<p>My son has dual citizen US & Madagascar citizenships and wishes to attend a US university next year. I do not have
US citizenship but my wife does have. But none of us live in the USA.
Should he apply for college and financial aid as an African (Madagascar is part of Africa) or as a US citizen.
Which option will give him more chances?</p>
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<p>Only U.S. citizens have access to federal aid. Aid from colleges is limited for international students almost everywhere. U.S. students have better chances at admissions. International students rarely take up more than 10% of the student body. Of course his background may be a asset to him.</p>
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<p>This student has U.S citizenship. Because he lives abroad, his application for admission will be considered in the international pool at some colleges. BUT he is eligible for U.S. Federally funded aid because he HAS U.S. Citizenship. And because he is a U.S. Citizen, he would be considered for aid at colleges along with other U.S. Citizens.</p>
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<p>He is absolutely better off applying as a US citizen. There are only a few schools that are both need blind AND guarantee to meet full need for US students, and even fewer who do so for international students. Also some schools do have quotas for students from certain countries, and there are schools that out and out will not give financial aid or merit awards for non US, non green card students. This way, your son can apply with impunity regarding such restrictions and use his dual citizenship as a benefit if any opportunities arise for international students. </p>
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<p>Thanks a lot for your prompt replies. My son will definitely apply as a US citizen!!</p>
<p>
If you need Federal Financial Aid, your wife may need to file US tax returns and you may also need file taxes per your home country.</p>
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<p>I believe the wife can retain her U.S. Citizenship without paying IRS taxes. In addition, the student is eligible to receive federally funded aid because the student is a U.S. citizen. </p>
<p>It is possible that the mom doesn’t even work…if that is the case, she would file a non-filers statement.</p>
<p>The income of both parents would be reported on the FAFSA regardless of where it is earned.</p>
<p>The mother will probably want to file a US Federal Income Tax Return just to make the financial aid paperwork easier. However depending on the family income situation, there is every chance that she will not owe one cent of US taxes. We never did when we lived abroad.</p>
<p>For details and contact information, start at the IRS website: <a href=“http://www.irs.gov/”>http://www.irs.gov/</a></p>
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<p>Thanks a lot for yr comments!!</p>
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<p>I have several dual citizens at my school. For aid purposes, we treat them as U.S. citizens - and there is no need to file taxes in the U.S. if the parent is not required to do so. Schools deal with foreign earnings on a regular basis. Eligibility for aid is not dependent on filing U.S. tax returns (unless required to do so).</p>
<p>A caution: Your son must let the school know that he is a U.S. citizen. If a student is a U.S. citizen, he cannot apply for a visa to study in the U.S. - all students with U.S. citizenship must have a U.S. passport and use that to enter the U.S. for school. The U.S. only recognizes U.S. citizenship, not dual citizenship … meaning that your son will enter as a U.S. citizen, not as an international student who requires an F-1 visa.</p>
<p>The school may certainly classify the student as “international,” but this is independent of how the student is classified for federal aid or for visa purposes (again, the student would not need a visa).</p>
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<p>
Actually, the US does recognize dual citizenship. [This</a> link](<a href=“http://travel.state.gov/content/travel/english/legal-considerations/us-citizenship-laws-policies/citizenship-and-dual-nationality/dual-nationality.html]This”>http://travel.state.gov/content/travel/english/legal-considerations/us-citizenship-laws-policies/citizenship-and-dual-nationality/dual-nationality.html) may clarify.</p>
<p>As an dual-national myself, I enter and leave the US on my US passport and I enter and leave the EU on my EU passport. The lack of visa stamps has never been called into question by EU immigration and rarely by US immigration (in which case I just show my EU passport and get waved through).</p>
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<p>I hope the dad and family understand that most univs in the US do not meet need. Federal aid is a small amount. The student would be OOS for all public univs, and therefore charged the much higher rates…often with little aid. </p>
<p>The dad would be better off mentioning where the child intends to apply, his stats, and how much the family can pay each year. </p>
<p>The term EFC is a huge misnomer. IT does NOT really mean expected family contribution. </p>
<p>The costs of intl travel is rarely figured into the cost of attendance, especially for citizens abroad. </p>
<p>@happymomof1‌
Actually, all the FAFSA paperwork is much simpler if the family does not file taxes in the U.S. due to foreign income. It all goes to untaxed income, and nearly everything else (any federal benefits, income taxes, federal programs, etc.) will show $0.00.</p>
<p>Fredjan, thanks for that info! I moved back here before the kid was college age, so I never had to work through the FAFSA while out of the country.</p>
<p>I do know that many citizens abroad are so baffled by the tax laws that they just don’t bother to file at all even though because of the Foreign Income Exclusion, they actually don’t owe any kind of taxes here.</p>
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<p>Skieurope, what I meant is that a dual citizen cannot choose to be one nationality or the other in the eyes of the U.S. government … the U.S. considers that person a U.S. citizen. I bring this up because one of my responsibilities is PDSO for my school’s F-1 visas. We just had a Q & A about this on a listserve … the student did not disclose his U.S. citizenship to the school & it became a bit messy when he applied for a visa.</p>
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