<p>Okay, so right now I am in the middle of re-activating my admission at a university. I was not able to attend this fall, due to some minor issues. I am planning on attending this coming Spring. What I need help with is what do I do about the FAFSA with the situation I am in?</p>
<p>My mother is a single mother, living in Europe, with no source of income except that from a previos marriage. With the amount of money she receives, there is no way she can support me in University. </p>
<p>My father is and has been incarcerated for the past 10 years, so obviously no support can come from him. </p>
<p>I am unable to put my mothers information on the FAFSA, but because i had been living with her my whole life, I am unable to claim myself as an independent, even though I am not currently being supported by her in any means. </p>
<p>What are the steps I need to take in order to apply for financial aid, or federal loans? Cause right now, it just seems like I will be unable to go to college at all, unless I figure out a way to fund it myself.</p>
<p>Why are you unable to put your mother’s information on the FAFSA? If you really can’t, but you also don’t qualify as an independent, you’ll have to contact your school’s financial aid department and work this out directly.</p>
<p>However, you should also be aware that qualifying for financial aid does <em>not</em> automatically provide you enough money to pay for college. The maximum possible amount of federal aid is 15k a year, and I’m not sure you’ll be able to get all of it, so you’ll almost certainly need to provide some funding yourself.</p>
<p>Who have you been living with? Are your parents still married and why can’t your mother fill out the FAFSA? Are you a US citizen, is your mother a US citizen? Is your father a US citizen?</p>
<p>Does your mother understand that by not providing this information to you for the FAFSA, you will be severely limited in your access to financial aid? Is she not filing the FAFSA because she doesn’t want to file US federal income tax? I’ve filed the non-resident forms and they are a pain but they aren’t impossible. In any case, since she’s living abroad, it is quite likely that she won’t owe a cent in US taxes.</p>
<p>If you absolutely cannot get her to help you with the FAFSA, you will have to sit down with the financial aid office at the college you hope to attend, and find out what your options are. Send kelsmom a PM and ask how to do that. She should have ideas for you.</p>
Do you mean Foreign Earned Income Exclusion? US citizens live abroad do not file non-resident forms.</p>
<p>I’m just guessing. OP’s mom may not be require to file US income tax return as she has no earned income. If that is the case, OP’s FAFSA would be very simple.</p>
<p>Of course, OP should consult with a tax person.</p>
<p>Yup those are the ones. I was writing on the I-touch rather than the computer and so didn’t post the link to the right sections of [Internal</a> Revenue Service](<a href=“http://www.IRS.gov%5DInternal”>http://www.IRS.gov)</p>
<p>Alex217,
Presumably you are now working here in the US. Check on the residence policies of the public colleges and universities in the state where you live. You might be able to qualify for in-state status on your own. That should bring the cost of tuition and fees into a range that is affordable if you attend part-time while you work full-time in order to continue supporting yourself. Not what you want to hear, I know, but in fact that is how many students get their educations.</p>
<p>And if your mother is afraid to give her information for the FAFSA because she thinks that means she will be obligated to pay something to a college, tell her that is not true. It simply helps determine what you pay. And by not having her information, you will pay more.</p>