<p>Hi, This is my first post. I am an American citizen and parent of a college student. I was sent to China 5 years ago to open an office for an American company. The company is located in Massachusetts and I claim MA as my residence although I do not own a home/car, etc in any state in the USA.</p>
<p>My son has been living in Virginia with his uncle since 2004. He graduated from High School in Virginia in 2007. He receives in state tuition. However, now that we need to apply for FAFSA, we have a problem with my residency. </p>
<p>How do we handle this? Has anyone else had this experience? </p>
<p>thanks in advance for any help!</p>
<p>Linda</p>
<p>For him to have claimed in state status as a dependent in Virginia, a legal guardian or parent who is domiciled in Virginia should have been paying more than 50% of his support. If he physically lives in Virginia, but a resident of another state pays his expenses, then technically, he should not have in state status. So for him to have claimed in state status, I assume the uncle is his legal guardian and pays at least 50% of his expenses or claimed him as a dependent on his taxes. If so, that hasn’t changed and your residence won’t matter.</p>
<p>I believe you are a resident of the state in which you are a registered voter. But I’m confused as to why your residency is a problem for FAFSA. I’m sure lots of students have a parent living in another state (or another country).</p>
<p>If I read this correctly, the issue is with being able to support an in-state tuition in Virginia when the parent is a resident of Mass. There are some FAFSA experts who look in the Financial Aid forum regularly. The OP may want to try there.</p>
<p>For FAFSA, the parent with whom the student lived for the past 12 months is the custodial parent and should fill it out. If the student did not live with a parent for the past 12 months, then the parent who provided the most support should fill it out. Here, the Mom is in a bind because the student should not get Virginia in state tuition if the Mom provided most of the support and does not live in Virginia. Yet, she should not fill out FAFSA unless she provided most of the support. If the uncle is a legal guardian and provided over 50% of the support, thus getting in state tuition, then he should fill out FAFSA.</p>
<p>“… now that we need to apply for FAFSA, we have a problem with my residency.”</p>
<p>OP - Help us out here. What are the specifics of the problem?</p>
<p>It is what it is. Your issue is not with the FAFSA (FAFSA doesn’t care). Your issue is with the College. They have their rules for determining whether your son qualifies for in-state tuition or not. That is not a Federal Financial Aid issue. FAFSA only cares about dependency on whether to count your income towards Expected Family Contribution.</p>
<p>It is possible that your S is your dependent for FAFSA purposes, but your Uncle’s dependent for residency purposes. It may help if your son has a VA driver’s licence and is registered to vote in VA.</p>
<p>I left home after high school and became independent in another sate. However, once I went to college, I was again dependent upon my parents. I was a state resident for tuition purposes even though I was dependent upon my parents in another state.</p>
<p>These rules vary from state to state. For example, in Maryland, OperaDad would have had a difficult time getting in state tuition because he was financially dependent on a person not living in the state. In that case, the presumption is that the student is out of state. The residence of the student only matters if the student has been declared independent. The same is true in Virginia - from my reading of the statute. If a student is not independent, tuition status depends on the residence of the parents or legal guardian.</p>
<p>“My son has been living in Virginia with his uncle since 2004. He graduated from High School in Virginia in 2007. He receives in state tuition.”</p>
<p>It looks to me like the college/university has already determined that he is in-state. Your situation is a very special one because you are working out of the country, and because your son did indeed graduate from HS in VA. Your son needs to pop by the financial aid office at his college/university and discuss the situation with them. They will know what to do.</p>
<p>Wishing you all the best!</p>
<p>Since you don’t really have any residence in the USA, why not start claiming VA as your residence on your 2008 taxes? MA is a high tax state, so I can’t imagine that VA could be any worse.</p>