What is my legal residence (FAFSA)?

I’ve been in the U.S. with my family as permanent residents since January. Am I supposed to identify myself as a legal resident of New York? I’m asking this because NYS law requires residents to reside in the state for at least a year. I’m a high school senior.

Yes, NY is your state of residence.

This does not mean that NY will give you instate tuition, just that you live in NY.

I haven’t done a FAFSA in a while…but my recollection was that it also asked how long you resided there…or something like that.

It does ask if you have lived in that state for the last 5 years. You just answer ‘no’ if you haven’t.

I think the only thing it uses that state for is the skip logic for simplified assets. I had one kid living in one state and the questions were skipped, and another kid living in another state and the questions were asked. It didn’t change anything on the FAFSA, or the EFC calculation.