Tracym

I agree with you - they could have a good or a crap policy.

I would be very surprised if they could exclude CF treatment though. Wouldn't be the first time I was wrong, of course - why do you think that is possible?

JS2020

So what would be the most sensible plan of action? For my girlfriend to stay in England and go to uni here, then we marry and I try to organise employment?

Would Australia be a poor idea for her to go to university, due to the NHS coverage issues discussed earlier?

ian-mstm

That would be the one that works for you!

Ian

Tracym

A nice simple question - I wish there was a simple answer.

Just to clarify - I do not know if there would be an insurance problem due to spending time in Australia. It might be just fine. I'm just not sure - that would have to be investigated.

I can't even guarantee that the NHS coverage would be considered ok (creditable) in the US - although it is supposed to.

If you both really want to be in the US - then I guess I'd think you should try for it. I would definitely recommend you marry before immigrating - I think you might have problems coming here without a permanent resident status right away.

The easiest would probably be if you married, and she came first and got a job that provides medical insurance. Then, upon your arrival, you could be added to her policy. She'd have to check out in advance re. pre-existing conditions and the NHS (or australian system) etc.

Another consideration, if you're talking about a few years from now, is that the US is proposing changes to health care. So everything I am saying might not even apply a few years from now.

I'm sorry, I wish I could give you a clearer answer.

Noorah101

You can't really try to organize employment until you're actually over here in the USA, anyway. It's very difficult to do from overseas.

Rene

Tracym

I agree. That would be very hard to do indeed.

I wonder - if the girlfriend (became his wife) went to Uni - I know universities offer medical policies. Wonder if a spouse could be added...

The other thing I can think of - it would be possible I think to check out the state high-risk pool of the desired state. If he could get a strong indication that he could be approved there, that might be a solution. And then, of course, he'd have to get a job, and might even switch insurance over. But it might possibly work as a stop-gap.

Of course, if she was in school, they'd need a co-sponsor.

Just Jenney

The "illness" that the boy has is Downs syndrome:


Australia denies residency for dad of boy with Down syndrome

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Thirteen-year-old Lukas Moeller has Down syndrome. His father is a doctor who came to Australia from Germany to help fill a shortage of physicians in rural communities. Bernhard and Isabella Moeller and their son Lukas moved to Australia from Germany two years ago.

But now Australia has rejected Dr. Bernhard Moeller's application for residency, saying Lukas does not meet the "health requirement" and would pose a burden on taxpayers for his medical care, education and other services. ...

Australia's immigration department said it appreciates Moeller's contribution to the community but said it must follow the relevant laws in considering residency applications.

"If we did not have a health requirement, the costs to the community and health system would not be sustainable," the statement said.


The upside is that this case has created an outrage in Australia, and a lot of pressure is on the Australian government to overturn the decision. The downside is that, at least for now, people who have health conditions like the OP's -- that is, they're not contagious or putting others' health at risk in any way, but whose maintenance is costly nonetheless -- might risk similar denials when applying for Australian immigration.

~ Jenney

marcsred

These days it seems to be taking a lot longer than 8-10 months to get your visa in hand. It has been exactly 10 months since our I-130 was officially accepted by USCIS and the NVC has just received the last of our documents (we paid everything online, sent every single form/document next-day air, and have never been asked for additional information or had a problem with our application).

That means it has been 10 months, and as of today, we have been told the last of our documents were received on Friday, and it will take 2-4 weeks for them to process that before we just have to play a waiting game for the interview. The next round of interviews (for mid/late January) will be scheduled the second week in December (so we may or may not even be eligible to be scheduled, depending on how quickly they process his DS-230 and supporting documents).

So, the ABSOLUTE SOONEST we could have our visa, if everything continues to go off without a hitch, is the middle/end of January. This will mean the whole process, if you do everything correctly - submit all payments online, submit your Choice of Agent via email, call the NVC to see what they need rather than waiting to get forms/notifications in the mail (saves a few days because it will show on their computers that they've sent the request out the day they do, and you won't have to wait 3+ days to get it), have all documents ready and waiting, and send all forms next-day air the same day you're told they need them - will take a MINIMUM of 12 months.

It's ridiculous and disgusting, but that's the way things are going now. We'll be REALLY, REALLY lucky if we have our visa one full calendar year from when USCIS received it. Fingers crossed that everything continues to run as smoothly as it has these past 10 months!


P.S. Our case would still be at USCIS right now if we hadn't been lucky enough to have it transferred from the ridiculously slow moving Vermont SC to the California CS.

ian-mstm

I don't want to minimize what you've experienced, but it seems that your timeline is outside the norm. Generally, it still only takes 8 - 10 months. As with everything else in life, YMMV.

Ian

JS2020

Excellent info so far everybody!

It seems wherever we go for my girlfriend to finish uni, we should marry, and save funds while we wait for the correct visa's to be processed.

I'm sure I'll be asking more questions in the near future, but thanks for now. At least our dreams still stand a chance of being fulfilled.

Tracym

Best of luck with your plans