I moved to Washington State on 15th Aug 2018 and started my graduation on 22nd June 2019 on H4 visa status. To avail the benefits of in-stat tuition fee I was supposed to complete one year of stay in WA state. So, on Aug 15th 2019 I as I completed one 1 year in WA I have applied for residency status change and got my approval. However on Sept 9th I went for my visa stamping from H4 to F1 and I got my approval. So, now I got to know from the registrar office that as i am now an international student I am no more eligible for the in-state fee benefits.
But before going for my visa stamping I made several appointments with my adviser and asked her clearly if my residency status would be effected if I get my visa converted and she assured me that once my status gets updated in the records of registrar’s office it wont be any problem . She just asked me to make sure that I go for my stamping after getting my approval for residency status and I did the same. Now when I asked her that I took her advise before going for stamping and this is what I was told, she said that they will go through the University and state policies and will see if they can do something.
Now I am really disappointed with this because the difference in fee structure is really high. What can be done in such a case where a student is misguided? because I followed what ever was told by her and because of her mistake I have to pay.
Nothing can be done if they gave bad information or you didn’t understand it, the law is the law.
Are you sure this is correct? Are you sure that while on an H4 visa all you had to do was live in Washington for a year to get instate residency for tuition purposes? That isn’t even the rule for a resident of another state to get residency in Washington for instate tuition purposes.
Yes, That is what is there in the University’s policy. You have to prove that you are staying in that state for more than an year along with a State ID proof.
So, isn’t there any law when a student is wrongly informed about anything? As the only point of contact for a student is the assigned adviser.
Sadly, you take the consequences most of the time. You get an apology. You are ultimately responsible for understanding the rules.
If the university regulations on this as posted, are not as what is being enforced, that is often another case altogether and your chances of a successful appeal may be good.
Everything is online. Did you work, pay state taxes and not attend any educational courses? If you moved to Washington to primarily attend a university, you moved for educational purposes and are required to pay nonresident fees.
It took me less than a minute to look it up. Colleges note that they are not fully responsible for your interpretation of information so they provide everything in written format. They expect college-worthy adults to be able to research this information.
Bottom line, you moved to Washington for your education. The state can’t reimburse you for that so you have to pay full fees. The F1 status indicates that you are an international student. https://registrar.washington.edu/students/residency/residency-faq/
When something is this important, you never stop at the first encouraging words. Or settle for “an advisor’s” assurance, unless they are a residency decider and you provide accurate info and follow instructions completely.
The state of WA’s rules are online:
My bold.
“To qualify as a resident student, state law requires that you establish a bona fide domicile in the state of Washington for a period of one year, for purposes other than educational, prior to the start of the semester or quarter for which you intend to register.”
UW (same basic policies, as it’s also a WA public uni) “Students who are financially dependent upon parents, legal guardians, or others (excepting spouses) must provide documentation to prove their parents/court-appointed legal guardians have established a bona fide domicile in the state of Washington.”
Read https://registrar.washington.edu/students/residency/residency-requirements/
^ I quoted for dependent students.
The school is not advising you on your visa issues. they are simply not qualified to talk to the vagaries of immigration. Did you even have control over whether you went from H to F? I am not sure any state would give you what you are looking for. This is not something you can blame on the school. H4 is dependent, that seems a very unlikely position from which to gain instate residency independently. How old are you? Are your parents still here on H visas? What state did you graduate high school in?How long were you on H4?
Yes, the H4 is a dependent visa. Where does the parent (spouse?) holding the H1B visa live?
I’m guessing that the parent with the visa is in Washington and you were a dependent last year, that with one year work in Washington for a purpose other than education the the H1B worker/parent, established residency for H4 dependents. When you switched to an F1 visa, you become independent of the parent and also an international student. You no longer have a tie to Washington to establish residency (F1 students can’t).
You also may not have had a choice not to get the F1 visa if you are close to 21 years old. There may have been no way for you to keep that H4 visa and thus no way to ever establish instate residency in Washington. Time was just not on your side.
If that parent wasn’t in Washington, you weren’t establishing residency in Washington. They require the student to work in Washington for one year and you can’t work on an H4 visa.
Right, so one would assume OP had no choice in the H to F, I assume the parents or however held the H1b isn’t in the picture otherwise why would OP have changed status? I would say that even the Uni would be clear that shifting from H to F would trigger a rate change, so this might be a lost in translation issue.