I am Ukrainian and I lived in Shanghai (China) since 2011. In January 2019 I moved to Los Angeles with my husband who is from here and with our daughter. A year and a half later I was admitted to the MBA program, but recently my residency status was denied. Here is why:
I don't have California Driving License
I don;t have a car registered under my name
I didn't file taxes doe 2019.
I don’t have a CA driving license since it took me 9 months to get my Green Card first… DMV has not been accepting new appointments since March. Our car is registered under my husband’s name.
Anyway, I provided all possible documentations (Bank Statements, Gym memberships, daughters preschool payments from my account and bills to my address, current employment verification ). House lease is from the relative on my husband 's name with my signature there as well , proof of our marriage in 2016 and many many others… My Social Security card has my address on it, my Green Card and Employment Authorization Card from USCIS (which are government documents) were issued to my current address.
Question: if I don’t own a car, and don’t have a driver’s license, and did not file taxes for 2019 - does it mean I am not a resident? I have only lived in LA since my move, and I am paying taxes here since 2020 (since I got my job).
Does denying my residence mean going against my rights? Should I hire an attorney to legally represent me in the communication with the University? I simply cannot accept my “out-of-state” status since I only lived in CA for one year and a half, and nowhere else.
Please, share your thoughts and advise. Thank you!
You moved here in January 2019? That was over 1 1/2 years ago. Why didn’t you get a drivers license as soon as your green card was issued in October 2019. That was 5 months before the DMV shut down in CA.
Since you moved here in Jan 2019, did your husband not work all of 2019? If he did, how were his 2019 taxes filed? Why not married filing jointly? By the time you filed taxes for 2019 in early 2020, you had your green card. Were you not listed at all on his tax return? Why?
Contact the school. What college is this anyway? Ask them what you need to prove that you have been living in CA as long as you have been, or what you need to do to gain instate status. If you have all that you need, then file an appeal.
@Gumbymom how many years does it take to establish residency in CA? I know in some states, it’s longer than a year but I don’t know about CA.
ETA
You don’t need a lawyer. You need to communicate with the school yourself. A lawyer isn’t going to help. It’s just going to cost you money.
You need to find out what the criteria for grad students to gain instate residency status. You need to provide documentation that the school requires.
I’m still wondering why your husband didn’t file a joint tax return with you as his wife in 2019. And why you didn’t get a drivers license?
If you don’t drive, you can get a California ID card. You can explain that because of the covid shut down that you can’t get an appointment.
You/husband should have filed taxes for 2019. If neither had income, it is harder to establish the residency. You can still file now. If you didn’t owe anything you don’t have to file, but you CAN file. You may only need to file federal taxes with a California address or the UC may be asking for California taxes too. Find out, and then file those documents.
The requirement is not that you have a car or a license, but the more of the things on the list, the more likely they are to deem you a resident. California requires residents to get a California license within 30 days of moving to the state. If you are driving under a different license, you are in violation, and it goes against your claiming to be a resident. California does issue licenses to undocumented and non-citizen people living in California, and that would have helped you to establish the date of residency. If you don’t drive at all, tell them that.
You may still be able to show them that you meet the requirements. Spell it out for them. “I moved to California with my husband XXX on January 1, 2019. We rent a home from ABC and here is a copy of our lease. I do not drive so do not have a driver’s license, but my husband does and here is a copy of his license and of our car registration. I’ve worked at LMN company since March 2019. We filed our 2019 federal taxes late because we did not owe anything and did not realize we could file. Here is a copy.” etc.
The person making the decision was checking boxes. You did not have enough boxes. If you show the whole story, they will be able to make a better decision.
@twoinanddone the OP said she didn’t work in this country until 2020. She didn’t start working here in 2019.
I hope she explains why the husband didn’t file his taxes as married filing jointly in 2019. And if he didn’t work that whole year, who supported them?
Without documentation of actually living and paying bills in 2019, this poster could very well have difficulty establishing residency. It’s 2020…and she would need to prove she had been a resident since August 2019.
But she needs to talk to the school.
WHICH COLLEGE? And yes, I put that in caps hoping the OP will answer that question.
Something doesn’t fit or sound right.
The first thing people do, to get established in California, is get: a steady job, license (or California ID), a residence in the names of the people renting/leasing at market rates, and paying California State taxes in their name/s.
If your relative is not charging you at the going market rates, then you are not paying what your California neighbors are paying.
You don’t have any information that shows that you have paid California fees or State taxes.
The UC’s and CSU’s are mostly funded by our California taxes via the 540 form.
Every year thousands of non-resident students attempt to get into California’s public universities and attempt to get instate resident tuition. The schools are very good, strong and competitive and the costs are absorbed by taxpaying residents. If you haven’t paid into the California state system consistently, and don’t have the paperwork to back up paying state taxes, then you are considered a non-resident.
Since you don’t show any government evidence of your intent for residency, then the university assumes that you have arrived to California for “educational purposes only” and has to charge full fees. You haven’t paid State taxes.
These residency requirements have been established for a while because the universities lose a lot of money to non resident students whose intent is to get a cheap education at a large cost to the tax paying residents. Resident families pay a huge amount in taxes for the education of their children and spaces are at a premium.
Your rights are not being denied and a lawyer would only add costs and time only to be denied. If you can afford a California attorney, then you can afford to pay non-resident tuition.
As a Green card holder you MUST file taxes every year. whether you owe tax or not. You were resident in CA for all of 2019, so failure to file is a problem all on its own.
@twoinanddone is right: you need to communicate with the school.
Also they may be determining residency based on the date your green card was issued.
[quote]
You must:
Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident (“green card” holder)
OR
Hold a valid, qualifying nonimmigrant visa (or other eligible immigration status such as asylee or refugee status)
If you are in an eligible immigration status for establishing residency for tuition purposes, you must be in that immigration status on a continuous basis for at least 366 days immediately prior to the residence determination date (the first day of instruction) of the term for which a residence classification is sought. You must maintain an eligible immigration status in order to continue paying the in-state tuition.
So…what is the date your green Card was issued? You said you moved here January 2019. And it took 9 months to get your green card. That would take you to October 2020…which is after this term starts regardless of the college (in CA)
@vpa2019 what I meant is…if her green Card was not issued until October 2019, a year later would be October 2020. It takes a year to establish residency…October 2020 residency is too late for the term that is starting now.
Others have pointed out the seeming flaws in your actions.
Yes, you need to read the whole UCOP document, IF we’re talking about a UC school.
Yes, you need 12 months of satisfactorily proven residency before the start of the academic term.
And yes, with the volume of residence requests, it’s possible that they rubber stamped you a denial, without considering some side facts. Yes, they can reverse. But it’s critical any contact you have is polite and diplomatic- and properly informed. They have the right to shut down further discussion if not. That would be unfortunate.
An attorney can’t resolve this school issue. (In this case, it’s wrong to automatically assume your “rights” have been violated. Each applicant is supposed to be fully self informed of the policies.)
But an attorney could certainly straighten out any misunderstandings you may have about what’s required related to your legal status in the US.