Questions about visiting Canada, insurance, etc.

[anotherbrickinthewall]

So, I made a post a few days ago about being a visitor in Canada, but now I have some other questions.

---------------------------

1. What do I do about insurance? What is considered good visitor's insurance? I have epilepsy, and it is controlled very well by medication. I would need some type of insurance as a visitor so I can get my medication as required (and doctor visits if necessary). We would be in Ontario.

I have insurance here in the US, but I think it would be ridiculous to keep paying for it ($115/mo with $750 deductible), when I could buy visitor's insurance for a year for less with a $0 deductible. Plus, filing claims while in Canada seems like it'd be a hassle. Help?

2. How much would medication / doctor visits cost me if I didn't have traveler's insurance?

3. If I moved up there as a Visitor, can I still put my name on a lease with my boyfriend? We would live together to get common-law status. Also, would we need to get a Declaration of Common-Law Union for it to be valid?

4. What other types of evidence would help our case if we filed outland? (Not counting "proof of relationship," like pictures, Skype logs, etc.) As in, what else can I provide showing we have been living together, assuming I am unable to put my name on a lease?

5. When you file Outland, when can you start looking for work? When you get COPR? When you land? Do you have to have a PR card first, or can you start looking once you land? I need more information on this process...

6. Can you do FBI / finger prints AND medicals while you are in Canada as a visitor (and applying Outland)?

7. If I visit soon (say, December), we would need to be back in the States in May for a wedding. Unfortunately, though, I am unemployed right now (or I guess "underemployed" is the correct term). Also, if I go back to Canada in May after the wedding to wait out 6 more months, what can I bring accross to show I have ties to the US and am not planning to work? I would have a wedding invitation the first time....

---------------------

We still need to iron out the details, but I have searched the forum for these specific questions, and it is just easier to write a post asking... I know there are probably loads of posts like this, so I am grateful! Thanks, guys.

If you have any topics you would like to link me to, please feel free. I am doing a lot of research right now, and any hint in the right direction would be great.

 

[Leon]

So, I made a post a few days ago about being a visitor in Canada, but now I have some other questions.

---------------------------

1. What do I do about insurance? What is considered good visitor's insurance? I have epilepsy, and it is controlled very well by medication. I would need some type of insurance as a visitor so I can get my medication as required (and doctor visits if necessary). We would be in Ontario.

I have insurance here in the US, but I think it would be ridiculous to keep paying for it ($115/mo with $750 deductible), when I could buy visitor's insurance for a year for less with a $0 deductible. Plus, filing claims while in Canada seems like it'd be a hassle. Help?

If you go into the health topic, you can find some insurance brokers you can ask.

2. How much would medication / doctor visits cost me if I didn't have traveler's insurance?

Medication isn't that expensive in Canada in most cases and health care in Canada doesn't pay for it either. It's usually covered by a supplementary insurance you get through your employer but it may not be worth it for you getting insurance for medication yourself, only if they are very expensive. I do not know what a doctors visit costs if you are uninsured. I had a doctor when I first arrived in Canada that never charged me unless he was doing something like a flu shot and then it would be $5 or 10 but not all doctors are that nice. Your boyfriend should ask his doc for you.

3. If I moved up there as a Visitor, can I still put my name on a lease with my boyfriend? We would live together to get common-law status. Also, would we need to get a Declaration of Common-Law Union for it to be valid?

You have to ask the landlord if you can put your name on the lease but I don't see why not. You do not need a declaration of common law union but you can if you want to. It may help you prove when your living together started if there is any doubt when you apply.

4. What other types of evidence would help our case if we filed outland? (Not counting "proof of relationship," like pictures, Skype logs, etc.) As in, what else can I provide showing we have been living together, assuming I am unable to put my name on a lease?

You should also try to get your name on the utilities like power, cable etc. You can show official letters being mailed to you both at the same address.


5. When you file Outland, when can you start looking for work? When you get COPR? When you land? Do you have to have a PR card first, or can you start looking once you land? I need more information on this process...

You can start looking for work as a visitor but you can not start work until you have landed as a PR and gotten a SIN. If you find an employer right away who is really dying to hire you, they can apply for an LMO for you and if they get it, you can apply for a work permit. Or if it is a NAFTA job, an LMO is not needed, just a job offer.

6. Can you do FBI / finger prints AND medicals while you are in Canada as a visitor (and applying Outland)?

Yes, you apply for FBI online. You can do medicals wherever you can find a DMP and you can ask the police to take your fingerprints.

7. If I visit soon (say, December), we would need to be back in the States in May for a wedding. Unfortunately, though, I am unemployed right now (or I guess "underemployed" is the correct term). Also, if I go back to Canada in May after the wedding to wait out 6 more months, what can I bring accross to show I have ties to the US and am not planning to work? I would have a wedding invitation the first time....

You can bring your boyfriend and he can verify that you are not planning to work and that he is working and is supporting you.

 

[anotherbrickinthewall]

Thank you for your reply! That was really helpful.

If you find an employer right away who is really dying to hire you, they can apply for an LMO for you and if they get it, you can apply for a work permit. Or if it is a NAFTA job, an LMO is not needed, just a job offer.

Do you mean if I find an employer as a visitor? I have a BA in French, and only some work experience (part time during university, an internship, and some temporary jobs this last year since graduating). I don't know if I would be eligible for NAFTA, based on the occupations list. I do speak French, so that might be worthy, but there are a lot of Canadians who can do that...

Could you still work (on a permit) if you had a Spousal Sponsorship application going through? Would you have to apply Inland in that case?

I don't know how likely it is that I would be hired anywhere, but it is in northern-ish Ontario (4 hours north of Toronto), so maybe they would be more lenient?

 

[truesmile]

Based on what you have mentioned so far, I wouldn't count on an Ontario employer applying for an LMO for you. As you mentioned, many people in Canada speak French and many more unemployed have BA's.

Yes, you would have to apply for an OWP (open work permit) along with an "inland" PR application. There's no provision for a work permit with an "outland" application.

No, ALL employers in Canada will ask you for your SIN#, regardless of how remote you might be. The software used to run payroll will have SIN# as a mandatory field, and employers won't dummy one up for you.

 

[Leon]

Do you mean if I find an employer as a visitor? I have a BA in French, and only some work experience (part time during university, an internship, and some temporary jobs this last year since graduating). I don't know if I would be eligible for NAFTA, based on the occupations list. I do speak French, so that might be worthy, but there are a lot of Canadians who can do that...

Could you still work (on a permit) if you had a Spousal Sponsorship application going through? Would you have to apply Inland in that case?

I don't know how likely it is that I would be hired anywhere, but it is in northern-ish Ontario (4 hours north of Toronto), so maybe they would be more lenient?

If by "lenient" you mean letting you work under the table illegally, I wouldn't recommend that you do that. If you get caught working illegally, you will be deported. If you want to work before getting your PR, you would need to have a work permit and a SIN before you start working.

It doesn't sound like you would be eligible for a NAFTA job but if you did find an employer who is willing to apply for your LMO even to work at McDonalds or similar, they could do that. The employer would have to know if they are likely to get an LMO in the first place for that job. In some places, it is hard to find workers and employers in such places would have experience applying for LMO's to hire foreign workers. If there is unemployment in the area and the employer has no problem finding Canadian staff, then there would be no point in applying for an LMO because they wont get it.

Having a sponsorship application going would not stop you from getting a work permit if you qualify for it. If you apply inland, you could apply for an open work permit with your application. If you apply outland there is no open permit. However, whether you apply outland or inland, if you find an employer who gets an LMO for you, you would not have any restrictions applying for a regular work permit based on that LMO.

 

[anotherbrickinthewall]

The software used to run payroll will have SIN# as a mandatory field, and employers won't dummy one up for you.

I would not want them to. I am not trying to do anything illegal here.

Which bring me to my next point:

Leon, I am not trying to work under the table. I know that isn't possible when I am simply a visitor. My only options as a visitor are volunteering. I think you may have misunderstood what I meant by "lenient." I only meant that some employers might be desperate for workers, so they might be more willing to submit an LMO.

But I figured this is probably not really possible. A pipe dream at best. I know that I can't go there and work without having a work visa of some kind, or PR.

 

[Rob_TO]

1. What do I do about insurance? What is considered good visitor's insurance? I have epilepsy, and it is controlled very well by medication. I would need some type of insurance as a visitor so I can get my medication as required (and doctor visits if necessary). We would be in Ontario.

I have insurance here in the US, but I think it would be ridiculous to keep paying for it ($115/mo with $750 deductible), when I could buy visitor's insurance for a year for less with a $0 deductible. Plus, filing claims while in Canada seems like it'd be a hassle. Help?

2. How much would medication / doctor visits cost me if I didn't have traveler's insurance?

When my wife was here waiting for her PR application, she had private insurance. She used the insurance once, and had to pay everything up-front and was re-reimbursed afterwards. A visit to an Ontario walk-in clinic was $75 (prices range though). Some minor tests were ordered so a 2nd follow-up visit was also needed to discuss results, at another $75. Basic blood tests were in the $30 range, and more complex tests quickly get into the $hundreds of dollars.

In your case though, be VERY careful since you have a pre-existing condition. There are very strict rules regarding covering people and including their pre-existing condition in their package. Most involve the insured to be stable with their condition under control with no increase/decrease in their treatment dosage over the last 3 or 6 months. Every company is different so you'll need to ask specifically.

You can check some very basic coverage costs here: ( http://www.kanetix.ca/travel-visitors-to-canada - my wife paid around $50-$60 a month through one of the companies on here) but of course your insurance could be much more expensive due to epilepsy and you'll need to talk to an agent with any potential insurance company to get a customized quote before getting coverage.

 

[anotherbrickinthewall]

When my wife was here waiting for her PR application, she had private insurance. She used the insurance once, and had to pay everything up-front and was re-reimbursed afterwards. A visit to an Ontario walk-in clinic was $75 (prices range though). Some minor tests were ordered so a 2nd follow-up visit was also needed to discuss results, at another $75. Basic blood tests were in the $30 range, and more complex tests quickly get into the $hundreds of dollars.

In your case though, be VERY careful since you have a pre-existing condition. There are very strict rules regarding covering people and including their pre-existing condition in their package. Most involve the insured to be stable with their condition under control with no increase/decrease in their treatment dosage over the last 3 or 6 months. Every company is different so you'll need to ask specifically.

You can check some very basic coverage costs here - my wife paid around $50-$60 a month through one of the companies on here) but of course your insurance could be much more expensive due to epilepsy and you'll need to talk to an agent with any potential insurance company to get a customized quote before getting coverage.

Yeah, I have seen online that if you have a pre-existing condition, it may not be covered for the first 6 months or so, and I'm sure they could find a way to NOT cover it if they could... If it's anything like my insurance in the States.... BAH!

Fortunately, my epilepsy has been very well controlled for a year now since I've switched medication. That might be it.

Honestly, it seems like just going to the walk-in clinic without insurance would be cheaper than it is in the States WITH insurance! My copay now is $50, and tests can range from $300-$500, even with my insurance. I will need to look into the link you provided. I just figure I might need something in case I need to go into the hospital or to the ER or something. Not necessarily due to the epilepsy, but just in general, if something happens.

I will definitely check out that link. I would hate to be like, "Psh, I don't need insurance" and then have something happen 6 months in. The last thing we would need is to be saddled with thousands of dollars in medical bills.... Right now my insurance is $115 a month with a $750 deductible. It's basically ridiculous. Even if I have to pay $115 a month for visitor's insurance, it might be worth it if I have a $0 deductible. I will have to look into it. I don't know if it's worth sticking with my current coverage or going with visitors. Filing claims from Canada would probably be a huge pain.

I am more worried about not getting my medication because that's what most important.

It's pretty sad when you don't even balk at a doctor's visit costing $50-70. That's almost normal here. Without insurance, a doctor visit can cost up to $150 on the low end, and like I said, I already have to pay $50 up front with insurance! Blah!