MSP health coverage while waiting for Permanent Residency inland BC

[Krystajo]

If you live in BC and you are the spouse who is currently residing in canada while waiting for your PR to process inland and you dont have health coverage already. You can get MSP. I JUST LEARNED THIS TODAY when i called MSP for the 2nd time to inquire about health insurance. I was misinformed the first time i called and was led astray believing I could only obtain emergency health insurance. I have been here in Canada since August of 2019 waiting for my PR or open work permit to go through that i finally applied for in November. No one ever informed me throughout my entire year of being here and reaching out to people trying to ask questions about health coverage. Since covid19 shut the border down in march I havent been able to attend medical appointments in washington and I have been very anxious about the possibility of not getting anual screenings done this year that I need and very stressed about the potential of me personally getting pregnant during this time. To say I am a little frustrated that i wasnt aware of this MSP coverage i have been eligible for is an understatement. I AM ALSO EXTREMELY THANKFUL that it is such an easy and quick process to apply and be added to my husbands account while we wait for my PR to get approved especially since COVID19 is putting major delays on things.

If you didnt know this slice of info and needed someone to inform you, you're welcome.

However it sounded like maybe it was only for BC residents.... maybe if someone else knows the difference between the provinces and their approaches to health coverage for spouses that could be a potentially helpful conversation.

 

[Lolopizzo]

Did you need any supporting documentation to be approved for msp? We applied inland from BC for spousal sponsorship + owp in March of this year and have no AOR as things are not processing at a normal rate.

 

[Krystajo]

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/health/health-drug-coverage/medical-services-plan/bc-residents/eligibility-and-enrolment/are-you-eligible/covering-a-spouse-or-child-who-is-an-applicant-for-permanent-resident-status-in-canada.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwixoM3yjo3rAhVbGTQIHXYwCkMQFjABegQIAhAB&usg=AOvVaw1fbEVBeL7mjFdV2_soyuqn

I believe this link should take you to the document that has a bullet point list of what you need. I believe you need an AOR.
You could always call and ask.

The number is 604-683-7151 for Vancouver area.

Also, I dont know your situation or where you moved here from but I hope you are staying mentally sane during all of this. Its so hard to be isolated and not have stability or reassurance in this process. Let me know if you need a friend.

I would also maybe reccomend calling IRCC just to see if they could get you an AOR for health insurance purposes. There's no loss in just asking.

 

[Lolopizzo]

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/health/health-drug-coverage/medical-services-plan/bc-residents/eligibility-and-enrolment/are-you-eligible/covering-a-spouse-or-child-who-is-an-applicant-for-permanent-resident-status-in-canada.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwixoM3yjo3rAhVbGTQIHXYwCkMQFjABegQIAhAB&usg=AOvVaw1fbEVBeL7mjFdV2_soyuqn

I believe this link should take you to the document that has a bullet point list of what you need. I believe you need an AOR.
You could always call and ask.

The number is 604-683-7151 for Vancouver area.

Also, I dont know your situation or where you moved here from but I hope you are staying mentally sane during all of this. Its so hard to be isolated and not have stability or reassurance in this process. Let me know if you need a friend.

I would also maybe reccomend calling IRCC just to see if they could get you an AOR for health insurance purposes. There's no loss in just asking.

Nobody who has applied since mid February has received AOR’s due to covid. They are working at 15% capacity or less right now. People have tried contacting MP’s, filling out web forms etc, and continue to get the same responses that they have no answers for any of us. MP’s have gotten in contact with the government for ppl and have returned telling the people they just have to wait that the application is probably sitting on a desk in a stack of thousands. If you look at any inland thread on here starting from February 2020, everybody is going thru the same thing and the government is just leaving us all in the dark to wait.

During a pandemic the lack of healthcare is a huge scare, because if my husband was to get COVID and have a bad time with it, what would we do? He has travel insurance but travel insurance no longer covers covid, which means if he got it we would be stuck footing the bill since we have no AOR because our application is stuck due to covid. I work in healthcare in a hospital and am so scared to get him sick. Also seriously considering not sending my 10yr to school in September due to the fact my husband can not get covid.

I am 6 months pregnant in a high risk pregnancy and I am supposed to be on bed rest but can’t afford to stop working because I am the only one supporting my family of 4 right now. Under normal circumstance he’d have at least a AOR right now and maybe his OWP...so covid has seriously messed our whole situation up

As for status my husbands extension was approved so we are ok till December 31st now. We are just hoping we receive an AOR before then and don’t have to apply for another extension.

Thanks for the info tho.

 

[Eveslm]

Nobody who has applied since mid February has received AOR’s due to covid. They are working at 15% capacity or less right now. People have tried contacting MP’s, filling out web forms etc, and continue to get the same responses that they have no answers for any of us. MP’s have gotten in contact with the government for ppl and have returned telling the people they just have to wait that the application is probably sitting on a desk in a stack of thousands. If you look at any inland thread on here starting from February 2020, everybody is going thru the same thing and the government is just leaving us all in the dark to wait.

During a pandemic the lack of healthcare is a huge scare, because if my husband was to get COVID and have a bad time with it, what would we do? He has travel insurance but travel insurance no longer covers covid, which means if he got it we would be stuck footing the bill since we have no AOR because our application is stuck due to covid. I work in healthcare in a hospital and am so scared to get him sick. Also seriously considering not sending my 10yr to school in September due to the fact my husband can not get covid.

I am 6 months pregnant in a high risk pregnancy and I am supposed to be on bed rest but can’t afford to stop working because I am the only one supporting my family of 4 right now. Under normal circumstance he’d have at least a AOR right now and maybe his OWP...so covid has seriously messed our whole situation up

As for status my husbands extension was approved so we are ok till December 31st now. We are just hoping we receive an AOR before then and don’t have to apply for another extension.

Thanks for the info tho.

Few feb applicant have received the actual AORs and some received AORs with no application numbers, some have been able to link their OWP & PR. I don’t know how they are going through these applications but there are early feb applicants that did not receive anything and others from 15th have. Very Frustrating.

On a positive note, it looks like Dec and Jan applicants have been getting OWP approvals, let’s hope soon they will get to Feb.

What province are you in?

 

[Lolopizzo]

Few feb applicant have received the actual AORs and some received AORs with no application numbers, some have been able to link their OWP & PR. I don’t know how they are going through these applications but there are early feb applicants that did not receive anything and others from 15th have. Very Frustrating.

On a positive note, it looks like Dec and Jan applicants have been getting OWP approvals, let’s hope soon they will get to Feb.

What province are you in?

With not yet receiving the AOR there’s always the fear you didn’t sign something or are missing something and they will send the whole package back after all this time too. Which would be a nightmare at this point with the speed of processing.

We are in B.C

 

[Krystajo]

Im so sorry. That is a horrible situation for your family.
Id try calling MSP about it at that number anyway. They transfered my call to a "level 3" and she walked me through the situations as it relates to me right now. Maybe there is something we both dont know of how they are handling situations due to covid. I know she told me normally health insurance while waiting is only for 12 months. Noting thats the PR expected processing time- she said because of covid if i dont have an OWP by next august/september or have my PR then i would be allow to renew the insurance while waiting. Thats something they are going to be allowing for Covid. So maybe theres a way around needing an AOR.

 

[canuck78]

Im so sorry. That is a horrible situation for your family.
Id try calling MSP about it at that number anyway. They transfered my call to a "level 3" and she walked me through the situations as it relates to me right now. Maybe there is something we both dont know of how they are handling situations due to covid. I know she told me normally health insurance while waiting is only for 12 months. Noting thats the PR expected processing time- she said because of covid if i dont have an OWP by next august/september or have my PR then i would be allow to renew the insurance while waiting. Thats something they are going to be allowing for Covid. So maybe theres a way around needing an AOR.

Unlikely because you have to prove that you have a complete application in process. Otherwise anyone could say they applied by showing a receipt. Getting health coverage so early is much better than other provinces.

If you live in BC and you are the spouse who is currently residing in canada while waiting for your PR to process inland and you dont have health coverage already. You can get MSP. I JUST LEARNED THIS TODAY when i called MSP for the 2nd time to inquire about health insurance. I was misinformed the first time i called and was led astray believing I could only obtain emergency health insurance. I have been here in Canada since August of 2019 waiting for my PR or open work permit to go through that i finally applied for in November. No one ever informed me throughout my entire year of being here and reaching out to people trying to ask questions about health coverage. Since covid19 shut the border down in march I havent been able to attend medical appointments in washington and I have been very anxious about the possibility of not getting anual screenings done this year that I need and very stressed about the potential of me personally getting pregnant during this time. To say I am a little frustrated that i wasnt aware of this MSP coverage i have been eligible for is an understatement. I AM ALSO EXTREMELY THANKFUL that it is such an easy and quick process to apply and be added to my husbands account while we wait for my PR to get approved especially since COVID19 is putting major delays on things.

If you didnt know this slice of info and needed someone to inform you, you're welcome.

However it sounded like maybe it was only for BC residents.... maybe if someone else knows the difference between the provinces and their approaches to health coverage for spouses that could be a potentially helpful conversation.

Believe this was a change of policy. It hasn’t been the case forever. Not sure if the exact date of the change.

 

[canuck78]

Nobody who has applied since mid February has received AOR’s due to covid. They are working at 15% capacity or less right now. People have tried contacting MP’s, filling out web forms etc, and continue to get the same responses that they have no answers for any of us. MP’s have gotten in contact with the government for ppl and have returned telling the people they just have to wait that the application is probably sitting on a desk in a stack of thousands. If you look at any inland thread on here starting from February 2020, everybody is going thru the same thing and the government is just leaving us all in the dark to wait.

During a pandemic the lack of healthcare is a huge scare, because if my husband was to get COVID and have a bad time with it, what would we do? He has travel insurance but travel insurance no longer covers covid, which means if he got it we would be stuck footing the bill since we have no AOR because our application is stuck due to covid. I work in healthcare in a hospital and am so scared to get him sick. Also seriously considering not sending my 10yr to school in September due to the fact my husband can not get covid.

I am 6 months pregnant in a high risk pregnancy and I am supposed to be on bed rest but can’t afford to stop working because I am the only one supporting my family of 4 right now. Under normal circumstance he’d have at least a AOR right now and maybe his OWP...so covid has seriously messed our whole situation up

As for status my husbands extension was approved so we are ok till December 31st now. We are just hoping we receive an AOR before then and don’t have to apply for another extension.

Thanks for the info tho.

In order to have implied status he needs his OWP approved not AOR. Covid care is likely covered for everyone in BC and all provinces. MSP says coverage may be available but all provinces are essentially covering covid testing and care for everyone for public health reasons. Even if your husband had received his OWP there was no guarantee he would be working so you had to know that you would be supporting your family for quite a while. Obviously people have unplanned pregnancies but knowing that pregnancies can come with so many potential complications it is always surprising that people either don’t wait until they have health insurance to get pregnant or wait until their spouse is working full-time. I know so many women who have either been so sick they are bedridden and even hospitalized for either half of their pregnancy or in and out of hospital and unable to work throughout. Not to mention the cost of a miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy which means emergency surgery in the first trimester when miscarriages are so common. I am sorry you are going through extra stress but you must have known that you would be supporting your family for a good portion of your pregnancy from the beginning of your pregnancy.

 

[Krystajo]

In order to have implied status he needs his OWP approved not AOR. Covid care is likely covered for everyone in BC and all provinces. MSP says coverage may be available but all provinces are essentially covering covid testing and care for everyone for public health reasons. Even if your husband had received his OWP there was no guarantee he would be working so you had to know that you would be supporting your family for quite a while. Obviously people have unplanned pregnancies but knowing that pregnancies can come with so many potential complications it is always surprising that people either don’t wait until they have health insurance to get pregnant or wait until their spouse is working full-time. I know so many women who have either been so sick they are bedridden and even hospitalized for either half of their pregnancy or in and out of hospital and unable to work throughout. Not to mention the cost of a miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy which means emergency surgery in the first trimester when miscarriages are so common. I am sorry you are going through extra stress but you must have known that you would be supporting your family for a good portion of your pregnancy from the beginning of your pregnancy.

I have been told multiple times that you have implied status when you send your application and recieve your AOR. I crossed the border back in January after my visitor record expired and i had applied for a new one. And because the border guard couldnt tell that my application had been recieved on December 30 because it wasnt in their computer system until febuary 7th when i recieved an email confirming... the border guard had told me that she was taking my word for it that i had applied for my application and with me having the reciepts for a extension for my visitor record and a reciept for paying for my PR she said if i did apply for my PR then I have implied status. I have been told this multiple times now since january and i do not have approval for my OWP yet. So i believe you get implied status to stay here as soon as they recieve your application(even if you havent revmcieved an email confirming your AOR yet).

 

[Krystajo]

Few feb applicant have received the actual AORs and some received AORs with no application numbers, some have been able to link their OWP & PR. I don’t know how they are going through these applications but there are early feb applicants that did not receive anything and others from 15th have. Very Frustrating.

On a positive note, it looks like Dec and Jan applicants have been getting OWP approvals, let’s hope soon they will get to Feb.

What province are you in?

Really december january people have been getting OWP approvals? I haven't seen any posts that say that. Im december 30, I really hope I recieve mine soon. I noticed a change under my eligibility on thursday saying they were going over my eligiblity. So it looked like someone had maybe opened my application and started doing something, maybe. I was worried that I woukd need to still get my biometrics done to get the OWP and the offices are all closed for that... i wasnt sure what was going on with that. I have heard different things as to wether i would need biometrics.

 

[Chutsk10]

It seems like a new policy but in BC, if you are the spouse of someone already on MSP, all you need is your reciept of payment for the PR application and right of permanent residence fee to be eligible for MSP. You do not need AOR.

I can confirm this as my wife, whom is on a TRV, just recieved MSP coverage. We submit her inland PR application in June 2020 and have not recieved AOR.

 

[Eveslm]

Really december january people have been getting OWP approvals? I haven't seen any posts that say that. Im december 30, I really hope I recieve mine soon. I noticed a change under my eligibility on thursday saying they were going over my eligiblity. So it looked like someone had maybe opened my application and started doing something, maybe. I was worried that I woukd need to still get my biometrics done to get the OWP and the offices are all closed for that... i wasnt sure what was going on with that. I have heard different things as to wether i would need biometrics.

Yes they have. And most got approvals a few days after checking eligibility update. I think they haven’t updated the tracker, but have shared on WhatsApp group. Some also got approvals without biometrics

 

[canuck78]

I have been told multiple times that you have implied status when you send your application and recieve your AOR. I crossed the border back in January after my visitor record expired and i had applied for a new one. And because the border guard couldnt tell that my application had been recieved on December 30 because it wasnt in their computer system until febuary 7th when i recieved an email confirming... the border guard had told me that she was taking my word for it that i had applied for my application and with me having the reciepts for a extension for my visitor record and a reciept for paying for my PR she said if i did apply for my PR then I have implied status. I have been told this multiple times now since january and i do not have approval for my OWP yet. So i believe you get implied status to stay here as soon as they recieve your application(even if you havent revmcieved an email confirming your AOR yet).

Unfortunately you were given incorrect advice. CBSA agents are not familiar with most immigration policies.

 

[Krystajo]

Unfortunately you were given incorrect advice. CBSA agents are not familiar with most immigration policies.

I also just recently recieved this email from IRCC in response to a webform request i had submitted about a different situation and they included this little blurp about my visitor record extansion as well stating i have implied status do to my application i had submitted. I hadnt submitted any applications since december and i have not recieved approval for either OWP or PR yet.


This is the response email
"Thank you for contacting Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

We are pleased to confirm that the payment has been added to your work permit application.

If further information is needed during the processing of your application, the responsible office may contact you.

Furthermore, we verified the information in your file and can confirm that the work permit application you submitted will give you an implied status in Canada when your current visitor record expires on July 15, 2020. Therefore, the visitor record application you submitted on June 11 2020 is not required. "

This is stating the application is what gave me implied status.