Parents who are not US citizen

<p>Dear Parents:</p>

<p>My wife and I are not American citizens. When I pursued my doctoral degree in the U.S., my daughter was born and hence is an American citizen. We returned to our own country 15 years ago and have not paid U.S. tax since then. </p>

<p>My daughter is applying for a number of prestigious colleges (undergraduate, 2007), which offer financial aid. I am not sure if there are regulations regarding my non-citizen status and tax issues. I am most grateful if any guidance can be granted.</p>

<p>Sincerely,</p>

<p>HPK</p>

<p>I found this:
[quote]
Should I include my parent's income if they live in a foreign country?
Yes. The income earned in a foreign country is treated the same as income earned in the United States. You will need to convert all figures to U.S. dollars using the exchange rate in effect on the day you complete the FAFSA. If income tax is paid to the country in which the parents reside, the dollar amount must also be reported on the form and converted to U.S. dollars. If the government of the foreign country does not tax the income,the income earned from your parents' jobs, needs to be reported as earnings from work.

[/quote]

<a href="http://www.istart.uiuc.edu/parents/finaid/faq.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.istart.uiuc.edu/parents/finaid/faq.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I think it's pretty clear. To get financial aid, your daughter needs to fill out a form called the FAFSA, which asks for parent assets and income. The information should be provided on the form.</p>

<p>Being considered an "international student" often puts an applicant in a whole different category for financial aid purposes and admissions purposes (and it is usually not a good category--more difficult). </p>

<p>For example, the Stanford website says: "Our admission program is need blind. For all but some international applicants, financial status will not affect the admission decisions." Some schools do not give financial aid to international students. Federal government aid is not available to international students, I believe.</p>

<p>There are often separate (and different) financial aid and application forms to fill out if you are an international student. Your non-citizen status and US tax issues won't be an issue on the forms--the forms collect financial/other data.</p>

<p>The question is, "What constitutes an international student?" Surprisingly, that is not made clear. If you and your parents are US citizens and you are living in a foreign country, then you would not be considered an international student. If you and your parents are a citizens of another country and live there and you would require some sort of visa to study in this country, then it seems clear that you are an international student.</p>

<p>But what about this case where you have a US citizen living with non-citizen parents in another country? I don't know the answer--only the admissions/financial aid people can give you a definitive answer. And the answer may differ from school to school...</p>

<p>You raise a good point, but I would think that if the daughter is a US citizen, then she should apply AS a citizen -- checking "US Citizen" on all appropriate forms. I know that she qualifies for federally-subsidized aid, which attaches to the citizenship status of the applicant -- and the only concern of the school in terms of acceptance should be tied to the issue of aid qualification. The problem that schools have with international students (in terms of standards for acceptance) is that they cannot afford a need-blind stance when the kids do can't qualify for federal aid programs -- because if they did, then they would have to fill the gap in aid dollars. </p>

<p>Basically she is a citizen who is entitled to all rights as any other citizen... including the right to be free from discrimination based on her heritage. </p>

<p>But you are right that it might be a good idea to check with the colleges just to be sure.</p>

<p>I am also pretty sure that it is the student's citizenship status and not the parents' which is relevant for such issues as financial aid and quotas some schools have on international applicants. Her application will be read at most schools based on the HS location-- as is this is the comparable pool- but this is not the same as the financial aid review.</p>

<p>Student is a US citizen therefore for financial aid purposes including fafsa not an international. There are many such US citizens around. :) Sometimes the school will choose to put this type of student into their statistics after admittance as an international showing their diversity pool to be larger.</p>

<p>Thank you so much for your kind suggestions which are very useful.</p>

<p>hpkao</p>

<p>If you don't already have one, get a US passport.</p>

<p>I'd reiterate, check with the individual schools' FA office. I've asked a similar question and gotten different answers. D attended a foreign HS, right? That would figure in.</p>

<p>Just a question and maybe this will seem stupid to a lot of people but....are you sure she is a citizen? Just being born in a country does not make one a citizen, especially if the parents are foreign born. With a country with such tight immigration laws (even 18-20 years ago) I would be surprised if they allowed this, esp. considering it is not the case in Canada or the UK. I'm sure you know what you are talking about, but I'm just curious.</p>

<p>Yep, she is unless she fits within some very tiny exceptions:</p>

<p>
[quote]
Sec. 301. [8 U.S.C. 1401] The following shall be nationals and citizens of the United States at birth: </p>

<p>(a) a person born in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof

[/quote]

That "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" is a very tiny exception relating primarily to children of diplomats</p>

<p>Iderochi, that confirms she was a "citizen at birth," but doesn't it get complicated if she's ALSO a citizen of her parents' homeland. Dual citizenship laws are really complex, aren't they, depending on the countries involved and other factors?</p>

<p>Yes, the rules of dual citizenship can be complicated, but most complications arise in the context of naturalized citizenship vs. citizenship by birth or blood. In this case, the OP's daughter is a citizen by birth or blood of two countries. </p>

<p>Once you are a citizen of the U.S. it's actually quite difficult to lose citizenship -- usually a person has to take up arms against the U.S., commit treason, or take an oath of allegiance to another country. The "oath of allegiance" is what makes this tricky in the naturalization context. If a U.S. citizen becomes a naturalized citizen of another country, and in the process of doing so takes an oath of allegiance to the other country, then they may lose their U.S. citizenship -- but not always (because you are right it gets complicated very quickly in this context). </p>

<p>But for the OP's daughter, I think the rules are pretty clear. She was a U.S. citizen at birth, and I doubt very seriously if she's done the types of things that would either automatically revoke her citizenship or show an intention to voluntarily relinquish her citizenship. </p>

<p>CAVEAT: I am an attorney but NOT an immigration lawyer. :) I'm drawing on somewhat distant law school memories and the information on dual citizenship that I learned in the process of adopting our youngest (an all-american boy who just so happens to also be a Russian citizen as well).</p>

<p>As far as where the OP's DD attended high school - many US citizens attend foreign high schools - think of our military - they are still US citizens.</p>

<p>One of the issues of applying as an international is the proof of ability to pay that will be required - for those who do not receive FA.</p>

<p>I do believe the OP's kiddo is a US citizen and needs to apply as such.</p>

<p>My question regarding that is - what stops anyone from just crossing the border and having their child born in the US? It would be quite easy then. Would there not also be extensions on that such as AND born to U.S. citizens or something like that? Sorry my brain is frazzled and I can't quite think straight. </p>

<p>As for dual citizenship, like Iderochi says, it often depends on the other country as well. A friend of mine, who is a US citizen, who was born in the Congo was told to revoke his american citizenship in order to gain congolese citizenship (which he obviously didn't). Whereas some friends of mine are tricitizens (with the UK and Canada being the other countries)</p>

<p>Regardless, for financial aid purposes, she will most likely be regarded as a US citizen as there are no residency clauses with FAFSA.</p>

<p>TO the OP - you may want to check to see if your DD was granted automatic dual citizenship - being born here - makes her a US citizen - of non-citizen parents - may make her also a citizen of your home country as well - rather than all this speculation.</p>

<p>Good question, and the subject of a lot of controversy lately. There's even a derogatory name for the resulting child -- "Anchor Baby". Wikipedia has a good overview (but as always, read Wikipedia carefully, though this article looks pretty good).</p>

<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_citizenship%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_citizenship&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>JeepMom, I agree. Speculation on LJ isn't much help. I wish Homeland Security (which now replaces INS) was more help. Did you read today's news about the 81-year-old bus-riding U.S. Army vet whose passport was initially denied because he couldn't produce a driver's license? I'm wrangling with those folks now over similar matters, and they're not very responsive. But the OP sounds like he has a grasp of it.</p>

<p>The OP was in the US for a probable extended period of time - to achieve a PhD - I would certainly not tag the child born in the US as an 'anchor' baby in this particular situation. The birth of the child was not the main intention of the OP - but a circumstance happening while in the US - thus really a US citizen.</p>

<p>thanks for the link Iderochi. I find that very odd seeing as in a country with a lot more leniant immigration policies, the UK, does not grant citizenship upon birth. It is entirely dependent on the nationality of the parents. Anyway I've completely hijacked this thread. Sorry</p>