I heard that marrying a person can save on tuition fees. I am not a citizen, but I am a permanent residence. I am actually getting married to an international student. Do you think it is going to help me get in-state tuition fees for Universities of California?
I’m having a hard time understanding how marrying an int’l student who isn’t a California resident is going to help you get in-state tuition.
@GMTplus7 thank you for your reply. My boyfriend arrived to US and we are thinking about to settle down. Well, I had heard some people get married to claim themselves as financially independent.
And according to UC Davis, “Married and Not Claimed on Taxes: You are married or in a registered domestic partnership and you were not claimed as an income tax deduction by your parents or any other individual for the tax year immediately preceding the term for which you are requesting resident classification…” It is one of the qualification to claim yourself as a financially independent.
So I would like to know marrying just anyone would be fine or if I need to marry someone that pays taxes.
Financial independence and residency are two separate issues. If you marry and your parents don’t claim you on their income taxes as a dependent anymore you are financially independent. There are specific rules for becoming a resident of each state that have nothing to do with financial independence.
First, to be clear, marrying does not necessarily mean you pay less tuition, it will just make you independent for filing FAFSA. So you would be eligible for a Pell Grant if your income allows it and you can borrow at the Independent student limit which is 4k more than dependent students.
Are you already enrolled at Davis now?
I do not think you will be reclassified as instate just by marrying a non CA student.
Are you self supporting?
@NorthernMom61 thank you for your helpful reply. I want to be financially independent but I heard marrying a person helps. I am from CA and it requires financial independence. But do you know if it is okay to be financially independent if my boyfriend that I am marrying is also a full time student?
@BrownParent Yes, I understand. I would like to be an independent if I am eligible. I am not enrolled yet in Davis. I took a year off from Davis and going to be returning in coming fall.
I see. I am not self supporting. What other requirements do you think I need to fulfill? Btw, thank you for your comment!
I don’t think it matters whether or not you are both students. Your incomes will be combined once you are married and I don’t know how this gets processed through FAFSA. Other more regular posters here may.
@Northernmom61 didn’t quite give the full picture. It doesn’t matter if your parents claim you on taxes or not for FAFSA. For FAFSA you are a dependent until you are 24, married, or military, OR in foster care (and a couple other rare situations.) Just because your parents don’t claim you on taxes does not make your independent for financial aid purposes for gov’t or university aid.
@nogoofy your statements are too goofy. If you are already a CA resident then you should already be getting instate tuition and fees. Can you please clarify why you are asking about instate when you are already a resident?
If you marry, you can file your FAFSA as independent. How are you supporting yourself, is it independent of your parents? I am not sure if the UCs will give you extra aid if you are using your parents for living expenses.Sometimes if you enter under one status they have expectations that would continue, as far as university funds go. I’m not sure how it would work out. Presumably your ‘spouse’ would not be supporting himself and paying his own tuition. You would have to report your joint incomes for FAFSA. I don’t know how the money he gets from his parents would be reported. Are you or the other student going to consult an attorney as there could be Visa issues?
@BrownParent Thanks for clarifying,there are those details that I couldn’t help with.
I don’t see how financial independence of non citizen helps at all.
@BrownParent - This has nothing to do with FAFSA. It’s about being classified as a state resident for purposes of in-state tuition. And the OP is not state resident. Just because she attends UCD doesn’t mean she’s a California resident (and clearly, she’s not).
According to the [UC guidelines](UC Legal - Office of the General Counsel | UCOP), being deemed a resident is dependent on three factors: presence in the state, intent to remain in the state, and financial independence. As the OP noted above, marriage satisfies the financial independence requirement - and it doesn’t matter who she’s married to! See the Section 2(f) under “Exceptions" - at the bottom of page 17.
So, @BrownParent, @NorthernMom61, and @billcsho, before you call the OP “goofy” and tell her she doesn’t know what she’s talking about, look at the UC policy. She knows what it says, and you apparently do not.
@nogoofy - your reading of the policy is correct. You’d need to be married for one “tax year” prior to the term for which you want to claim in-state status. I don’t know if marriage during that tax year would qualify or not. You should contact the UCD residence deputy (through the admissions office, I believe) and request clarification. The policy is the same of all UC campuses, so if you have trouble reaching the residence deputy at UCD, you can call the residence deputy at ANY of the UC campuses, and get the same information.
I did not refer to the OP as goofy at all, was trying to help.
Well, she said above in post #5 “I am from CA” so I took her at her word. But I’m pretty over this conversation as she is not very clear about a lot of things.
@nogoofy, I just reread your posts, and you stated that you’re planning on returning to UCD this fall. Just to be clear, since you have to have been married "for the one tax year immediately preceding the term for which resident classification is requested,” marrying your boyfriend now would NOT help you for the fall semester. It may help you for Spring 2015, though - that’s what you need to clarify with the residence deputy. Ask him or her the following question: If you marry today, and file your 2015 tax return as married, would that get you in-state residence for Spring 2016?
One other question for you: is your boyfriend planning for the two of you to remain in the U.S. after you both graduate from school?
I’m not sure what your goal is. Your tuition cost isn’t going to go down a dime when you marry an international student who is also not a resident of California. Sorry…but you will still be OOS.
Being independent for financial aid purposes probably isn’t going to be a huge edge either. You will still be OOS, and the vast bulk of need based aid in CA public universities is given to instate residents via the Calgrant.
Get married if you want to…but don’t do it for financial aid gain…because there likely won’t be much, if any gain. Yes, you will be an independent student for financial aid IF you support yourselves. But that will not give you instate status easily in CA.
Please clarify…have you already done a term of college in CA?
No, @NorthernMom, you did not. That was @BrownParent. Didn’t mean to imply that all three of you had said it - sorry!
@BrownParent, I see your point. I am going by the thread title and first post, both of which refer to “in-state tuition fees.” If she’s trying to qualify for financial aid, that’s a completely different question
And also, you want to establish your instate domicile and intent to stay there separate from attending college.
I would suggest you discuss this with someone at the college. Get the info you need to petition for a change to instate status. Once you have that, you will know what the requirements actually are…and if you have the potential to meet them.
And going by the first post…the OP wondered if marrying an international student would help her gain instate status. The quick answer to that is not likely, since her spouse is also not a resident of CA. Might this get her independence for financial aid purposes…yes, it MIGHT…not will, maybe it will. But there is no guarantee that she will get one penny more aid from UCD, which doesn’t meet full need for all, and provides most need based aid via the Calgrant (since she is OOS, she is likely not eligible for that either).
nogoofy
where did you go to high school? in Calif? Did you graduate from a Calif high school? did you go at least 3 years in Calif?
Once you marry, I think you can START to establish residency in Calif, but I don’t know if Calif will say that you’re only there for your education.
FA is another issue. You won’t qualify for cal Grants or Blue and Gold if you didn’t go to high school in Calif
@thumper1 - I posted the link to the [UC Residence Policy](UC Legal - Office of the General Counsel | UCOP) in post #11 above, along with exactly whom the OP would need to contact to get more info. And both you and @mom2collegekids are mistaken that marriage would not impact the OP’s eligibility for in-state status - and it makes no difference whatsoever whether or not the boyfriend is a California resident (or even a U.S. citizen). There’s a specific provision for fast-tracking residency for students who are married - read the policy before you tell her it can’t be done!