<p>Hello. I'm currently a 12th grade student in Georgia, the state with the worst immigration laws second only to Alabama. My parents havn't been very open with me, and I was just told that I'm not a permanent resident of the state, and that my mother did not even apply for permanent residency yet. I also learned that my mother, my sister and I are all here in America with a traveling visa, but I have been living here for 7 years already...</p>
<p>However, the good news is that my parents do pay taxes, and somehow my traveling visa has been renewed and is still alive. My parents tell me they can get records of their bank accounts and tax related information that I don't know much about. I don't have a social security number, and I'm a student here without a student visa. But still, my parents pay taxes and I've lived here for 7 years. Is there any way for me to pay instate fees or qualify for scholarships, federal grants, or other financial aids?</p>
<p>Also, I'm not the very top of my class but I have been keeping my grades up pretty high.
I currently have GPA of 4.0 with straight A's in every class and A in my AP Physis B class. I got 5 on the AP Physics B exam and am currently taking AP Lang, AP Calc BC, and AP Physics C. I got 2100 on the SAT with superscore (R640 M740 W720) and 31 on the ACT. If I apply as a freshman with an international student status, what decent schools are there that will give me considerable amount of scholarship? My parents told me they can pay up to about $20,000 max and if I go above that, they will be struggling to get by.</p>
<p>I don't want to burden my parents with more financial probems than what they already have. I want to major in Engineering or Computer related Scinces and I have a pretty good brain regarding math/physics. I know I can go to a community school, but I want to try to get into a good school that will offer me enough scholarship to an international studnet so my parents won't be overwhelmed with money problems.</p>
<p>Please tell me if there's any way for me to pay instate Georgia fees or qualify for any federal financial aid. Please help me find an affordable but decent school that my parents won't have to worry about.</p>
<p>To qualify for federal aid, you would need to be a US citizen or an eligible permanent resident. If you are here on a visitors visa rather than a green card, you will not be eligible for any federal aid.</p>
<p>I don’t know the specifics of Georgia rules for eligibility for instate tuition. </p>
<p>Without a green card, at most schools you would be regarded as an international student in both the application and financial aid process.</p>
<p>It looks like it might be difficult to get instate tuition in Georgia as you are not legally a permanent resident of the US. The best thing is to ask the schools you are interested in.
<p>I am not sure traveling visa is. With a visitor visa, your parents cannot work in the US. Visitor visas will not be renewed continuously for 7 years. No way.</p>
<p>Paying taxes in the US is not sufficient to get residency in any state. You need to talk to your parents and find out what visa they are on. Without that, no one can answer your question. You call up the university, they will ask you the question so you should know if your parents are on B1, or L1, or H1, or R1 etc.</p>
<p>I agree, you need to find out what your status is and how you are classified. That is of the utmost importance. Only then, can you call any of the Georgia universities and ask the questions you have.</p>
<p>It’s not that life sucks, it’s that your parents put you in a terrible position by having you live here illegally–that’s a shame, and I’m sorry. Would continuing your education in your home country be a viable option?</p>
<p>If you were in Texas, you would qualify for in-state tuition even as a 100% illegal alien - you would just need to be living in Texas. Unfortunately, you’re a year late for this. But it’s still an idea; would your parents consider moving to Texas, and having you apply a year later? UT Austin has an awesome CS program.</p>
<p>If your family has been here for 7 years, why haven’t they applied for permanent residency yet? I think they should go see an attorney who specializes in immigration and find out what their options are. Leaving the country at this point and then obtaining a new visitor’s visa may not be the best thing to do.</p>
<p>Not sure about illegal alian laws governing students in GA, but maybe you should start in a CC first, at least you will get a student visa and can stay in the US legally.</p>
<p>Yes, three years required for illegal aliens in Texas, as ED says. Obviously, if you’re in this position, you should research carefully and learn the rules. I was just pointing out the possibility, and you might find something similar in another state.</p>
<p>If they’ve overstayed their visitor’s visas by 7 years, they’re eligible for deportation. I doubt that the U.S. government is going to be too inclined to give them permanent residency after they broke the law by failing to leave when their 6-month stay expired. In fact, they can’t have their status adjusted in the U.S. - they would have to leave the country and apply for residence from outside the U.S.</p>
<p>With the exception of political assyrain and presidential pardon. Example of presidential pardon: after the China June 4th massacre, many Chinese were granted PR status regardless of their prior violations.</p>
<p>You need more help probably than any of us here can give. Even if you figure out a way to get through college you can’t get a job without proper documentation. You might google something like illegal immigrant advocacy and your state to see if there is any group near you that can help you navigate. Do you have family in your native country, can they help investigate attending college in that country while you navigate immigration laws?</p>
Not necessarily. A family in our town were here illegally for around 17 years. One day the INS showed up on their doorstep in black vans. Enough people in the town went to bat for them and supported them, that they were granted permanent residency and are now legal. </p>
<p>I live in a very red and generally intolerant State - but they were well known and hardworking members of the community and people really went to bat for them. I was glad for their son’s sake as he had been brought here as a toddler and being sent back to a place he had no memory of would have been tough for him.</p>
<p>I do feel bad for kids who are brought here illegally and raised here and then encounter these problems. We knew the son when he was a teen and by that time he was very aware of his situation and very frightened about his future prospects and the possibility of having to leave the only place he had ever known as home.</p>
<p>Your family needs legal representation fast, immigration lawyers are trained and knowledgeable to handle your problem, we cannot help you. And do not touch or talk to any school until you have legal representation. It could be expensive.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the possible options. My mother’s thinking of moving to California where the DREAM act allows illegal students to pay in-state tuition if they have lived in California for at least three years. I’m probably not going to qualify but my 9th-grader sister will by the time she goes to college. I’ll probably have to go to cc for two years and work for about a year before I can get in-state tuition for a grad school. </p>
<p>I’m not sure anything is going to work out even if I meet a lawyer but I’ll try it anyways. I guess I have some chances left here in the US. What gets me really angry and frustrated is the fact that I worked hard during high school just to go to some community college. I really don’t want to think this thought but I wonder what I could have become if I studied in here legally or what I could have become if I never even came in the first place… thank every single one of you for trying to help out a poor illegal immigrant.</p>