<p>I know a student who was born in America and has USA citizenship, but her parents are non-citizen. Their imcome is coming from other county. She is a junior in high school(in USA). Now, with her parents status(being non-citizen), is she still eligible to apply for financial aid for college? Is there any restiction? Anyone who is in similar situation? I'll greatly appreciate any inputs.</p>
<p>Yes, the student will be able to file for and will be eligible for federal based aid. Her parents will file the FAFSA with their income from the country that they live in (converting it to US dollars. Since they are not eligible to sign electronically using a PIN, they must manually sign and mail the signature page.</p>
<p>Thank you Sybbie719. Then, the parents legal status is not considered as long as the student has citizenship, is it right?</p>
<p>Yes, she has all the rights of being a citizen. She will be considered out of state for public universities. </p>
<p>However, BE AWARE that there is very little Federal aid. If she needs a lot of aid to come to school here, she’ll need to carefully make a list of the schools that meet need. (and the schools decide what her “need” is after looking at family finances.).</p>
<p>Most schools have little free money to give.</p>
<p>She needs to find out if she qualifies for in-state status where she lives. Some public schools would consider her a resident bases on number of years in that state and/or graduating from high school there.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>I could be wrong, but it sounds like she doesn’t live here. Her parents income is from another country. That suggests that they live abroad.</p>
<p>^ From the OP: </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>However, depending if state aid is offered, she may not receive state aid because her parents do not live in the state and are not state taxpayers.</p>
<p>I agree with m2k that she should definitely make sure that she has some financial safeties on her list.</p>
<p>So does the whole family live here and their income is from abroad? Or does the D go to boarding school here (or live with relatives) while parents live abroad? Where the parents live might be a factor in residency. </p>
<p>anyway…the family needs to understand that FAFSA is just a form and the fed gov’t doesn’t provide much aid. </p>
<p>Frankly, if the parents are living here as well, and their income is from abroad, then that suggests that they must have a decent income because don’t you have to demonstrate that you can support yourself/your family before an int’l can move here?</p>
<p>There are a number of visa statuses that could have the parents in the US with foreign income sources (employees of foreign govt or foreign business for example). Foreign income doesn’t automatically mean that the family has lots of money.</p>
<p>seedsman, the student being a citizen will have the same rights as any US citizen/permanent resident. She will be eligible for federal aid-grants and loans, as well as merit scholarships that some schools offer and are usually given only to US citizens/permanent resident. She ddi not even have to ever lived in the USA. Are the parents illegal immigrants, have a non-immigrant visa, or are they located outside the USA? What state does the student go to high school and how many years has lived in that state? If you give us this info we can give you more information on the specific situation and whether the student is eligible for additional state aid and in state tuition. We are not ICE.</p>
<p>**
There are a number of visa statuses that could have the parents in the US with foreign income sources (employees of foreign govt or foreign business for example). Foreign income doesn’t automatically mean that the family has lots of money.
*</p>
<p>Oh I know that the fact that someone has foreign income doesn’t mean that they have lots of money. What I meant is that when int’ls move here, they have to show that they can support themselves…either with income or with a sponsor here.</p>
<p>^Only the international students who will attend a US school have to show that they have the means to pay for their stay here, whether it is through scholarships, or personal family means. </p>
<p>Momto2kids, For the parents, or other people to move to the USA, they do not need a sponsor (that was abolished yeas ago) or to show that they can support themselves for any of the immigrant visas because once they are approved for one they also immediately get the certificate of labor eligibility that allows the person to work in the USA. </p>
<p>For non-immigrant visas, (again we are not talking about students) also they do not need either a sponsor or evidence of support in the USA. The requirement is that they have to demonstrate strong ties in their native countries so they would not overstay (illegally migrate) their stay in the USA. That’s why a 30 year old that owns a house and good job gets a tourist visa easily while a 45 unemployed without a house and a large bank account does not. If you are over a certain age, I think it is 55, they stamp the passports for unlimited visits and extended stays.^</p>
<p>Ana…I know that. I’m not talking about the student.</p>
<p>I am talking about the PARENTS. They likely had to show that THEY had the means to support themselves in order to move here…or they had to show that they had a sponsor.</p>
<p>^^Lat me expand on the sponsor to clarify as there are actually two types but the same term is used for both. Unless you have the diversity lottery (in that situation the US government is the sponsor), you need a sponsor -this does not mean financial sponsor- but someone to sponsor you to immigrate. It is like applying for a country club membership where you need a member to sponsor you. In that way, for international students, the school they will attend is the sponsor of their petition to the immigration agency. Only for immigrant family based visas, (ie the sponsor has a family relationship to the person) they just need a financial sponsor to sign the affidavit of support and that the person has income/assets more than 125% above the poverty level. You can have 5 people pooling their income to show that and they do not have to be the person who sponsored you to get the visa or to have any relationship to you. Is it enforced if the person goes on public assistance? No. The only difference that the new law made is that the immigrant can not get federal benefits for their first five years of stay in the USA. But, the 15 states with the largest immigrant populations had moved immediately and substituted the federal benefits with state ones, so nothing really changed and because it is not federal benefits, nobody goes after the financial sponsor anymore. (I am not even going to mention the various loopholes to get federal benefits and for the financial sponsor not to be liable for the person. ) For all other immigrant visas, no financial sponsor is required. So if you come as an investor, employee (but a relative can not have more than 5% ownership in the business even if you come under an employer sponsored immigrant visa), diversity lottery, etc, you do not have to show means of support, or a financial sponsor.</p>