<p>I'm in the process of dealing with my financial aid to get my fiscal 'house' in check so to speak. I personally have everything filled out. But now I have to deal with the financial documentation for my non-custodial parent. He hasn't been in my life for over 10 years and never paid for anything related to my schooling. His absence from my life was due to immigration issues and recently he returned to the country with proper documentation. He has no job or assets to even speak of. The only reason I ever am in contact with him at all is because he's living in my aunt's house a couple towns over from me. He uses technology very little( not even an email.) </p>
<p>In my case what are his responsibilities? Is someone with no assets at all still supposed to be filling out NCP information? Also another question I realized that some colleges offer a Non-Custodial Waiver of their own and some don't so they just forward you to the NCP. I'm so confused. Can anyone clear this up for me? I would really appreciate it.</p>
<p>Yes, he must still fill out the non-custodial profile. The plus side is that if he has no income or assets to speak of then you have no problem with your EFC being raised. the down side is an international student, if your ability to pay is a factor in admissions, it can hurt you because you will need more of the school’s resources.</p>
<p>If you cannot get a waiver for the non-custodial parent Profile and your school(s) require it, yes, your dad will need to complete it. Since he has no income or assets, it should not impact your financial aid. Since you do have contact with him, I’m not sure you will qualify for a waiver.</p>
<p>Based on the scenario that OP presented s/he would not be eligible for a non-custodial waiver. Just because he has no assets it does not exempt him from filling out the form. If he does not fill it out Op may end up not receiving any institutional aid at all.</p>
<p>I deal rather often with such situations. Just have him fill out the form, honestly and as much as he can. It’s generally LOTS easier to fill out the form, than to get the form waived. As previous posters have said, if he has little to no assets it will not affect your aid, since the FA officers can see that he has no resources–duh! </p>
<p>I have seen that some colleges will waive the Non-Custodial Profile just on my word in a phone call (I’m a HS college admissions counselor) for instance, parents are separated, dad is in an African country with little or no access to any sort of technology and is not in touch regularly. In other cases, to waive this requirement 3 different letters from individuals (caseworker, counselor, clergy) were needed to verify that the NCP was not available.</p>
<p>And my favorite–the Nigerian father had to pay the fees for the NCP, but the form would not accept credit cards. Called? Finally found out from CollegeBoard that its computer would not accept credit cards from a few countries–including Nigeria! We had to “pretend” on the form that the father was in the USA, and then explain under additional information that the father really did not live there (it was clear from his address) but that the form would not go through otherwise. Love my job! Love CollegeBoard (not)!</p>