We have several instances where employees are wanting to add their children to benefit plans who are currently residing in another state (Mexico) and are coming to live with the employee. Often times the employee is not married to the father of the children so there is not a custody change or divorce situation. I believe this qualifies as a qualified status change under the "change in residence" provision.

Question is: What type of documentation can be asked for that would be credible and proove that the child(ren) will be relocating on a more "permanent" than temporary basis? We wish to eliminate the situation of having dependents bouncing back and forth and in and out of coverage.

What do others currently do to obtain this type of proof?

Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

I've encountered similiar situations in the past. However, the country of origin was India and a passport was needed to come to the US. In the future, if the situation allows, you may want to try using a copy of the passport for documentation. For this particular situation, when no passport is needed, you could use school registration.