im in a very weird situation and need help badly. Very crucial business in my life

Paying for College
1

<p>Hi.</p>

<p>im a junior and about to apply to college, Tuition became the problem.</p>

<p>i am a US citizen who lived in Korea for most of my life but has been going to US highschool since freshman year.</p>

<p>however, my parents werent able to be with me for the first three years and i was with a legal guardian.
but there is another twist.</p>

<p>First two were with my legal guardian, but since i became 18 and with some personal problem, i lived my junior year with someone who i know but not my legal guardian.</p>

<p>Finally for my senior year, my parents were able to make time so currently im residing with my real parents.</p>

<p>The problem is, im not a independent student.
my parents pay for my school and everything so i am a dependent student.
and my parents are not US citizens(they are Koreans) and dont pay tax since they arent making any money here(they are wiring any money needed from korea) - however, they have lived america in 90s for some year</p>

<p>btw, my parents were really concerned and came over with 'TRAVEL VISA' and actually illegal to claim he have been living with me for 12 month.</p>

<p>however, Georgia tech In-State Tuition requirement says this(below)</p>

<p>An independent student who has established and maintained a domicile in the State of Georgia for a period of at least twelve consecutive months immediately preceding the first day of classes for the term shall be classified as "in-state" for tuition purposes.</p>

<p>It is presumed that no student shall have gained or acquired in-state classification while attending any postsecondary educational institution in this state without clear evidence of having established domicile in Georgia for purposes other than attending a postsecondary educational institution in this state.</p>

<p>A dependent student shall be classified as "in-state" for tuition purposes if either i) the dependent student's parent has established and maintained domicile in the State of Georgia for at least twelve consecutive months immediately preceding the first day of classes for the term and the student has graduated from a Georgia high school or ii) the dependent student's parent has established and maintained domicile in the State of Georgia for at least twelve consecutive months immediately preceding the first day of classes for the term and the parent claimed the student as a dependent on the parent's most recent federal income tax return.</p>

<p>A dependent student shall be classified as "in-state" for tuition purposes if a U.S. court-appointed legal guardian has established and maintained domicile in the State of Georgia for at least twelve consecutive months immediately preceding the first day of classes for the term, provided that appointment was not made to avoid payment of out-of-state tuition and the U.S. court-appointed legal guardian can provide clear evidence of having established and maintained domicile in the State of Georgia for a period of at least twelve consecutive months immediately preceding the first day of classes for the term.</p>

<p>im not sure about myself being qualified for this because my parents is not paying tax, and i didnt live my final year of high school with my legal guardian.</p>

<p>so im worried for being accused of abusing the system by having a legal guardian and not living with them.</p>

<p>to shorten the issue,</p>

<p>1.im not a independent Student.
2.My parents havent been with me for 12 consecutive months and actually impossible to claim they have been living with me even they did because they are here with Travel Visa.
3.My parents did not pay tax
4.i did not live with my legal guardian for my senior year(this part is my biggest concern).</p>

<p>so my question is, how can i be qualify for In-State Tuition Status.
can i claim i am dependent from my guardians?
oh i didnt mention that currently im in a apartment and supposedly living by my self.
so i was wondering i am living by my self but had to have support from guardian.</p>

<p>please do ask questions about further info since this was written on a fly.</p>

<p>thanks.</p>

2

<p>You need to make an appointment with the admissions officers at GA Tech and discuss your particular situation. Normally, a student who doesn’t make enough money to support himself or herself is considered to be a resident of the place where his or her parents live. Some states will award you in-state status if you have graduated from a high school in that state. Sometimes the admissions officers can make exceptions. Only the people at GA Tech can tell you what is possible in your case.</p>

<p>If you get a job and support yourself for a year, you will qualify as a state resident. That might be the best option for you right now.</p>

3

<p>

</p>

<p>Is it THAT easy to become a resident of Georgia?</p>

<p>If so, that would solve problem A…instate tuition status…but it might NOT solve problem B…independence for financial aid purposes. Two different things.</p>

4

<p>Whether you lived with your legal guardian or not does not appear to matter. As long as the paper work still has the person down as your legal guardian and s/he is a Georgia citizen, you can claim residency through him/her. You should have all of the paperwork available to send to GT , and, yes, as Happymom posts, clear it through them before considering this as fact.</p>

<p>It is no different than most states, Thumper, if you go through the trouble of establishing a legal guardianship. The legal guardian is just that. Just as a kid can be living with other people or even having a place for him/herself, with parents, so he could with a legal guardian.</p>

5

<p>is it OK if they are not Citizens either?</p>

<p>they are working for Kia Factory and has a permanent residency.
and they pay tax, lived in Georgia for 3+years.</p>

6

<p>I agree with the recommendation to contact the FA office at GA Tech. After the bru-ha-ha with the illegal alien student at another metro Atlanta college last year (she has graduated and was not deported),Georgia has tightened up the rules to qualify for in -state tuition.</p>

7

<h1>7</h1>

<p>thumper1
Senior Member</p>

<p>Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 14,639
Brian, please clarify…is your guardian a resident of Georgia?</p>

<p>im not sure but they probably are since they have been living, working in Georgia for 3+years.
i shall ask when i can but i am certain that they are</p>

8

<p>“An independent student who has established and maintained a domicile in the State of Georgia for a period of at least twelve consecutive months immediately preceding the first day of classes for the term shall be classified as “in-state” for tuition purposes.”</p>

<p>It looks like it MAY be possible to establish GA residency IF you work in GA and support yourself for a year. This is something that you need to clarify with the people at GA Tech.</p>

<p>From what you have written, it looks like your guardians have their green cards. Do I understand that correctly? In any case, their immigration status doesn’t matter now that you are no longer a minor. What might be useful is if your situation of having been in a legal guardianship qualifies you for independent status. That is something that you should discuss with the people at GA Tech. When you visit, be sure to take copies of any legal paperwork that was written when the guardianship was created.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

9

<p>^ That says an independent student. Does that mean the OP has to establish independence for FAFSA first?</p>

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<p>That is something that I am wondering about as well. Independent for tax purposes and independent for the FAFSA are two different things. If all that matters in GA is independence for taxes, then BrianChen can establish residence on his own.</p>

11

<p>Brianchen 's parents went through the process to have legal guardianship of him turned over to someone. So he would be a dependent. And the legal guardian would be the one whose residency is what will be his “in” for state residency for GA. He does need to check with GT about the rules, but as written they seem to fit in his case.</p>

12

<p>When Brian completes his FAFSA, he will be asked a series of questions NONE OF WHICH have anything to do with his tax status, living independently, or supporting himself. Those things might help him with his IN STATE tuition status, but unless he can answer YES to one of the FAFSA questions, he will be considered a dependent for FINANCIAL AID PURPOSES.</p>

<p>So…it’s very possible he could be independent for purposes of establishing instate residency, and DEPENDENT for financial aid purposes.</p>

<p>His situation is a bit unclear to me. If he was under legal guardianship at any time prior to age 18, I believe he WOULD be considered independent for finaid purposes but I’m not positive about that. BUT this has to be a formal guardianship…not just a decision to live with another family because it suited the family needs for one reason or another. So Brian…was yours a legal guardianship situation?</p>

13

<p>Was Op’s legal guardianship done through the US Court or the courts in Korea? OP will have to provide documentation that his/her parents have no legal rights to the child. </p>

<p>One does not necessarily have to give legal guardianship for a student to attend public school in the US. They can simply provide a notarized letter stating that they have allowed their child to live with “the Egberts” who are the loco parentis and give them permission to make medical decisions for their child.</p>

<p>It sounds like parents simply allowed someone to be guardian to their child while s/he lived in the US to attend high school. They would fill out the FAFSA using all 0000s as the social security number and convert their income to US dollars as Op would still be entitled to federal aid as a dependent student (op will not be considered independent for aid purposes). However, the school will have to determine if Op can attend school as an in-state resident.</p>

<p>This does not seem to be the case since OP states that s/he is in contact with parents and parents support the student.</p>

14

<p>Did you go to a HS in GA? That should help to see if you qualify for the HOPE or Zell Miller scholarship, which would also be a great financial opportunity. Also, read this website for specifics on qualifiying as instate/scholarship oppty’s [GAcollege411</a> - Administrative Reviews and Exceptions](<a href=“http://www.gacollege411.org/Financial_Aid_Planning/HOPE_Program/Administrative_Reviews_and_Exceptions.aspx]GAcollege411”>http://www.gacollege411.org/Financial_Aid_Planning/HOPE_Program/Administrative_Reviews_and_Exceptions.aspx)</p>

15

<ol>
<li><p>You must ask Georgia Tech directly about your eligibility for in-state tuition. That has to do with residency.</p></li>
<li><p>If you apply for federal student aid, your parents must provide their information on your federal FAFSA application. The fact that they do not live with you and are not US citizens are of no concern in this process.</p></li>
</ol>

16

<p>I know of a situation like this here, Sybbie and the legal guardian ship was given in the US courts. I think the school itself has to make the determination in such cases as state residency for state tuition purposes is a whole separate issue from meeting state residency for other things.</p>

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<p>This article is a year old, [Georgia</a> Board of Regents addresses residency requirements - Atlanta Immigration | Examiner.com](<a href=“http://www.examiner.com/immigration-in-atlanta/georgia-board-of-regents-addresses-residency-requirements]Georgia”>http://www.examiner.com/immigration-in-atlanta/georgia-board-of-regents-addresses-residency-requirements) and this issue has surfaced a lot in GA because of the case I mentioned earlier. I will ck for an update</p>

18

<p>The follow-up articles are more about the changes in the HOPE scholarship, but residency requirements are also addressed. If anyone has the patience to read the changes in the scholarship and in/out of state tuition residency issues as addressed in the legislature, please, have a go at it <a href=“http://www.ajc.com/multimedia/archive/00844/HOPE_legislation_844198a.pdf[/url]”>http://www.ajc.com/multimedia/archive/00844/HOPE_legislation_844198a.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/en-US/display.aspx?Legislation=32988[/url]”>http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/en-US/display.aspx?Legislation=32988&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

19

<p>I don’t have a clue how GA defines residency status, so I can’t address that.</p>

<p>I will say this about guardianship: A student must be in a full legal guardianship at the time he turns 18 in order to be considered independent for financial aid purposes. If the student is a ward of the court or in foster care for even a single day after the age of 13, he/she is automatically independent; guardianship is different in that it must be in effect when the child turns 18. The guardianship has to be full legal guardianship. Sometimes people turn over guardianship for various reasons … such as when a child comes to the states & the parents remain in a foreign country … and this guardianship does NOT always fit the definition.</p>

20

<p>thank you everyone for help!</p>

<p>ill be sure to check with GT them selves!</p>