Hi. we’re almost at the end of process of getting the green card.
My daughter has got the work permit and social security number last January, and didn’t get the green card yet.
( Our lawyer said it’s unusually long, but he said there’s nothing he could do about that.)
And she will apply for the college in the fall.
We are not concerned about the FA. FA is great if possible, but we are not there yet.
In Common application, I heard there are three choices for the citizenship status, US citizen, Green card holder, and Foreign country nationals. For US citizens, social number is required. For green card holders, social number and green card copy are requested which we don’t have. For foreign nationals, they ask for the I-20 and visa which ours have been expired.
So, which section should we mark?
Please help us with this problem .
( Someone advised me to ask the college she’s going to apply, but it is very selective school, so I am not inclined to do that.)
Most schools welcome dreamers so I think you could ask them without fear of it hurting your app. If the green card is approved but not done, I would tell them and would ask if you should check green card. In the meantime, I would do everything possible to submit all the remaining documents for the green card ’ it could be fully processed by the time the college app needs to be submitted, making all this worry unnecessary.
Thank you for the warm and thoughtful reply. Hop you have a nice weekend.
In the application, she doesn’t need to give visa information. She’s international until she has her green card. The I-20 is issued by the college after the student is accepted, and is needed when the student applies for a student visa.
She should find out if she is considered an in-state resident where you live and/or where she will finish high school. Some public colleges and universities have that policy.
Like @happymomof1 mentioned, you don’t need to deal with any visas until after she is accepted and given an I-20. Don’t worry about potentially harming her application by asking the school directly. Many highly selective schools support students regardless of immigration status (an example from Yale: http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2017/01/20/yale-affirms-support-undocumented-students/ ; I’m sure you could find similar if you google the school your daughter is applying to as well).
Thank you for the replies and the newsarticle. I will show that to my daughter, too.
We will wait for more months and ask the school directly.
Can I ask you about the financial aid? What if she is accepted at ED ( it’s private school in other state) as an international student and get the Green card later, like in April next year, can she apply for the FA at that point?
She can apply for federal financial aid as soon as she has the Green card. It will be up to the school as to whether a student who applied ED and stated they do not need or qualify for aid then wants to apply for school aid.
If she needs aid, I’d apply for aid in the ED application, even if it is only school aid and not federal.
When she applies to college, she will put down what her status is on the day that she applies (international student/green card holder).
If she does not have a green card, she will be considered an international student.
Keep in mind as an international student, the overwhelming majority of schools will be need aware, meaning that your ability to pay will be a factor in admissions.
Because you must think about how to finance college for 4 years, I would also recommend running the FAFSA 4-caster and the net price calculators. this will give you an idea of your EFC.
Once she receives her green card, any state and federal aid (usually reserved for low income students) that she is eligible for she will receive. She will also be eligible for any federal student loans that she is eligible to receive. Her eligibility for aid does not mean that she will get aid to cover expenses because most schools do not meet 100% demonstrated need (have the money talk before applying ED).
I agree with @twoinanddone that she should apply for aid in the ED round because some schools have policies that if you don’t apply for aid in the application round, you cannot apply for it later.
While this is definitely true for most international students, some schools do not allow citizens/green card holder apply for institutional aid if they don’t apply freshman year (or they are placed at the end of the line).
[QUOTE=""]
Most schools welcome dreamers<<<<<<<<<
[/QUOTE]
What does this mean?
Kid is international for admissions purposes. Green card could take years, there is no almost there point, until it is in your hands. We live in interesting times.
Dreamers are students who are undocumented. Right now dreamers do not have a path to a green card or citizenship
I would ask attorney if you have to keep the visas up to date until you get the green card (which could take years)
Right, is OPs kid a dreamer? I missed the connection. They must be applying for adjustment status.
You asked about applying for aid later.
The aid you REALLY want is institutional aid. That is money the schools award from their coffers. If your kiddo is applying to a selective private school…the cost could be near $70,000 a year.
What you need to find out first…does the school award institutional aid to international students? Some schools do…some schools offer limited aid…and some don’t at all.
Also, in most cases, international,students MUST apply for aid when they apply for admission…NOT later. In fact, some schools specifically state that international students who do NOT apply for institutional aid as incoming freshmen cannot do so in subsequent years…or later on…
At this point in time, your kiddo is applying for admission and financial aid as an international student…because she does NOT have her greeen card. Until she has that card…her status won’t change.
So…complete the applications using the current status.
RE: the net price calculators…they usually are not accurate for international students UNLESS the NPC specifically asks about your immigration status. Most net price calculators do NOT ask this. So…take those results with a grain of salt…a big one.
You are posting as though your student is applying to only one selective private OOS college. I hope,that isn’t the case.
The net price calculator will not be good for her to the extent that student will receive federal/state aid. If op is here in the us and paying taxes they should be able to get some kind of number. They would just not count the federal state aid as part of their package. If the school meets 100% demonstrated need, the federal/state aid would be placed with institutional aid
If the school does not meet 100% demonstrated need if there is any state and federal aid, it would just be additional monies that the family would have to pay.
I don’t think the student is applying under the Dream executive order. She has a SSN and work permit, and is on some kind of visa. There are so many possibilities I don’t think we can speculate. All we know is that she isn’t a citizen (so don’t check that box) and doesn’t yet have a green card (so don’t check that box) which only leaves the third category, foreign country nationals.
The school(s) will know it is a different situation since this foreign student will have a US high school diploma.
are so many possibilities I don’t think we can speculate<<<<<<<
There are really only 2 possibilities. Only if they are in adjustment of status, would they have no valid visa but still be in a legal status. but that period is not fixed, who knows how long that might last.
Applications must have a place to indicate pending I-485. maybe in extra info etc.