http://www.hesc.ny.gov/pay-for-college/financial-aid/types-of-financial-aid/grants/tap-faqs.html
I’ve been a NYS resident my whole life, why am I being questioned for Residency?
To meet NYS residency requirements for student aid, applicant must:
Currently be a legal resident of NYS, and
Have been a resident of NYS for at least 12 months immediately preceding the first term for which the award is being sought, or
Have been a legal resident for the last two semesters of high school, or
Have been a legal resident of NYS at the time of entry into the armed forces, Peace Corps, or Vista and re-establish NYS residency within six months of release from active duty.
I don’t live with my parents and they don’t help me pay for school; why do I need to include their information?
A student who is below the age of 22, as of June 30th of the academic year they are applying, will be considered dependent on their parents unless they meet the special conditions for financial independence. As a dependent student you are required to provide your parent’s income information.
To qualify as an independent student under the age of 22, the student must meet all of the basic conditions of eligibility PLUS one of five special conditions.
Acceptable documentation must be submitted as proof. If the documents submitted do not satisfy the special conditions requirements, the student will be denied for financial independence and must submit their parents’ income information.
Students over the age of 35 are automatically processed as an independent regardless of how the financial independence questions are answered.
What are the special conditions and what proof do I need to send?
Condition: You are a ward of the court (not including status as an inmate).
Documentation: Copy of a court order making you a ward of the court or appointing a guardian other than your parents.
Condition: You are receiving public assistance under your own budget and not as a dependent of your parents.
Documentation: Budget statement or other documentation from a social service official showing receipt of public assistance other than food stamps, unemployment insurance, or Social Security benefits.**Housing Assistance/Budget Letter must be in students name
Condition:There has been an involuntary dissolution of your family resulting in relinquishment of your parents’ responsibility and control.
Documentation: A sworn and signed statement from a person other than yourself or your parents (such as a member of the clergy, a social worker, a legal aid representative, or an official at the facility or institution which has accepted responsibility for your control or care) relating to your family circumstances. The statement must include the specific reasons for relinquishment of parental responsibility and control (such as abandonment by the parents, mental and/or physical abuse by the parents, or parents being neither citizens nor residents of the United States), your relationship to the person making the statement, and how that person has direct knowledge of your family circumstances.
Condition: You are a veteran and have been honorably discharged from the U.S. armed forces.
Documentation: Copy of your DD214 showing an honorable discharge, or other official documentation from the Veterans’ Administration or your branch of the service.
Condition: Parents are deceased, have been certified as having a total and permanent disability, or have been declared incompetent by judicial action.
Documentation: Copies of death certificates, medical certification, and court orders. NOTE: Documentation for both parents is required.