<p>Hello all,
I am 18 years old and interested in attending college in Texas. However, because my parents are foreign nationals, they can't just move in here.
According to UT Austin, one can establish residency in Texas if one files taxes independently. What exactly does this entail?</p>
<p>For the record, I am not studying in any college. I am taking a gap year and will resume my education on the Fall of 2015.
edit: sorry, my parents aren’t “foreign nationals” (that suggests they are in fact living in the US). They, however, are not US citizens or residents and do not file taxes in the US.
edit2: I am a US citizen.</p>
<p>@"Erin’s Dad"
I’ve probably read that countless times!
I do have an inquiry about a statement within the rules.
Does the rule “If your parent(s) claim you as a dependent on their federal income tax return, they must establish domicile in the state for you to claim residency” apply to me even though my parents do not file federal income tax returns because they aren’t in the country?</p>
<p>Which office would answer questions about in state residency status? Admissions or financial aid. I would think this is more admissions. The issue of independence for financial aid is a whole other matter.</p>
<p>This student could find that she satisfies the requirements for instate cost status, but does NOT satisfy the independent status for financial aid purposes.</p>
<p>@thumper1
I’ve been trying to contact Deana Williams from the Graduate and International Admissions Center. She’s the Residency Officer of that specific division.
On the other hand, I am not interested in becoming independent for financial aid purposes - my only concern is to be considered in-state for tuition, admissions, and state grants (like the TEXAS grant). According to collegeforalltexans.com, elegibility for state grants only depends on the <em>student’s</em> status, not on the parents’.
That’s a great question, though. </p>
<p>Do you have any ties to Texas at all? Did you attend HS in TX?<br>
Are you even residing in the US? </p>
<p>Why Texas? I know Texans think they are the center of the universe, but if you have no ties to TX there is the entire rest of the USA to consider.</p>
<p>@GMTplus7
I attended HS in Texas, I am currently residing in the US with my godmother on my parents’ expenses, but I can’t become dependent on her for legal reasons - our lawyer discouraged us from that move.
As for why Texas? It’s close to home, its weather is great (I’m mostly used to hot weather), and UT is at the center of a booming tech/energy sector. Texas also has a great economy and, truthfully, I’d like to work and spend the rest of my life here. </p>
<p>That part will not help. It is the parent’s residency that matters in a case like this. If he is working to establish residency for the purpose of going to college, it does not legally ‘count’. Frankly a thread like this could be used against him in court if it ever came to that.</p>
<p>Thanks to enough people cheating the system, the rules for establishing residency for college are different than simply establishing residency for voting/taxes/etc.</p>
<p>@Torveaux
I am not interested in breaking the law. If I need to, for whatever reason, I won’t do it.
I mean, I don’t want to get sued haha. If I have to move on from UT and apply to other OOS/Private schools, that’s fine. I simply preferred Texas over others.</p>
<p>I think it might help him if he graduated from a Texas HS, and is currently living and working in Texas. If he’s not living in Texas now, I suspect he’s out of luck.</p>
<p>@Torveaux
That “loophole” is for students who have been living in the state for an extended period of time (3 years prior to graduation). I didn’t live for that amount of time, and my transcripts show a Mexican address; therefore, using that method would most likely get me to court.
I did graduate from a TX high school.</p>
<p>So you graduated from a Texas school, but didn’t live in Texas at the time? And you don’t live in Texas now? I don’t understand your question, then. Are you proposing to move to Texas and get a job, and work for some period of time (at least a year) in order to establish domicile? If so, I guess the question would be how much support your parents can provide you. You need to talk to UT, but I’m not very optimistic.</p>
<p>… on the other hand, I know of LOTS of people who exploit the legal loophole. These people live in Mexico and claim they have been living in the US for years, and their school transcripts even show addresses where they don’t really live. This occurs at both private AND public schools.
Could I technically sue the city and schools for this?</p>
<p>@Hunt
Well, with the Mexican address and my parents in Mexico it doesn’t really matter how long I lived in the state, does it?
I’m mostly proposing to get a job and file my taxes independently to show proof of my residency.</p>