University of California Resident (in-state tuition) for Daughter of Non-citizen Resident (Condit)?

My wife is a citizen of Brazil, and she has shared custody of her daughter, who has stayed in Brazil to finish high school (2 years to go). We live in California, and the daughter visits us and we visit her. She is very intelligent and we are wanting her to take the SAT/ACT and apply to UC. I hear that there is the “Condit Bill” that can provide residency to children of California residents, but it seems a bit tricky if she is intending to finish high school in Brazil (she will turn 18 in November, 2017, just a few weeks before she graduates high school–the school year ends in December down there).
As for “dependency”, we just married in March, 2015, and there is no formal “child support” payment in one way or the other.
Is it possible to take steps to allow my wife (CA Resident now) to enable in-state residency for her daughter when applying to college here in California in the next couple of years?
Thank you!

Can she finish high school in California instead?

You should check with the UC of choice for their specific policy. Residency is usually determined by the parents domicile, but it can be tricky.

She should finish her high school in CA.
One part of establishing residency is her physical presence in the state. Your residency as a parent is the other component.

is the DD a US citizen?

If not and she didn’t go to a Calif high school for 3 years, I don’t see how she’d qualify for instate rates.

Typically, non-US-citizens have to go to a US high school for 3 years to get instate rates.

Establishing “residency” includes being a US citizen or green card holder.

Work your way through the residency booklet until you can understand how it applies to your family situation.
http://www.ucop.edu/general-counsel/_files/ed-affairs/uc-residence-policy.pdf

So it’s too late then for the 3-years-California-high-school exception.

Thank you!

mom2collegekids: I think there are a lot of rules unique to California (i.e., the Condit Bill, and AB540, etc.) that eliminate the requirement for US citizen or Green Card to establish “residency” as it relates to college and in-state tuition.

The daughter is not a US citizen (or resident) currently, and will finish high school in Brazil for certain.

The mother (my wife) will have been living here since before we married, and we are getting her green card now, so she will have been a resident for a couple of years prior to admission of her daughter.

Thank you BrownParent. It is VERY tricky for her since she turns 18 2-3 weeks before she graduates! If she graduated earlier, it seems the Minor rule could come into play and effectively accomplish the goal of in-state (since she would move in with us before her 18th birthday). But otherwise, if she actually finishes and turns 18 (a matter of weeks!) she would lose the ability to be in-state…
Does that sound right?

from Page 22:

E. Rules Related to Minors

  1. General Rule
    The residence of the parent with whom an unmarried minor (17 or under) lives is considered the residence of the unmarried minor. Accordingly, the parent must satisfy the physical presence and intent requirements. If the minor does not live with either parent, his/her residence is that of the parent with whom s/he last lived, with the exceptions of 7., 8., or 9. below.
  1. Parents’ Permanent Separation or Divorce If a minor student’s parents are separated or divorced, the residence of the parent with whom the minor maintains his principal place of abode will be considered the residence of the minor. The principal place of abode is typically the residence of the parent with whom the student spends the majority of his/her time. For example, the principal place of abode for a student who spends the school year with one parent and summers with the other would be the home of the parent with whom the student lives during the school year.

A minor student will derive residence through a California resident parent only if s/he
begins living with the parent prior to reaching the age of majority. The parent must satisfy all applicable residence requirements. The student must provide clear and convincing evidence that s/he changed their
domicile to the California resident parent’s home prior to the student’s 18th birthday.

Does she need to be physically present at her current high school for the last term of her senior year there in order to graduate? If not, would her father allow her to move to the US in time to start high school in September before she turns 18?

Public high schools in the US are obligated to admit all students who are not yet 18, and to allow them to remain enrolled until the end of the school year in which they complete that school district’s graduation requirements or the end of the school year in which they turn 21, whichever is later. If your stepdaughter can get into high school in the US before turning 18 then she would have at least one school year to catch up on the English reading/speaking/listening/writing skills that she will need for college, and as a student in a public high school, those classes would be free. Once she finishes high school, someone is going to be paying thousands of dollars each term for her English classes until she can get her TOEFL score high enough for college admission.

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mom2collegekids: I think there are a lot of rules unique to California (i.e., the Condit Bill, and AB540, etc.) that eliminate the requirement for US citizen or Green Card to establish “residency” as it relates to college and in-state tuition.
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Yes, I’m aware of that. But, those rules are to largely permit undocumented or other int’l students who went to high school in Calif or to allow American kids whose divorced Calif parents to get “instate rates”. The fine print doesn’t seem to include a situation where an int’l student (no green card or citizenship) to move to Calif after high school and get instate rates.

Your stepD doesn’t fall into that category.

How old will she be when she graduates from her HS?

She won’t qualify for Cal Grants or Blue and Gold because she didn’t go to a Calif high school, are you prepared to pay the $30k+ per year for her to go to a UC if she gets instate rates?

I see that she’ll turn 18 prior to graduating.

when your StepD moves here, what documentation will she immediately have? green card? or education visa or tourist visa?

If the daughter is still a minor when the mother gets her own green card, the daughter can be included in that application.

^
Even if the Dd isn’t living in the US? or a dependent?

Mom has joint custody. It doesn’t matter where the kid lives.

Daughter is not here now as mom (my wife) is applying for the green card, and we actually have the interview this week with USCIS. So I think the Federal (USCIS) residency status of the daughter will not be able to be addressed until later. Again, she is 15 now, and won’t graduate until she is just past 18 (unless we can get her done a week or two early…)

@mom2collegekids: I am still reading that as long as she moves here to live with mom when she is a minor (even 1 week before 18), then she should be treated as a resident (for reasons I posted above). How would this not apply, even if she did not go to a California high school? The wording seems to be ok as long as she moves here before 18…?
Thanks!