<p>Hello. I was really confused on my identity or 'state' or whatever you call it.</p>
<p>If I reside in U.S. legally (H-4 visa) but do not have citizenship or permanent residency (green-card), do I count as a complete international student? It matters a lot due to the limited scholarships and financial aid when I look into colleges. Anyone can insure it will be greatly appreciated. Thanks a bunch!</p>
<p>It depends.</p>
<p>H-4 students can qualify for in-state tuition rates at public universities in most states. (Your H-visa is important here. If you switched to an F-1 or J-1 student visa later, you would be an out-of-state student by default.)</p>
<p>The H-4 visa will NOT qualify you for federal financial aid (FAFSA, Pell Grants, Stafford Loans, etc).</p>
<p>Many universities administer their own institutional financial aid programs (e.g. academic scholarships or need-based financial aid). Universities generally set their own requirements for those and you may or may not qualify. As a general rule of thumb, only small liberal arts colleges and the tippy top universities (Ivies and the like) will consider non-US citizens or permanent residents for college-administered need-based financial aid. Merit-based scholarships are available more widely, but you’d have to attend a university significantly “below your league” to qualify for a significant scholarship.</p>
<p>But generally speaking, you’d be an “international student” who is currently living in the US. As such, I’d urge you to read the full admission information for both domestic and international applicants on each college website. You’ll find bits and pieces that apply to you in both sections. For example:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>school report: if you are attending an American high school, you can submit the regular school report with none of the extra info that students from foreign high schools have to submit (e.g. the “international supplement to the secondary school report” or an external evaluation of their high school transcript)</p></li>
<li><p>language requirement: if you are not a native speaker of English, you will need to follow the application instructions for non-native speakers. (colleges might ask for TOEFL scores unless you can convince them otherwise that you’re fluent, e.g. with SAT verbal scores or many years of school attendance in the US)</p></li>
<li><p>financial requirements: colleges are legally obligated to verify the financial resources of prospective F-1 and J-1 students, but some colleges will want those documents from everyone on a temporary visa (since those students might have to switch to an F-1 or J-1 visa at some point in their college career)</p></li>
<li><p>tuition: you may be eligible for in-state tuition, so read the admission instructions for in-state applicants</p></li>
<li><p>financial aid: since you are not a US citizen or eligible noncitizen (e.g. permanent resident, refugee), you are considered an “international student” for financial aid purposes.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Yes you do. You’ve also got the right to financial aid as an international student.</p>
<p>A lot of thanks to you guys. That clears some of my obstructed views about my identity in U.S.</p>
<p>For B@r!um, I actually did go to international school for whole freshman and half of sophomore year in Singapore (1 and a half year to be exact) and I transferred to U.S. High school at Oregon. The school system in Singapore differs from U.S. , where middle school is 4 years and high school is 2 years.</p>
<p>Do you know any specific information that the colleges might require you to submit for college application if you did go to international school and lived at foreign country? I know a few of things…</p>
<ul>
<li>Complete Transcript from the foreign high school I attended for the years equivalent to the U.S. high school (done with my counselor and made the transcript)</li>
<li>Tax Forms?</li>
</ul>
<p>Thanks again!</p>
<p>You need to contact each place on your list and ask which transcripts you need to provide, and how to apply for financial aid. Different places have different policies.</p>
<p>In addition, see if your family can hire a lawyer and ask about conditions for your becoming a permanent resident, since it’s much harder to get into a college as an international student if you need financial aid. (If your family can afford 55k per year, whether you’re a permanent resident or an international does not matter and many private colleges as well as out of state public universities will gladly admit you if you meet their basic criteria.) Try to stick with your H visa though if you don’t age out of it since you would qualify for in-state tuition at public universities and in some cases for state grants, whereas you would for neither if you had an F1/J1 visa - and the difference in costs can be enormous.</p>
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<p>The right entity to talk to is probably the OP’s family’s sponsoring employer. If the family is currently here on an H-1B, there really isn’t much a lawyer can do until the sponsoring employer is willing to pursue the green card petition.</p>
<p>
That’s a tricky decision. On one hand, the F-1 visa has several benefits that an H-4 visa does not. F-1 students are legally allowed to work, for example, while H-4 students are not. Don’t underestimate the importance of internships and work history when you are looking for your first full-time job after college! The F-1 status would even allow you to work for a period of time after graduation on OPT, but only if you were in F-1 status for at least one full academic year before graduation. That’s a huge advantage over the H-4 visa (where an employer would have to sponsor you for a work visa right off the bat). </p>
<p>The F-1 visa is also independent of the OP’s family, so the OP won’t age out of it or lose his status if the family’s H-1B status terminates (loss of employment, family decides to leave the country, whatever).</p>
<p>On the other hand, as MYOS mentioned, F-1 students are legally considered temporary visitors, which has a few disadvantages, e.g. with regards to in-state vs out-of-state tuition status at public universities. HOWEVER, many states have policies that allow students who qualified for in-state tuition upon enrollment to keep paying in-state tuition for the remainder of their degree program as long as they stay continuously enrolled.</p>
<p>Thanks for the in-depth comparison of F-1 and H-4 visa!
Yes, my parents are working towards the green card petition and hopefully we can get it before i graduate out of college. However, inability to work after college sounds pretty painful. Actually a lot. Speaking of which, am I technically allowed to be involved in self-employed job such as tuition? </p>
<p>
On an H-4 visa, you are not allowed to work. That includes self-employment and also work in exchange for benefits such as tuition payments on your behalf. Working for room and board is not allowed either. You can’t even work for free if other people would get paid for the same position. (That would be a violation of minimum wage laws.)</p>
<p>You are allowed to volunteer for nonprofit charitable organizations (but only if that work is typically done by unpaid volunteers and not by paid staff). </p>
<p>
Careful. The goal should be to get the green card before you turn 21, not before you graduate from college. Once you turn 21, you are no longer a “child” for visa purposes and won’t be able to get the green card with your family. Instead, your parents would have to get their green card first and then sponsor you as their adult son/daughter. That puts you into the F2B category, which has a current waiting list of roughly 7 years. </p>
<p>Okay gotcha. Time to start on my essays and research on the financial aid… wish me luck;)</p>
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<p>Um…only if the school policy awards financial aid to international students. Some do, and some don’t. And international students are not eligible for U.S. federally funded aid. So…what “right” does this student have?</p>
<p>“As an international, your chances at all the U.S. colleges are lower, though.”</p>
<p>How far to a such extent is this going to be true in admission?</p>
<p>If you need a F1/J1 visa but can pay full cots, your odds are lower but only slightly, such that if you’re competitive for the school you can use statistics describing the admission patterns. Once you’re past the 100-125 mark on the national University or national LAC list, if you have the scores but don’t have a certain amount of money, either you’ll get a merit scholarship (some go up to full tuition or full ride scholarship, the links are on the financial aid forum) or you’ll get in without funds to attend since they don’t have a budget for international financial aid. If you need financial aid, you should divide admission percentage by two or even three, so that a school that admits 40% American &permanent resident applicants becomes as selective as the Ivy League to you. The higher in the rankings you go, the more pronounced this is. Last year, Harvard admittde 20% of its ED candidates, 3% of its RD candidates… but only 1% of its international candidats, all rounds included.</p>
<p>
This depends super much on the university. For some, being an international applicant can actually be an advantage because they’re actively trying to recruit international students (full-paying international students, that is). For others, it may be a huge disadvantage. For many colleges your immigration status won’t matter for admission as long as you don’t need financial aid.</p>
<p>Keep in mind, if you have money–you have the advantage. </p>
<p>I have a somewhat similar situation with my Son, can anyone please point me to an official link, if available, where it says “H-4 students can qualify for in-state tuition rates at public universities in most states…”?</p>