<p>establishing residency is based on some strict rules and can be quite difficult. The one that trips many people up is that just living in CA for a year is not enough, you need to be financially independent from your parents if they're not CA residents. And financial independence is a tough hurdle:
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A student is considered financially independent when one or more of the following applies:</p>
<h1>the student is at least 24 years of age by December 31 of the calendar year for which resident classification is requested</h1>
<h1>the student is a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces</h1>
<h1>the student is a ward of the court or both parents are deceased</h1>
<h1>the student has legal dependents other than a spouse</h1>
<h1>the student is married or has a registered domestic partner, or is a graduate or professional student, and was not claimed as an income tax deduction by parents or any other individual for the tax year immediately preceding the term for which resident classification is requested</h1>
<h1>undergraduate students: the student is an unmarried undergraduate student and was not claimed as an income tax deduction by parents or any other individual for the two tax years immediately preceding the term for which resident classification is requested, and can demonstrate self-sufficiency for those two years and the current year</h1>
<p>Note that the financial independence requirement makes it extremely difficult for most undergraduates whose parents are not California residents, including transfer students from community colleges and other post-secondary institutions within California, to qualify for classification as a resident at a University of California campus.
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<p>see <a href="http://www.registrar.ucla.edu/residence/establish.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.registrar.ucla.edu/residence/establish.htm</a></p>