Hello. I have a few questions regarding financial aid. I moved to the U.S. from Russia 3 years ago because my mom got married. If her husband did not adopt me, do I have to include him on my FAFSA and CSS? Also some colleges want my biological father who lives in Russia to fill out the noncustodial CSS, but he does not speak English and in Russia your employer does your taxes and we also don’t do tax returns, his salary is approximately $100 a month as well. I sent a noncustodial fee waiver to 2 colleges and one of them said that I still have to make my biological father to fill out the CSS profile even though he never supported me financially. What should I do in my situation? We managed to make financial aid person at that university to re-view our waiver form and contact us again next week but they will most likely still say that my father needs to do the CSS.
are you a U.S. Citizen or permanent resident?
It sounds like you live with your mom and your mom’s husband. That being the case…for fafsa you are REQUIRED to list the income and assets for both your mom and stepdad on the fafsa form. The 2017-2018 fafsa uses income from 2015…you will need to include both mom and stepdad.
Your bio dad is NOT included on the fafsa. Any child or spousal support would need to be included.
Your mom will complete the Profile using both hers and your stepdad’s incomes and assets…just like the Fafsa.
Your dad will need to complete the non-custodial parent profile using his information. He isn’t the first…or the last bio dad who lives outside of this country and doesn’t speak English. That will not exempt you from needing to get this form completed by him unless you do get a non-custodial parent waiver. Honestly…I don’t hear anything that says you would qualify one.
Please understand…if the school requires that non-custodial parent profile…if it is not received your financial aid application will be incomplete and you will not be considered for institutional need based aid.
If you don’t include your stepdad on the fafsa, you would be fraudulently completing that form. It MUST include your step dad.
Yes, your stepfather’s information is included even if he didn’t adopt you.
Your father needs to complete the NCP forms if the schools won’t waive them. Can you translate them for him? Even if the government completes the tax forms, your father should have the information on what he earns and what he pays for taxes. If he doesn’t have a document (like a tax form), he should state he doesn’t have it or won’t be filing it. All you can do is try to comply with the forms they ask for. Every country is different.
I did include the info about my stepdad on my FAFSA and CSS, I was just wondering if I could change it, now I know that I cannot, thank you, no need to scare me with having legal consequences 
I just feel like translating the CSS to my father and getting him to ask for taxes and confirmation that he earns about $100 a month is useless. It will take us weeks to do only for them to say that no he is not required to pay. Every country is different I agree and that’s why they should not make people in my situation fill out these kind of forms based on American standards that just don’t work in other countries.
One university said that I don’t qualify for the noncustodial waiver because I see my dad once a year and talk to him on Skype once a month but taking and getting financial support is very different. Someone can not talk to their parent but receive huge amounts of money on their card and they are not required to fill out the CSS.
They say if I didn’t contact my dad for 2 or more years I will not have to make him fill out the CSS. So I’m guessing that most people lie about not contacting their parent.
And I am a permanent resident. I can only apply for citizenship in 2 years because of my visa type.
Your dad has a very low income. But the reality is, some foreign bio dads are very wealthy. The schools use the info they get fromthe parents to determine need based aid. Once your dad has completed the form, they will know IF or HOW MUCH your need based aid will be affected.
But until the forms are completed…how would a school know whether a parent has the means to support their kid…or not? That is why these forms need to be completed.
Waivers are typically given in situations where the student has NO knowledge or way to get info from a parent. You are not in that situation as you can contact your bio parent.
@happymomof1 are there places overseas where non-custodial parents vannget help completing the Profile?
If you want an American college to give you American dollars while you are a college student in America, you have to follow American standards. Those are the rules. If you don’t like it, don’t ask for the free money.
But the thing is that they will not give me any more money because my father cannot help me pay for college. If they want us to fill out the form they could at least make the process easier for people. The system is designed for Americans but making it easier for international people to fill out is just a nice thing any decent person would want to do. I want to study in America and they want to have a more diverse classrooms as well. If I fill out their form, they could at least help us do it.
It is just weird that some people can get financial support from their parents but not talk to them and not be required to fill out the form and some people talk to their parent but don’t get financial support and are required to go through this.
A $1200 a year income is not going to appreciably impact the calculations for your need based aid.
But the college needs to KNOW what your dad earns to process your institutional need based aid application.
Those are the rules. They are the same rules for everyone. You are not being singled out in any way.
It is easy for people who have divorced parents i the US to fill out the form that has been designed for them. It is not easy for people who have divorced parents in different countries with completely different languages and income/tax systems. They could at least provide some sort of help or offer extended deadlines. It’s a nice thing to do, but the world just isn’t nice when it comes to money.
I think you have been mislead to thinking that if you don’t contact your father for 2 years you would not have to have his information considered. There are many American students who have no contact with a parent for years and when it comes time for college, those parents have to fill out the CSS or there will be no FA. Students have to track down their non-custodial parent, provide court papers that they are not allowed contact, have ministers and school counselors and doctors affirm that there has been no contact for years. I’ve never heard of 2 years being a magic number. There are many who live with parents who will not provide support while they are in college, and they still have to fill out the forms if they want any type of FA. The forms are designed for the most common cases, which are American students with American parents who file taxes in the US. You are not being asked to provide more than any other student who wants FA.
Just have him fill out the forms and submit them. If you don’t want to have him complete the form, you can go to a school that only requires the FAFSA.
He might be able to get some help with this at the closest advising center of EducationUSA or AMIDEAST. I don’t have thinlinks handy, but you can google for the main website of each organization.
He cannot complete the form because he doesn’t understand the language and we don’t have the same tax system. The financial aid person from Boston University told me about 2 years and it’s a pretty prestigious school.
I don’t think we have those advising centers in our small town, but I will check, thank you.
But don’t you think it’s very sad and inconvenient that people lose an opportunity to go to a good college and have to limit their choices because the system favors certain people? There are obviously way more problems than just this one that people have to deal with to be able to go to a good college.
Hopefully someday people will stop tolerating this and everyone would have a chance to go but for now I’m going to call my father and explain everything.
Thank you