Hello,
I will be a high school Senior next year; however, as the title says, my parents do not live with me because they do not have the opportunity to come to the U.S. I was born in the U.S. so I am legally here.
I currently live with a relative in the U.S. that provides me with shelter (Pays rent, food, etc) I have no complaints about that. My question is what should I do when I have to fill the FAFSA application? My relative will not be paying/helping to pay my college. My father works in another country, but earns not much money when compared to U.S. dollars. Would I file as independent? Would I have to submit my relative’s income? Or my father’s? If it is my father’s, do I need to get some type of proof of his earnings? (He gets payed with cash, so there is no real record of his earnings) I have talked to my counselor and she has said that I should probably not fill the FAFSA application, but I think I would be missing a great opportunity.
Thanks, for your attention.
You can NOT file as independent. Your relative is not a legal guardian…you are just living with her…right?
For FAFSA purposes, you will need to provide your parent income. It doesn’t matter where they reside.
Your counselor is WRONG. As a citizen, you are able to complete the fafsa. If nothing else, you would,get the $5500 Direct Loan in your name. If your family income is really low, it’s possible that you could qualify for part of the Pell Grant or maybe SEOG dollars.
In addition, some schools use the fafsa information to determine their own institutional need based awards.
Where are you planning to apply to college? Some schools will require the fafsa AND the Profile.
Thank you so much for the quick reply. Yes, I just live with him. Since my father does not live in the U.S. what Social Security Number would I submit (if I am asked for his)? Also he does not file taxes due to not living in the U.S., would that be an issue?
I am planning to apply to Michigan State, University Of Michigan, and maybe Rice University.
Thank you again 
just curious, how do you know this? I would like to know if there is a website where I can find information like this to share in case someone else is in a situation like this.
I am by no means an expert in this area, however the link below has information regarding your concerns. I did cut and paste a small section that pertains to what you are asking. Take a look at the website for more information.
https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/fafsa/filling-out/parent-info#noncitizen-guidance
"How should we report information about my noncitizen parents on my FAFSA®?
Here are some tips for students with noncitizen parents:
If your parent does not have a Social Security number (SSN), you should enter all zeroes for him or her on the FAFSA where it asks for that information.
Do NOT enter a Taxpayer Identification Number in the SSN field on the FAFSA.
If your parent doesn’t live in the U.S., select “Foreign Country” from the dropdown box for the question “What is your parents’ state of legal residence?”
If your parents live and file taxes in a foreign country and don’t file U.S. taxes, you’ll have the opportunity to indicate that they have filed their taxes.
Then, when the FAFSA asks what type of tax return they filed, you should select “Foreign tax return.”
Convert the amounts on the foreign tax return into U.S. dollars as directed by the FAFSA help and hints.
If your parent doesn’t file taxes at all, select “Not going to file” for the question that asks whether the parent(s) have filed taxes. Then you’ll be asked for information about how much your parent earned from work, rather than being asked for information about specific items on the tax form.
If your parent doesn’t have an SSN, he or she won’t be able to create an FSA ID (which requires an SSN) and therefore won’t be able to sign your FAFSA electronically. You’ll need to select the option to print a signature page when you get to the end of the FAFSA. Print the page, have your parent sign it, and then mail it to the address indicated so that your FAFSA can be processed."
Have you verified that you can get in-state tuition and fees even though your parents don’t live in the US? Lots of students like you find out that they are considered out-of-state everywhere.
Are you 18 yet? Can you get your current guardianship converted into a formal court-ordered guardianship? That would make you independent for financial aid purposes.
I am currently 16, I will be turning 17 this year. Thanks for letting me know about this tuition situation, I will try to check that. We are afraid of formalizing the guardianship, as we do not know what may happen if things do not happen nicely (maybe I will be away from my relative, who knows).
If your relative is your legal guardian, that will end when you turn 18. Do you have any other options other than to live with this relative?