<p>My family and I have been living in Georgia since 1998. We came from England on E2 (Business Visas). We have to renew our I-94's every two years. My parents have been paying taxes ever since we moved here. We have not applied for Permanent Residency, but we are legal residents of Georgia. </p>
<p>Now my question is, should my college by charging me Out-of-State Tuition? I provided them with my drivers license, utility bills, legal documentation, federal and state income taxes, and everything imaginable to prove that we should be charged In-State.</p>
<p>Not sure which college you are referring to, or exactly what your residency status is but the following is required “You are a U.S. citizen, Resident Alien or are in a visa status permitting indefinite permanent residence in the United States”</p>
<p>Residency Criteria
Who has the best claim to residency for tuition purposes? You, your parent, your spouse, or your court-appointed guardian (if you are a minor) should meet all the following criteria:</p>
<p>Residency Criteria
Who has the best claim to residency for tuition purposes? You, your parent, your spouse, or your court-appointed guardian (if you are a minor) should meet all the following criteria:</p>
<p>The person has always resided in Georgia or can demonstrate that they currently reside in Georgia and residency in any other state or country has been abandoned. Maintenance of ties with another state or country will contribute to a non-resident decision and include but are not limited to such things as: financial support from a person who is a resident of another state or country, payment of income taxes to another state, registering a vehicle or securing a drivers license in that state or country.
The person has lived in Georgia for the 12 consecutive months immediately preceding the start date for the term and their 12-month durational requirement has not included time attending any educational institution in Georgia.
The person can demonstrate that they moved to Georgia for purposes other than attending any educational institution in the State of Georgia.
The person can demonstrate economic self-sufficiency and has contributed to the state by paying meaningful taxes.
The person is a U.S. citizen, Resident Alien or is in a visa status permitting indefinite or permanent residence in the United States.</p>
<p>OR </p>
<p>You are a U.S. citizen, Resident Alien or are in a visa status permitting indefinite permanent residence in the United States and
You can demonstrate that your employer has transferred you to Georgia within the last 12 months or that you previously held residency status in Georgia but moved from the state and returned within the last 12 months.
For more information, please read the Board of Regents’ regulation for determining residency.</p>
<p>I think this policy varies by state. But based on the above it sounds like you may not be eligible for instate tuition in Georgia as, based on your visa type, you are not a permanent resident of the US. But really, only the school can tell you for sure.</p>
<p>BMP, the problem is your Visa status – it is not considered permanent and ergo speaks to transitional or temporary intent. The reason “refugees” are cited in the language as eligible for review, for example, is because they do not yet have status but the INTENT is permanent residency. Whereas your E-Visa and your 1-94 are entirely “temporary” in nature.</p>
<p>You would be designated Out of State at my son’s school as well. Your only remedy to my mind is to apply for permanent resident status to improve your tuition costs for next year (if granted…it is a lengthy process.) Even then, you will still have to prove a “severance of all ties” with England, meaning, your family cannot hold property, money, or shared custody among the countries for family members (eg. if you were subject of a custody order as a child.)</p>
<p>By way of example, we had to go through all of this even though we had been granted PERMANENT RESIDENT status, owning home and business, paying taxes etc. in a state for SEVEN years already, just because my son had a parent living in another country. We were successful in proving the severance of all ties in the end.</p>
<p>I find highly ironic that this student whose parents came here legally and have followed all the rules will have to pay out-of-state tuition. But an illegal alien’s (I refuse to call them undocumented) family will pay in-state tuition. </p>
<p>^That is not necessarily true – someone with actual refugee status is different than an illegal alien. Also, coming here “legally” on a business visa is trumped by coming here “legally” with the intent to permanently reside here via the permanent greencard process. In some cases, people wait YEARS on lottery lists to engage in that expensive and intensive process. So would it be fair if everyone with a temporary visa be granted the same entitlements as people who have given up their DNA (among other civil liberties) to be here permanently?</p>
<p>It appears that the family of the OP and/or the OP has not applied for permanent resident status. Thus they are not considered permanent residents and therefore are not eligible for resident status.</p>
<p>If they had permanent resident status, the OP would be considered an instate resident of Georgia.</p>
<p>I think this IS fair. By not applying for permanent status, the family seems to be indicating that the U.S. is not their chosen country for permanent residency purposes. I’m not sure why they think they should, therefore, qualify for instate tuition.</p>
<p>You are missing my point. I’m not saying the OP should get in-state tuition. He/she should not for the exact reasons discussed above. </p>
<p>My point is that the OPs family followed the rules. If they had entered the country illegally and the OP would get in-state tuition. And we wonder why we have this problem?</p>
<p>But does Georgia offer in state tuition to illegal immigrants? I know some states do. But this varies by state, just as some states will offer instate tuition to legal residents who are not citizens or permanent residents. On the same link I posted above it says the following:</p>
<p>
which implies that perhaps they do not.</p>
<p>In fact it is possible Georgia Universities may not admit people here illegally at all</p>
<p>After the Jessica Colotyl incident earlier this year, I believe that Georgia has cracked down hard on undocumented students and illegal immigrants in general.</p>
<p>What if we have no family living in England? we also sold our home, businesses, and cars before coming here. isn’t that proof?
we do intend to applying for permanent residency, but we need a million dollar investment and ten full time employees. we have the investment, but dues to economic hardships, we cannot afford ten full time employees.</p>
<p>^OP, I am all too familiar with how difficult it is to meet the requirements for residency and I am sorry this is happening to you but in terms on shedding light on WHY it is happening to you, these conversations we’re having are meant to illustrate that. You may wish to have your family investigate other avenues to achieve residency. So in answer to your question, no, those actions do not serve as proof – only pursuing residency serves as proof because it is the only quantifiable measure. That said, perhaps if you wrote a letter outlining your intent to secure PR status but explain exactly what the roadblock is in your case, and perhaps if you could show that PR was in process (eg.apply anyway) maybe they would take that into consideration (but I know they would not at my son’s school.)</p>
<p>Are you a senior in high school? Do you have high stats? If so, then you need to explore finding schools that will give a student like you a good merit scholarship so that you can get your costs down.</p>
<p>*we do intend to applying for permanent residency, but we need a million dollar investment and ten full time employees. we have the investment, but dues to economic hardships, we cannot afford ten full time employees. *</p>
<p>??? What do you think that is needed for residency?? Who told you that? Do you think that everyone who gets residency in the US has a million dollar investment and 10 full time employees??? Surely, they do NOT.</p>
<p>thanks for your answers everyone! i just think this is UNFAIR because the government has no problem in taking our money in the form of taxes and when it come to reaping the benefits, nothing. </p>
<p>mom2collegekids… if you are here on BUSINESS VISAS, those are the requirements.</p>
<p>I agree that it’s frustraing, BMP, that your family has been living in GA, paying taxes in GA, and is working toward staying in GA – but are not considered residents of GA. I think if you have any chance of getting instate status it by doing what an earlier poster recommended: documenting everything you can and arrange a meeting with someone at the school who is high up the bureaucratic ladder. I don’t think it’s very likely it will work, but might be worth a shot.</p>
<p>This is happening to you and millions of LEGAL immigrants, who made lives here, pay taxes, buy properties, setup businesses, provide employment to others, etc.</p>
<p>Apparently the OP is referring to an EB-5 visa used to generate jobs. [EB-5</a> visa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EB-5_visa]EB-5”>EB-5 visa - Wikipedia) There are locations in which only $550K is required rather than $1M.</p>