<p>Hello- I am helping one of my religious ed students try to go to college. He is an American citizen, but his parents are illegally here. The father and the mother are not together. In fact, the father cannot be found. How will this work for FAFSA and other fin aid applications? This boy has no money to pay for school, other than what he will earn along the way, which he is willing to do. But it would be nice if he could get some Fed loans and or grant aid to help. He is looking at community college and a 4 year state university as possible places to go. </p>
<p>Your parents' citizenship is not going to be an issue for FAFSA. He will have to fill out the forms just as any other US citizen. If father is gone, only the mother's info will be provided as FAFSA only requires the custodial parent's financial info. He should down load and print out a copy of the prior year's FAFSA and fill out with his mother's info,using her tax form as a guide. Once he has that info, he can go to some on line calculators (there are some on this web site) and run through his numbers. This will give him a good idea of what he can get. The big tip for him is to empty any accounts in his name, spend the money down, because 20% of any of that money will go directly towards college costs whereas the parent gets an allowance before 5.6% is assessed on it.</p>
<p>I don't think it will be quite as easy as that -- if the mom is in the US illegally, I highly doubt she is filing US taxes.</p>
<p>First, I would start by doing some research to see if the mom makes enough money that she should be filing. If she doesn't, then she would simply state that on the FAFSA. If she is required to file, then I would contact FAFSA and ask what to do.</p>
<p>My understanding is that she does not file taxes. There is a stepfather involved and I suspect that he is also illegal and not filing taxes. Hmmm- guess I have a bit more research to do here.</p>
<p>I think it is very good you are trying to help this kid and his illegal parents by giving him opportunities of studying abroad. I think you should contact the mom and make sure she is not harmful to the community and maybe this way she can become a resident. You have to be aware that this boy has to be a straight A student because even though it is possible you have to work it really hard, there is a lot of competition around the country and the world. Good Luck...</p>
<p>The parents may be filing taxes with an Employer ID number rather than with a social security number - lots of "self-employed" undocumented aliens do this because they want to be sure that their taxes are in order. It is really easy to get an Employer ID number.</p>
<p>This kid is in a tough situation. He is truly blessed to have someone like you who is willing and able to give him a hand. I wish you both nothing but good fortune in this process.</p>
<p>cdonado--not sure what you mean by a lot of your post. Pipmom didn't say anything about studying abroad; she's talking about a US citizen studying here. The comments about the mother are not based in any kind of useful information, nor is the part about straight A's. the OP is not asking about admissions, but about need-based aid. This is not based on grades.</p>
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He is looking at community college and a 4 year state university as possible places to go.
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<p>I don't know about cc's in Texas, but our local cc is only $20 per unit. A semester course load is $240 - $320 (plus annual fees of $45). Even at minimum wage, this amount can easily be earned during the summer, plus he should be able to handle a part-time job while in school. His parents' tax filing status would be irrelevant if he goes this route.</p>
<p>If the mother is legally married, then the step father's income/assets has to be on the FAFSA as well. If they are not married, just the mother. It does not matter that the mother is illegal , it does not matter that she does not file taxes. She still has to report her income to FAFSA. Now if she should have filed taxes with the income made, then she had better fill out a return. If she makes under, I believe, $20K a year and has less than a certain amount of assets, there would be an automatic eligibility for the full Pell grant through the simplified means test.</p>
<p>I've dealt with this a bit. First of all, if the mom does not have a SSN the FAFSA will not be accepted by the FAFSA computer. It needs to be "signed" with SSN and a PIN number. But it could be done on paper, and sent to Illinois where it is processed, though still it will get flagged as an unsigned FAFSA. It would be a very good idea to look at LOCAL places, where the student, and OP if they are helping, can go to an office In Person and try to work things out. There are also some colleges of some religious denominations, that would consider admitting and supporting a student in this situation (it's a justice issue). I don't want to stick them out, but I think you are in the right state to find one, and I think it works with students with document issues, and presumably families with same issues. PM me if you want to know more. As far as dad, check if the parents are legally married, or if the dad is even on the birth certificate. Life is complex</p>
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the student is a US Citizen but one or more parents are undocumented, the student is eligible for federal student aid. However, if the parents supply a fake or stolen social security number (SSN) on the form, the student's FAFSA will be rejected when the parent's social security number fails to match. The FAFSA may also be rejected when the parents submit a SSN or Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) that is valid for work purposes only. If the parents do not have a social security number or the social security number fails the match, they should use 000-00-0000 as their social security number on the FAFSA form.
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<p>I highly suggest getting involved with the financial aid office at the state university and community college - these folks are professionals who can help answer questions on the forms.</p>
<p>Bay - lucky you - our CC charges $100/ cr hr. Not so cheap anymore.</p>
<p>Great info here. I am not looking for this kid to get a free ride- only perhaps a Pell grant and/or stafford type loans. This would allow him to work a little less and take more courses per semester, thereby getting through faster. </p>
<p>I don't know the legal marriage status of the mom. I will find out. He will be the first child in the family to attend college. He has a brother 2 years behind him, who is also my religious ed student, whom I will be helping in the future. </p>
<p>I will go visit the fin aid office of the cc. His mom does not speak English, nor does the stepfather. The father, as I understand it, is back in Mexico now, although he was here in the US for a time.</p>
<p>The father is out of the picture, the way I see it. If the mother is married, the step father is going to have to submit his financials. Any tax returns filed by mom, stepdad and kid will be needed to file FAFSA, and if there is no SSN, zeroes need to be used. </p>
<p>Most CC's are not going to be that interested about first generation at college. They have that coming out of their ears. If you are lucky, and the cc has a good, helpful fin aid counselor, he could be of enormous assistance in this case, since it is very likely he gets many such kids and would know the ropes well. It is a basic job requirement of such folks to get the federal funds for such students so that they can go their colleges, as they would not be able to go without the money. So I would give that dept a ring. They may even help fill out the forms if all of the paperwork is gathered.</p>
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First of all, if the mom does not have a SSN the FAFSA will not be accepted by the FAFSA computer. It needs to be "signed" with SSN and a PIN number. But it could be done on paper, and sent to Illinois where it is processed, though still it will get flagged as an unsigned FAFSA.
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<p>This is not right. It's true that the mom can't get a PIN to use for an electronic signature of her child's FAFSA, but the child can still do an online FAFSA and print out a signature page for the mom to sign and send in separately. The paper signature page should be sent immediately after the FAFSA is filed - if there is a time gap of over two weeks (I think), the paper signature page and the online FAFSA can't be matched up.</p>
<p>The mom can use all zeroes in the space for her SSN on the FAFSA. But if she and the step-dad are filing taxes, they need to get an ITIN (Individual Tax ID Number), which is intended just for this purpose - someone who needs to file a tax return but can't get a Social Security Number. In my area, it's common for undocumented residents to file tax returns using an ITIN. (Edited to add: the ITIN is only for filing taxes. It's not to be used on the FAFSA.)</p>
<p>In my opinion, there's no need to look only at local colleges. The student is a US citizen, they can fill out the FAFSA just like everyone else, and they should have just as many choices.</p>
<p>I agree that he shouldn't limit himself to local colleges because of his parent's status. But, he chooses to stay local so that he can live at home, thereby cutting expenses, and contribute some of his earnings to the household. His dream is to become an architect someday and to help his brother go to college and his mom to buy a house. This is a boy who is ready to step up to the plate and I want to make sure that I help him get all the assistance he can to meet his dreams.</p>
<p>CalR, thanks for the correction on the signatures. I just about ended up in the looney house last year working with lots and lots of students who lost SSNs, did not know parents' SSNs, parents were getting married in Jamaica and could not do the form, zillions of reasons forms could not go thru--so I mercifully had forgotten that the form could be printed out and signed like that. IF one can find a live and pertinent body to sign it.</p>
<p>^^Good point. The kids I've known in this situation have had their parents around to sign the signature form right away. It would be a lot more difficult without that.</p>
<p>If the kid has the stats to be desirable to a full or generous fin aid college that uses PROFILE, there is a form that the GCs at school have that attests that the father has been out of the kids' life for a very long time and is not findable or part of the kid's life at all. If you have such schools in mind for this kid, getting that form would be helpful and may open up some options to him in private schools that will give generous financial aid.</p>
<p>I am a permanent resident/green card holder in the US. My mother has overstayed her visit and is therefore here illegally. My father is out of the picture via a "request to waive fathers information form," just like what the person earlier in this thread had mentioned. I have filled out the CSS profile and all forms that apply to the university I hope to be accepted by but I am hesitant to fill out the FAFSA as it is clearly a government site, thus giving potential for my mother to be flagged an deported. she has no social and no ID number of any kind. </p>
<p>What do I do?
Are my fears of her being deported realistic?
and how do I fill out the FAFSA without a SSN?</p>
<p>My mother has been in the US for sometime but she never got her green-card, my father is American and is disabled so we receive social security money. For the past 18 years neither one has filled any taxes and now I am unsure of what to put down because my father is out of the loop as far as taxes but my mother makes some money from odd jobs like pet sitting. If I report that she makes money will she get deported and how do I explain why she hasn’t filled any taxes?</p>