<p>Me and my sister where born in the US. My mother came in illegally and has never applied for any type of status in this country. She has been here 25 years. Looking into all the options available for immigrants applying for any type of status is impossible and she would be deported (not an option either she is very sick and has no one in her Country to care for her). I have not seen my Father since I was about 6 and we have no idea where he is and if he is even in the country he is illegal as well. My mother has no income what so ever. We live with her boyfriend and he pays half of the bills the other half comes from a renter of one of the bedrooms and some money my sister who does not live with us gives me towards rent and grocerys and my mothers medication. I am graduating high school this year and want to become a Nurse but in order to go to college I need financial aid. My sister cannot help me financially as she cannot even afford to send herself back to school she is 25 years old. She also does not help me even with persistent pushing in handling necessary things. My mother and her boyfriend cant help either (they thought if you put more stamps on your envelopes the mail would get to someone faster) I am all alone in figuring this out. What can I do to avoid having to place parents S.S # and income on my FAFSA.
Please do not judge or criticize my situation I just need help with planning my future and applying for FAFSA. Also to avoid posts about her boyfriend he will be no help financially (and honestly he is not responsible for me he has his own family in his Country which he sends money back to support them), I can even get food stamps because he will not provide his income since he lives in the household. </p>
<p>Please help me with whatever information you can provide</p>
<p>I can’t help as I am not knowledgeable in this area, but I can send hugs and tell wish you good luck. Don’t give up. There are ways. Even if you have to graduate, get a full time job and take classes at the community college 1-2 at a time YOU CAN DO THIS. Community colleges often have merit aid that you apply for that DOES NOT NEED ANY FAFSA OR PARENT INTO and can be earmarked specifically for those interested in nursing, those from certain backgrounds, etc.</p>
<p>I am sure you will get more comments and suggestions.</p>
<p>You can do military service or you can work your way through school, just like a lot of other kids who have parents who can’t afford to sent them to school.</p>
<p>What matters is that YOU are a US Citizen. You are also a legal resident of your state. As such, you are eligible to file FAFSA and whatever state aid applications are required. Your mother does not need a SS number - you would enter 0’s for that field. Please talk with your guidance counselor about having someone help you navigate all of those applications…many high schools have parents who are knowledgeable and volunteer to mentor low income/first generation kids through the process. If yours does not, feel free to post your questions here - lots of caring parents are willing to help.</p>
<p>Sk8rmom, are you certain about that? I was given to understand from her post that with the mother undocumented and boyfriend unwilling to give income information for social services such as foodstamps that there would be no TAX RETURN in the mix. Without a tax return filed, I’m not sure how she could be eligible for FAFSA unless she were to pursue emancipation and be then treated as an emancipated minor whose income would be the sole factor in the FAFSA assessment.</p>
<p>Angelpower, has you mom been filing tax returns? Does she have, or has she ever had, a Tax ID number? </p>
<p>If not, you need to find someone to give you better advice than I can about how to proceed, but I suspect you could pursue legal emancipation (in other words, declaring yourself independent of your mother) if you were willing to move out on your own first and support yourself while getting the legal documentation through the courts. You then could be assessed for FAFSA as an “independent” – which doesn’t usually happen until you’re 24. It sounds as if your mom does not actually have the present capability to support you, so you might in reasonable conscience be able to pursue this route – I am not sure.</p>
<p>Alternately, if your sister could be made your guardian, you could then use her (presumably low) income on the FAFSA and be eligible.</p>
<p>Do you have access to any social service or benevolent immigrant organization in your community to discuss these possibilities? Start with google? If you’re in California, for example, the CalGrant organization hosts workshops about financial aid to sort through these types of conundrums. (<a href=“http://www.calgrants.org/index.cfm?navId=27[/url]”>http://www.calgrants.org/index.cfm?navId=27</a>)</p>
<p>You can also pursue a local community college which should be inexpensive enough to finance off of summer earnings and part-time work to get your (transferable) first two years complete while sorting these issues out.</p>
<p>Hi Anglepower - Since you’re a U.S. citizen, you’re fully eligible for federal, state, and college aid. You do have to fill out the FAFSA, and you should do this as soon as possible. Be sure to go to the correct FAFSA site, fafsa.ed.gov. The reason to do it soon is to make sure that you’re near the front of the line for all the different forms of aid you can get.</p>
<p>For your parents’ social security number, you should put all zeroes. That part is easy. You also need to list your mom’s income, which is harder. Since she doesn’t work, it sounds to me like her taxable income is zero. But she has untaxed income in the form of help from her boyfriend and your sister. If the apartment is in the boyfriend’s name, I would assume that the rental income is his, not your mom’s. So… when you add up the amount of money that the boyfriend and sister contribute to your mom’s and your household expenses, how much would it be? I think that’s the amount you would list on the FAFSA as untaxed income.</p>
<p>kmcrindle - One of the questions on the FAFSA is about tax status, along the lines of “Has already filed”, “Will file”, and “Will not file”. Someone whose taxable income is below the amount that requires you to file a return, like Anglepower’s mom, would simply choose “Will not file.” This shouldn’t be a problem. You don’t have to file a tax return to be able to fill out a FAFSA - unless your income is high enough to make you have to file, and then you do.</p>
<p>Wow, on reading this over, it sounds totally confusing. Anglepower, if you have questions, please ask.</p>
<p>Since you want to become a nurse, your status as a US citizen is the key thing to work with. In my area most hospitals will pay tuition up to $5,200.00 per year if an employee of over 90 days is pursuing education in a healthcare field. I hope there are similar opportunities in your area - the first hurdle of course is getting a job at the hospital. The dollar amount is not huge but it will pay for community college which can get you to the first rung on the nursing ladder - just short of a BSN - and from that point you can work for a few years and then file FAFSA as an independent at age 24 if no other source of funding opens up in the meantime to fund your bachelor’s program.</p>
<p>Healthcare, more than almost any other field, has many levels of education/specialization and you should have tuition options through your employer if you are working in the hospital system.</p>
<p>kmm, yes, I’m absolutely sure of this - there is no requirement to have actually filed an income tax return if you don’t meet the IRS standards to do so! As Calreader said, that’s what “will not file” is for! The OP CANNOT use her sister as a parent instead of her mom, even if the sister was the legal guardian. FAFSA does not recognize guardians, foster parents, or any other relative as a parent, unless they have actually adopted the student. If the mom had any earnings from work or untaxed income during 2010, these would be reported on FAFSA, as well as any asset info that may be required. The boyfriend’s support is not income to the mom or the dependent student - I believe that concept only would apply if the student were independent for FAFSA and the BF was paying bills that were in her name (ie. rent, utilities). It sounds as if the BF would be eligible to claim both as dependents for tax purposes, but that does not have an impact on FAFSA.</p>
<p>I was also going to suggest looking into employment in a hospital/healthcare facility with educational benefits. I knew people working as unit clerks and in dietary services going to school for nursing. Some places require you to pay out of pocket then reimburse after satisfactory grades are received.</p>
<p>Anglepower, have you received free/reduced school lunches anytime during the past two calendar years? If so, I believe you’d qualify for an Automatic 0 EFC and would be entitled to a full Pell grant ($5550 this year) in addition to the standard $5500 Stafford loan, and likely the maximum amount of state aid given. It’s very possible that schools would also award you work study and other grants and low-cost loans that would help you meet the costs of an instate public. What state are you in?</p>
<p>Here are the criteria for the Auto 0 EFC:</p>
<p><a href=“1”>quote</a> Anyone included in the parents’ household size (as defined on the FAFSA) received benefits during 2009 or 2010 from any of the designated means-tested Federal benefit programs: the SSI Program, the Food Stamp Program11, the Free and Reduced Price School Lunch Program, the TANF Program12, and WIC; OR
the student’s parents filed or were eligible to file a 2010 IRS Form 1040A or 1040EZ13, they filed a 2010 Form 1040 but were not required to do so14, or the parents were not required to file any income tax return; OR
the student’s parent is a dislocated worker.
AND
(2) The 2010 income of the student’s parents is $31,000 or less.
• For tax filers, use the parents’ adjusted gross income from 2010 Form 1040A or 1040EZ15 to determine if income is $31,000 or less.
• For non-tax filers, use the income shown on the 2010 W-2 forms of both parents (plus any other earnings from work not included on the W-2s) to determine if income is $31,000 or less.
<p>sk8rmom, are you sure about the boyfriend’s support not counting as untaxed income? I know this has confused me before. I’ve seen a worksheet (not in front of me now) that includes language about money received or paid on your behalf (e.g. for bills) which seems pretty broad.</p>
<p>Calreader, there IS such a question on FAFSA…but it applies to students, not parents! It does not sound as if the student is receiving any cash support or payment of bills in his/her name from the BF.</p>
<p>NO…but it would be “money paid on your behalf”. This is for money paid on the student’s behalf by someone other than the parents (on the FAFSA). The amount paid on your behalf needs to be listed.</p>
<p>Thanks, sk8rmom, for clearing that up. Don’t think I can erase my post now to prevent further confusion - sorry. OP - this is very lucky news for you. Sorry if in ignorance I alarmed you.</p>
<p>How does FAFSA verify if the poster is one of the ones selected for the verification process when there’s neither a Tax ID or SS or a 1040 filed? Just curious.
Forgive my ignorance, but I can’t quite conceive of reporting unreportable income But I guess this becomes very germane in some cases.</p>
<p>The school actually does the verification if they are selected and there are usually a variety of ways to document how they are paying their living expenses - employer statements/W-2’s, signed statements from whomever is providing their support, there could be award letters for SSDI, HUD, HEAP, TANF, or Food Stamps (though it doesn’t sound like it in this case), or proof of assets that they are drawing on that aren’t counted if they qualified for a simplified EFC formula. I’m sure if kelsmom sees this, she’d know more about it though!</p>
<p>It’s not though. The wording of the FAFSA says if it’s cash support that the student would be otherwise obligated to pay herself. Since she’s a dependent student who’s not living on her own, she would not be obligated to pay the rent if her mom’s boyfriend weren’t - her mother would, and therefore it’s not money paid on her behalf.</p>
<p>How thoroughly an investigation for FAFSA accurancy turns out to be is really luck of the draw. If you are selected for the whole works, you can have everything checked from top to bottom, but that rarely happens.</p>
<p>OK so tell me if I understand everything correctly. When filing for FAFSA I would put my mother on the paperwork. Her S.S# would be all 0s. Since the amount of money my sister and her boyfriend give my mom is about $3,000 she would then not be required to file taxes and would mark will not file. This should allow me to file for FAFSA.</p>
<p>By doing this since all the information I am providing to them is in fact factual I should not have any legal problems correct? Will this flag anything against my mother? You have to understand this is a big fear as I dont know what I would do without her here.</p>
But I guess this becomes very germane in some cases.</p>