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PR, BC card, MSP issues (Vancouver, BC)

roverbon

Star Member
Jul 25, 2017
178
26
I don’t know if it helps but when I moved to Vancouver, I went to ICBC to exchange my license, telling them I had just landed and I had my COPR and my passport. They took that as proof, went through all of the processes for getting me set up with a new license (I was able to use mine as proof of my driving experience.)

I was issued a temporary ID.

I was then told I would just have to come back to ICBC when I got my PR card and then they would mail out my license to me.

I went home and applied for MSP with my wife and was given a letter a few weeks later telling me to go into ICBC. I got a temporary health number assigned to me and then the same thing: when I got my PR card, I would go in and show them and they would mail it out to me.

According to the website, my stuff was mailed out the 6th.

It was a pretty simple process, just a few trips to ICBC here and there.

I’m sorry this was wordy, I’m sure but I hope it helps.
did they ask for any address proof?
 

Prince_11

Hero Member
Jan 6, 2018
343
121
British Columbia
Category........
PNP
Visa Office......
Sydney Nova Scotia
I went icbc to to get new licence, MSP card and BC.iD. I got my licence and BC id already however they said because i do not have family name that cause i am not eligible for photo MSP card. and they told me because of my name issue i have to call MSP call centre. i called them and they said i will be cover for msp from Aug 1 and today is May 27. they said i will be responsible for all medical bill incase i have to. is anyone has same situation?
 

YVR123

VIP Member
Jul 27, 2017
7,412
2,885
I went icbc to to get new licence, MSP card and BC.iD. I got my licence and BC id already however they said because i do not have family name that cause i am not eligible for photo MSP card. and they told me because of my name issue i have to call MSP call centre. i called them and they said i will be cover for msp from Aug 1 and today is May 27. they said i will be responsible for all medical bill incase i have to. is anyone has same situation?
Did you just arrived in BC? There is a "rest of the current month" + 2 months waiting period to get coverage for MSP after you located/relocated to BC.
 

Prince_11

Hero Member
Jan 6, 2018
343
121
British Columbia
Category........
PNP
Visa Office......
Sydney Nova Scotia
Did you have MSP before? What was you exact status? When did your work permit expire?
I figured it out finally. MSP has a stupid policy.

I was on work permit till December 2018. I applied my work permit extension before even my WP expired however it took 154 days to get approval. So as per MSP policy if with in 45 days from status expire if new document not submitted then MSP account suspended. Once we submit new document then it is subject to wait 3 months to coverage start.
 
Aug 26, 2020
4
0
Hi,

My wife landed in BC Canada December 2019. She got her permanent resident status approved also same month, and since then she still has not received her PR “Card”, so we've had all sorts of issues trying to get her msp from ICBC without it (ICBC required her PR Card as primary BC id since she doesn’t have any other identification only her passport) When we contacted IRCC (made several attempts to speak with a live person for days) they had mailed her first PR “card” in March but we never received it so they believe it may have been lost in the mail, we then signed a solemn declaration to get a new one reissued. Because of Covid 19 they said they have less staff working so it was going to take longer then normal times, possibly now getting the second PR issued end of August so hopefully any time now, at least thats what they said. Now this is after waiting since April for the second card.

To make the story short, we still applied for her care card online in March after the 3 month waiting period and then went to icbc to explain her PR had still not arrived, but they were unwilling to hand us the medical card or BC ID (i believe is just one ID combined) even though they had it there and it was ready for pick. All my wife had to show was her passport and the landed immigration document but as it has been noted here in the forum, is just a white paper print out copy she was given by the immigration officer when she landed and it does not look as legit as the old format IMM1000 printed document (special paper with stamp), so ICBC wouldn't allow it as primary ID. However the customers service rep at icbc was able to write down her health card number for us on a piece of paper we have been using since without any issues as we wait for her PR to arrive. Hope this helps
 
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canuck78

VIP Member
Jun 18, 2017
55,589
13,521
Hi,

My wife landed in BC Canada December 2019, and since then she still has not received her PR, so we've had all sorts of issues trying to get her medical card without the PR. When we contacted IRCC (made several attempts to speak with a live person for days) they had mailed her first PR in March but we never received it so they believe it may have been lost in the mail, we then signed a solemn declaration to get a new one reissued. Because of Covid 19 they said they have less staff working so it was going to take longer then normal times, possibly now getting the second PR issued end of August so hopefully any time now, at least thats what they said. Now this is after waiting since April for the second card.

To make the story short, we still applied for her care card online in March after the 3 month waiting period and then went to icbc to explain her PR had still not arrived, but they were unwilling to hand us the medical card or BC ID (i believe is just one ID combined) even though they had it there and it was ready for pick. All my wife had to show was her passport and the landed immigration document but as it has been noted here in the forum, is just a white paper print out copy she was given by the immigration officer when she landed and it does not look as legit as the old format IMM1000 printed document (special paper with stamp), so ICBC wouldn't allow it as primary ID. However the customers service rep at icbc was able to write down her health card number for us on a piece of paper we have been using since without any issues as we wait for her PR to arrive. Hope this helps
Very strange that you were both able to get a number without AOR and that physicians would accept just a number. In my experience, no card no care unless it is an emergency. Think you may find other healthcare professionals will not be willing to accept a number because that is how people defraud the system. Picture ID is required to make sure it is actually her number. Your application is likely not lost and it is in a pile waiting to be processed like many others still waiting for AOR from around that period. Did you not pay for tracking to make sure it was received?
 
Aug 26, 2020
4
0
msp is legally required for all residents of British Columbia, but your right she is asked for a form of ID so she just uses her passport when and if we go to a clinic. Fortunately it has not been a problem for us until now and boy are we glad because she's had a lot of or problems with allergies when she moved to this country, hence why we fought hard to get her health care working. I did also call msp and they said it would only be temporarily based on our situation and on the fact that her PR had not yet arrived due to COVID 19, she's would still be required to carry her medical card.
When i talked to the immigration rep at IRCC unfortunately they told us they dont usually provide or send the PR “card“ using a tracking number, I even told the IRCC rep that i didnt mind paying the extra charge but they said the have a process in place and its regular mail. I found that ridiculous for such an important document. IRCC also said we may check the status online but we have tried to register and were unsuccessful. I think because of the fact that we did our entire immigration process through an agency... And this agency wanted to charge us again another $500 to help us get her second PR, but we told them forget it we would deal with it ourselves.
 
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canuck78

VIP Member
Jun 18, 2017
55,589
13,521
msp is legally required for all residents of British Columbia, but your right she is asked for a form of ID so she just uses her passport when and if we go to a clinic. Fortunately it has not been a problem for us until now and boy are we glad because she's had a lot of or problems with allergies when she moved to this country, hence why we fought hard to get her health care working. I did also call msp and they said it would only be temporarily based on our situation and on the fact that her PR had not yet arrived due to COVID 19, she's would still be required to carry her medical card.
When i talked to the immigration rep at IRCC unfortunately they told us they dont usually provide or send the PR using a tracking number to see where the PR is, I even told the IRCC rep that i didnt mind paying the extra charge but they said the have a process in place and its regular mail. I found that ridiculous for such an important document. IRCC also said we may check the status online but we have tried to register and were unsuccessful. I think because of the fact that we did our entire immigration process through an agency... And this agency wanted to charge us again another $500 to help us get her second PR, but we told them forget it we would deal with it ourselves.
Most applicants send their PR card application in the mail with a tracking number so they know it arrives. It has nothing to do with tracking once it gets to the government office. Apologize missed the landing in your explanation but saying your wife had applied for PR when in fact she applied for a PR card is very different. Not sure why you declared your application lost because it is well known that processing stopped during covid and they have only just started processing March applicants. February applications will still be processed in August. Not sure whether your March application will be discarded because you declared that it was lost. The solemn declaration is usually for lost PR cards so I am really confused. Your application was never even processed so you couldn’t declare a PR card lost.
 

steaky

VIP Member
Nov 11, 2008
14,773
1,750
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
Hi,

My wife landed in BC Canada December 2019, and since then she still has not received her PR, so we've had all sorts of issues trying to get her medical card without the PR. When we contacted IRCC (made several attempts to speak with a live person for days) they had mailed her first PR in March but we never received it so they believe it may have been lost in the mail, we then signed a solemn declaration to get a new one reissued. Because of Covid 19 they said they have less staff working so it was going to take longer then normal times, possibly now getting the second PR issued end of August so hopefully any time now, at least thats what they said. Now this is after waiting since April for the second card.

To make the story short, we still applied for her care card online in March after the 3 month waiting period and then went to icbc to explain her PR had still not arrived, but they were unwilling to hand us the medical card or BC ID (i believe is just one ID combined) even though they had it there and it was ready for pick. All my wife had to show was her passport and the landed immigration document but as it has been noted here in the forum, is just a white paper print out copy she was given by the immigration officer when she landed and it does not look as legit as the old format IMM1000 printed document (special paper with stamp), so ICBC wouldn't allow it as primary ID. However the customers service rep at icbc was able to write down her health card number for us on a piece of paper we have been using since without any issues as we wait for her PR to arrive. Hope this helps
My understanding is that due to the BC state of emergency since March, there is no waiting time to get MSP coverage. That's why you are given a health number on a piece of paper to use as you wait for your PR card to arrive. As a fellow BC resident, it's not difficult to understand.
 
Aug 26, 2020
4
0
Most applicants send their PR card application in the mail with a tracking number so they know it arrives. It has nothing to do with tracking once it gets to the government office. Apologize missed the landing in your explanation but saying your wife had applied for PR when in fact she applied for a PR card is very different. Not sure why you declared your application lost because it is well known that processing stopped during covid and they have only just started processing March applicants. February applications will still be processed in August. Not sure whether your March application will be discarded because you declared that it was lost. The solemn declaration is usually for lost PR cards so I am really confused. Your application was never even processed so you couldn’t declare a PR card lost.
We signed the solemn declaration because as I said I talked to an immigration rep Back in March before COVID-19 started and they told us the pr card had already been mailed end of January and we should have received it but we ever got it. At least that’s what they said and they instructed us to do the solemn to get another One
 

canuck78

VIP Member
Jun 18, 2017
55,589
13,521
We signed the solemn declaration because as I said I talked to an immigration rep Back in March before COVID-19 started and they told us the pr card had already been mailed end of January and we should have received it but we ever got it. At least that’s what they said and they instructed us to do the solemn to get another One
Again I apologize I misread that you sent your application in March. Clearly. Was tired when read your response.
 

canuck78

VIP Member
Jun 18, 2017
55,589
13,521
My understanding is that due to the BC state of emergency since March, there is no waiting time to get MSP coverage. That's why you are given a health number on a piece of paper to use as you wait for your PR card to arrive. As a fellow BC resident, it's not difficult to understand. As for canuck78, a poster that responds to so many post in different threads in a daily basis, he/she can easily got confused.
Not that I need to defend myself but applying for PR and for a PR card is very different thus the confusion. My answers are usually correct but I missed this one.