:

• a photocopy of an accepted identification document; and
• payment receipt(s) from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) that show the sponsorship fee (if applicable), application for permanent residence fee and Right of Permanent Residence fee have been paid in full. Per IRCC, the dependent child of a sponsor is exempt from the Right of Permanent Residence fee.
• If the Permanent Resident applicant is a spouse who is not being sponsored by the B.C. resident, they must submit a photocopy of a marriage certificate or statutory declaration verifying their marriage like relationship.

Please also include any immigration documents they may hold. The payment receipts from IRCC are required for Health Insurance BC to determine eligibility and when, if appropriate, coverage should begin.

To ensure continued MSP coverage, please also submit Permanent Resident documentation once it is received from IRCC.

When Does Coverage Begin?
New (and returning) residents are required to complete a wait period consisting of the balance of the month in which residence in British Columbia is established, plus two months before benefits can begin. The date residency is considered to have been established is determined by the Ministry of Health based on a number of factors, including the type of immigration status held.

For spouses and children who apply for Permanent Resident Status while in B.C., the wait period begins on the date the sponsorship fee (if applicable), application for permanent residence fee and right of Permanent Residence fee have been paid in full to IRCC. If all fees are not paid at the same time, the wait period begins on the date the last fee is paid.

Sadly, some of the documents (namely, the Police certificate) won't arrive until early December. This mean that, if I pay the fee right as we submit the application, her MSP coverage won't begin until March 1st. But, if I pay the fees either today or tomorrow, her coverage would begin on Feburary 1st, as the fees would be paid in November and not December.

Would it be weird to pay the fees now and then, around a week later, actually submit the application?

 

[Edmegbc]

No reason you cannot pay early. You upload a copy of the receipt into the PR portal so it can be done before submission. We paid ours about 2 weeks before we submitted

 

[canuck78]

Hello,

My wife and I are in the process of getting the necessary documents for her PR application, with me as her sponsor (I am a Canadian PR). Since we live in BC, we know that we can get MSP coverage while her PR application is in progress.

The exact wording is this :



Sadly, some of the documents (namely, the Police certificate) won't arrive until early December. This mean that, if I pay the fee right as we submit the application, her MSP coverage won't begin until March 1st. But, if I pay the fees either today or tomorrow, her coverage would begin on Feburary 1st, as the fees would be paid in November and not December.

Would it be weird to pay the fees now and then, around a week later, actually submit the application?

To get MSP I thought you had to show AOR so MSP knows you have a valid application and the applications has been accepted. Maybe this has changed. Your application can be returned if you don’t submit all the required documents and then you would have to reapply delaying the process.

 

[andrew3081]

To get MSP I thought you had to show AOR so MSP knows you have a valid application and the applications has been accepted. Maybe this has changed. Your application can be returned if you don’t submit all the required documents and then you would have to reapply delaying the process.

I got msp coverage for my child by showing I paid for the application fees and I didn’t have AOR yet.

 

[canuck78]

I got msp coverage for my child by showing I paid for the application fees and I didn’t have AOR yet.

Did you have to show you had submitted your sponsorship application? If not someone could just pay the fee even if they didn’t qualify for sponsorship and get MSP.

 

[steaky]

Did you have to show you had submitted your sponsorship application? If not someone could just pay the fee even if they didn’t qualify for sponsorship and get MSP.

Without AOR, how do you show that you submitted the sponsorship application?

 

[Tarikla]

Did you have to show you had submitted your sponsorship application? If not someone could just pay the fee even if they didn’t qualify for sponsorship and get MSP.

Because the MSP applicant needs to be added as a spouse/child on the MSP account of someone who has permanent MSP coverage (aka a Canadian Citizen or PR living in BC), which in turns means you do qualify for PR sponsorship, at least on paper, you cannot just "pay the fees and get MSP".

In the end I did pay the fees on Nov 30th and submitted the spouse addition the same day, also providing our marriage certificate and the status document requested. I'll let you know here when I have an answer from MSP

 

[andrew3081]

Did you have to show you had submitted your sponsorship application? If not someone could just pay the fee even if they didn’t qualify for sponsorship and get MSP.

Nope, only showed that I paid for the fees and her msp was active for a year after meeting the 3 months requirement.

 

[Tarikla]

Update: Just received today the enrollment confirmation letter. Coverage begins Feb 1st, 2024, and ends October 31st, 2024. Only provided the fees receipt, Marriage Certificate, and her current immigration document (whose current validity ends way before October 31st btw).

So yeah, it works. We don't even have the AOR yet for her application and nothing more was requested from us.