hi, im trying to apply for the FAFSA for the new school year and my parents are both on A2 visas, therefore the are foreign officials exempt from paying tax. how will I communicate this to my FAFSA? I tried just saying will not file and putting in their income but it ends up giving me a message that there is an error and my parents must file taxes with the amount of income they are making annually.
Are you a citizen?
yes, born in united states
We have to be super clear here…a child, born in the US of diplomats with A2 visas, is not considered a citizen of the US under the 14th amendment, said child has to apply for permanent residency (Green Card).
Have you done that? https://www.uscis.gov/i-485
If so, I can’t answer your FAFSA question, so will call @kelsmom and @BelknapPoint
I agree with @Mwfan1921 that the citizenship of a child born of parents on A(2) visas is a complicated topic.
“Children born in the United States to accredited foreign diplomatic officers do not acquire citizenship under the 14thAmendment since they are not “born . . . subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.” DHS regulations, however, have long allowed these children to choose to be considered lawful permanent residents (LPRs) from the time of birth.”
but
“Not all foreign nationals admitted to the United States as an A or G nonimmigrant have full diplomatic immunity and appear on the Blue List.”
See https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-7-part-o-chapter-3
I am a US citizen, my parents are not diplomats but they do have A2 visas. maybe “foreign officials” is a little contradictory but My father is a local staff member of a foreign embassy and my mother just has the A2 visa but is not employed by the embassy. but legally I am a US citizen . The only issue I have is that my parents are tax-exempt and im not sure how to communicate that onto my FAFSA.
A2 visa holders are broader than diplomats, so I should have been more clear.
Your only path to citizenship is to have applied for permanent residency, have you done that?
I am a US Citizen, legally.
I am already a US citizen.
So you have your Green Card?
Since OP is of the age to be concerned about completing FAFSA, and my understanding is that an A2 visa has a maximum limit of five years with no renewal available, it’s possible that at the time of OP’s birth the parents (or at least the mother) were in the United States in a non-diplomatic capacity.
I don’t know the answer to the FAFSA question. OP’s situation is unique enough that direct contact with a federal government FAFSA specialist is probably warranted.
No I am a citizen.
Some A2 visa holders can renew and if only one parent has A2 visa any children born here are not citizens, but agree with belknappoint that OP has to call/chat/email FAFSA/FSAIC at this link. https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/contact
oh okay, thanks! do you know how I can do that?
OP I just put the link in my post #12
OP,do you have a US birth certificate, US passport, US drivers licence?
Look folks, the OP reports that he/she is a citizen. Given that the OP’s parents are currently in A2 status and working in the diplomacy field, I expect that the OP knows good and well what his/her personal status is! Not to mention of course that if the OP is currently of age to apply to college, the parents might well not have been in A2 status when the OP was born.
@kelsmom - Do you have any advice for the OP’s specific situation? Should he/she file the paper forms rather than the online version?
I thought that if parents were not citizens, they usually had to file the paper form and sign it. Would these folks have a U.S. social security number? If not, wouldn’t they need to put all zeros in that spot, print out and sign and mail? They wouldn’t be able to do an online submission.
Accepting the OP KNOWS if he is a US citizen…
Do your parents have SSN? If not, you have to do a manual filing of the FAFSA. On that form, you put in 000-00-0000 for their SSNs, and you can manually put in the income.
It’s really likely you’ll be selected for verification by the school, and at that time you can explain the tax status. There is no way to do it on the FAFSA forms, on the computer or hard copies.