Hello, my dad is American but left the US before turning 1 year of age and never came back and my mom is Brazilian.
I’m Brazilian but now I hold a Permanent Resident status(green card) and I’m able to live and study in the US without a visa but I am very confused because since I have NO TIES with any US state or territory, can I just pick any state and be considered in-state for tuition and grants???
Thank you.
Im not sure about the rest, but I don’t think you can pick which state you’re a resident of. You’re in-state for the state which your parents pay taxes in.
NO, YOU CANNOT JUST PICK ANY STATE AND BE CONSIDERED IN-STATE FOR TUITION AND GRANTS.
For California public colleges and universities you are considered an OOS student for all 4 years. Your residency is based on where your parents reside.
Being a permanent resident has to do with your immigration status, and has nothing to do with paying instate resident taxes for years and years. These are separate from paying Federal taxes. So you can’t just pick a state and say, okay, now I’m a resident of x-state.
The more popular the state, the harder it will be to prove instate residency.
For California publics, the UCs are $55k per year, the CSUs are $36k per year with little to no financial aid for OOS residents.
You can become a resident of any state by moving there. You can get a license and vote and get the cheaper price for entry into state parks and go to the zoo on the free resident days.
It is unlikely you will qualify for instate tuition for the first year, and for many states you will never qualify for tuition discounts. There are some where you will - Utah, Missouri are two that are easy, but you have to stay year round.
There are many US citizens/PRs who live abroad and are not a resident of any state and, therefore, don’t qualify for resident tuition rates at any public college.
In this situation, students seeking financial assistance should focus on private schools which offer generous financial aid; and on public & private schools which offer merit scholarships. In either case, the US citizen/PR is also eligible for US Federal student aid.
You will not be considerd to be a resident in any state.
also…since you’re a transfer student, most schools would give you lousy aid. How much will your parents pay?
Paying state income tax has NOTHING to do with it. There are people who currently pay state income taxes and have paid them to the state continuously for decades but don’t get the resident benefit for it. And there are people on welfare who pay no income taxes and get the resident benefit.
Which state?
Could we please turn off the CAPS key?
If you don’t live in any US state, then you’re not a resident of any state.
In state tuition is cheaper because the residents of the state have subsidized the tuition through their taxes.
If you live abroad and have no connection to any state…you won’t have instate status anywhere.
But if that is the case, how do you have a green card?
@happymomof1 can you advise?
I’m not an expert but…
The OP says:
“My dad is American”
therefore the OP is citizen by family line - just like Mitt Romney whose father was born in Mexico but was an American citizen because of his parents being American citizens.
This may be of use:
https://www.uscis.gov/us-citizenship/citizenship-through-parents
which indicates there may be exceptions.
However, as others note, if the OP has not lived in the US (for the last two years, according to: http://www.immihelp.com/greencard/retain-greencard.html ), he may have to manifest the citizenship.
That being noted, residency depends on the state, but in general, at least one year in a particular state is required to manifest residency. There are colleges that will give “in-state tuition” to out-of-state residents, based on merit or other reasons.
The OP needs to clarify. Did the OP give up U.S. citizenship and keep only Brazilian at some point? Was the father an American citizen when the OP was born (maybe not)?
The citizen parent left the US before turning 1 year old, and has not lived in the US sufficient time since then so as to be able to pass citizenship on to the child. However, as the child of a US citizen, the OP is entitled to a green card.
If the citizen parent’s own parents were US citizens, and had lived in the US sufficient time so as to be eligible to pass citizenship on to their own possibly foreign-born children, then the OP might be able to claim US citizenship through the grandparents. But I’m not up on the rules about that.
In any case, provided the OP has a green card, he/she is in the same position as all other citizens and legal permanent residents whose parents live outside the US. The OP needs to look for places where he/she can establish in-state residence for tuition purposes independently of the parents.
@happymomof1
What is the requirement for living in the U.S. for,this student to maintain green card status? If he is not living in the U.S. how long can this continue?
Based on the above, it appears that the Father was born in the US and left the US before the age of one. So the question is, why is the OP not an American Citizen through his Dad?
Because maybe the dad gave up his U.S. citizenship BEFORE the OP was born.
Or maybe the OP gave up his own U.S. citizenship.
We don’t know.
ETA back to my previous question.,this poster is currently enrolled in a college in another country…he doesn’t live here. How long can this OP maintain permanent resident status in the U.S. when he does NOT live in the U.S.
https://www.uscis.gov/us-citizenship/citizenship-through-parents
“The U.S. citizen parent was physically present in the U.S. or its territories for a period of at least 5 years at some time in his or her life prior to the birth, at least 2 of which were after his or her 14th birthday.”
For those of you who are wondering, Brazil and the US have reciprocity agreements regarding the conditions governing visas and permanent residency. I have a friend who is married to a Brazilian and he holds permanent residency in Brazil even though he only goes there to visit. The PV facilitates ease of entry and exit.
@JoaoEduardo João, you can’t just pick a state for residency (at least not without some minimal waiting period which could be 1 year or many more). However I think you might be eligible for federal financial aid and you would be eligible for scholarships that are open to those with legal residency privileges in the US, which you seem to have because of your green card. Your parents would have to fill out the FAFSA to be eligible for need based aid and that might be complicated, depending on their financial situation in Brazil. Some universities also require the CSS profile which is a more complex financial report that also includes a wider array of assets, including real estate.
Most scholarships are available only to incoming freshmen. So if you have college credits from Brazil or a US-based university, you’d be considered a transfer, and there would be much less available.
There are a number of colleges and universities that provide substantial scholarships for incoming freshmen with very high grades or test scores and are not dependent on residency in a specific state. Here is a list:
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
If you haven’t already done so, take the ACT or SAT. Some schools might want you to take the TOEFL, so look into that. Whatever you do, ask specific questions about scholarship eligibility of the colleges that interest you and don’t rely solely on hearsay from strangers on the internet.
In some states - ny, fl , mn- you can move there, work for 12months, register your vehicle and to vote, you can’t enroll in college, and after 12months you’re considered an instate resident.