<p>Hey guys. I'm an international student who has been living in the US for 5 years now. I was recently paroled into the US so by the time of entry into college(august/september of 09), I will be eligible for federal and state financial aid but will remain a non-citizen(I think I will get my greencard during my freshman to sophomore year in college though). I know most of the universities aren't needblind to international students. So the question is pretty much is this a special situation where it would be needblind for me because I can actually get federal aid unlike most international applicants?</p>
<p>Once you are an eligible noncitizen, colleges would treat you like a citizen financial aid-wise. The problem is that you won't have yet acquired that status when you apply for admission and financial aid. I strongly recommend you to contact the colleges you consider applying to and see how they would handle your case.</p>
<p>FYI, I became a permanent resident during my freshman year in college. I had to apply as an international student and had to compete with 300 other applicants for 15 financial aid packages at my current college. I was admitted and received financial aid as an international student during my first year and then received federal financial aid in my second year. My college told me that they were not allowed to disburse any federal financial aid to me before they had physically seen my green card, and I needed my alien registration number (the number on my green card) to complete the FAFSA.</p>