When applying to the UW or other state university, does anyone know

[pnwmom]

how an under-25 community college student can establish state residence without her parent's tax return?

She's been living with us for the last three years, and she attended a Washington high school. She's been going to community college and working, and now she wants to transfer to a four year institution.

She been told that she must provide the first page of her divorced parents returns, even though she has no contact with either adoptive parent (and is a naturalized citizen with unknown birth parents). She got Federal aid for community college without providing parental info by receiving a "Dependency Override" on her FAFSA financial aid forms.

She has sent multiple emails to offices at UW and UW Bothell that have not been answered.

I discovered a simple affidavit certifying residency that appears to be meant for Dreamer students, and she could have answered the question on it positively, and certified her residence. But no one will tell her that that form is appropriate for her. She has only been told that without her parents' tax return -- which is not obtainable -- she will be considered an out-of-state resident, even though she has lived here and gone to school here for the last 17 years.

It doesn't seem right that someone with a Dependency Override, who has been in this state since she was 6, and attended a public high school, should have so much trouble proving her residency.

This is the form that the website says is for Dreamer students, and yet she can also answer the single question. Shouldn't she be able to use the form?

http://www.southseattle.edu/documents/undocumented/HB-1079.pdf

[eridani]

1. I'll ask around n/t

[eridani]

11. The replies I got by email recommended contacting state legislators

If other suggestions posted don't work, consider that. It would be especially helpful if any are on Education committees.

[Kilgore]

2. We had a similar situation

Calling got us nowhere. Neither did writing.

Ended up going to admissions armed with school transcripts, copies of w-2's and most importantly a copy of the law. Here is a link.

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/WAC/default.aspx?cite=250-18

After a bit of discussion with the admissions officer, all was good. It sounds like you will have no problems if you can produce her WA school records.

[pnwmom]

4. Thank you, Kilgore!

Good idea about bringing all that with me. And that law (and the legislators "intent" statement) sure sound clear to me.

[Kilgore]

10. Good luck

I found things go rather smoothly when face to face with the right person.

Have one daughter left to go. UW Vancouver gets three more years of tuition checks before we are done.

[pscot]

3. Go to Schmitz Hall and talk to a live person

Residence Classification/ELP-R Office
Office hours: Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Box 355850
Room: 264 Schmitz Hall
Phone: [phone]
Contact: [email protected]

[pnwmom]

5. Thank you!

None of my own children went to UW, so this is very helpful.

[pscot]

6. You don't even have to go on campus

Schmitz is at 15th and Campus Parkway, right across from the Henry Gallery.

[pnwmom]

7. Even better!

One more thing I didn't know. Is there parking nearby?

[pscot]

8. Vast parking garage under Red Square

There's an entrance just across 15th from Schmitz, IIRC.

[pnwmom]

9. Thanks, pscot!

[eridani]

12. Response from Rep McDermott's community liasion

Not sure of the best answer. A few thoughts:

· www.Access.wa.gov provides information on establishing WA residency, including for purposes of school tuition.

· The UW website should also have a section on this.

· If the UW is not responding, you can go up the chain of command to get a response.

· If not having a birth certificate from another country becomes an issue, you may need to get help from a Congressional office. Not sure where the person seeking help lives, but I know you know the district maps well!


Hope this helps.

David Loud
Community Liaison

Congressman Jim McDermott
1809 7th Avenue, Suite 409
Seattle, WA 98101

p [phone] f [phone]
e [email protected]

www.mcdermott.house.gov

Please keep us posted on outcomes.

[pnwmom]

13. Thanks, Eridani!

Thanks a lot for contacting him. UW does have information on its site but it doesn't fit her situation because it requires her to produce her parents tax return in order to prove they don't claim her as a dependent. But she has no contact with them, so that's out. You'd think someone with a "dependency override" on her FAFSA papers would automatically qualify, but apparently not.

I think the advice I got from the other posters was pretty good. We should go there in person with a copy of the actual statute and tons of documentation. So that's what we're going to try. And if that doesn't work, maybe I'll call David Loud myself. Thanks again!

[eridani]

14. Another email sent to me. Please let us know how things are going.

In other states people establish residence by filing a state income tax return. That is not the case here, but did the student pay a driver's license fee and does she have a car registered in state in her name? Does she have an IRS form 1040 with Washington State employment? Even if her taxes owned are zero, filing a tax return as a resident of WA State with in-state income should help. She can still file tax returns for past years even if it shows she owes no taxes. It may also require having an appointment with the director of financial aid and demanding status as an independent student. I don't know whether it is desirable or helpful to become an emancipated minor. This was my situation when I was younger. My parents would have qualified for full financial aid anyway, but I filed as an independent student in engineering school in my early twenties. I was able to successfully argue the matter with the financial aid director, but I had already been working and supporting myself. If the student has never had a job, the student might have to work for a year to establish residence.

[pnwmom]

15. She has been working at a department store for three years,

in addition to going to community college, but I don't know whether she's been filing tax returns. She would have 1040's, though. Because of her low income, she qualifies for WA Medicaid, and can document that with her card. She has a car that is properly registered in WA in her name (and has been licensed in WA state since she was 16), and she is registered to vote. But she can't get tax forms from her adoptive parents because she has no contact with them. (The reason she can get by financially is that she lives with us.) She went to court two years ago and got a legal name change, dropping her adoptive father's last name and returning to her birth name.

I don't think she could be an emancipated minor because she is 22. But, as I mentioned before, at the community college she qualified as an "independent student" for Federal financial aid by getting a "dependency override"; they made an exception to their usual rule of requiring parental information. It seems to me that if that determination is made for Federal aid (that a student should be treated as independent), then WA state should recognize it for the purpose of determining residency. But that isn't the case.

She completed her application to UW as best she could and is waiting to see if they request more information. Unfortunately, decisions don't go out till June or July, so it will be a long wait.

My question here had been about establishing her WA residence; the other issue she's facing is about getting FAFSA approved for UW, with another "dependency override." (Each college makes their own determination about this). The last I checked with her, they had asked her to send more information. This is a good reminder to me to see how that's going. She might have to meet with them in person, with all her paperwork, and if it will help I'll go with her.

Thanks for your interest!