Forgive me if this is a stupid question, but everyone seems more concerned with getting in-state residency.
If you go to a private college in another state (so changing your residency is unnecessary) would you still be considered a ‘resident’ in your home state? Even if you don’t physically live there?
Yes. It takes more than just living in another state for 9 months of the year to become a resident. You have to have a permanent address (other than a dorm), get a certain amount of income, and change your driver’s license and voting info, among other things.
It really depends on the state and the school. One question is where are your parents residents? Usually you are automatically a resident of that state for college costs. Some schools require that you graduate from a HS within the state. Google the name of a college and residency to see what tests your schools use.
My parents are naturalized citizens living in Virginia. I checked and I think I would be considered a domiciliary resident if I were to go to college in another state, correct?
It would seem so. http://www.virginia.edu/provost/vastatus/faq.html
Right, you’d be a domiciliary resident in whatever state you’d attend school in but still maintain your Virginia residency. To become an actual resident of another state you have to go through a long process; if you’re a resident of Virginia it’ll stay that way unless you go through the process to become a resident of another state.
So, I would be a domiciliary resident in whatever state I go to for college and a domiciliary resident in Virginia? Or a continue to be a real resident of Virginia and domiciliary of my colleges’ state?
A real resident of Virginia and domiciliary resident of whatever state the college is in. Domiciliary, as I understand it, just means you live somewhere. You don’t get any benefits out of that. Your real place of residence is Virginia.
Oh, okay. But on this website - http://www.tax.virginia.gov/content/residency-status - determining real residency is by the amount of time you are instate - more than half a year. If I’m attending college and then go somewhere else outside the state for more than half a year, wouldn’t that mean I’m not a real resident?
Then I suppose you would be a domiciliary resident. But the point I’m trying to make is that you wouldn’t magically become a resident of another state simply because you live there because you have to earn income and file taxes to be a resident of a state. At the very least, you would remain a domiciliary resident of VA. You wouldn’t become a non-resident because your legal state of residence is VA for the time being in college unless you decide to try to become a resident elsewhere since your parents live there and you would return home there for breaks and whatnot.
I’m from VA and attend college out of state. I’m still a VA resident; my parents live here and I am registered to vote in VA and have my VA driver’s license. However, to get in-state tuition for my college, I will become a Missouri resident this summer so I will have to give up my VA residency. But unless you actively try to become a resident of whatever state (you’d have to check their requirements), you’ll still be a VA resident of some capacity.
That site is for taxes, not college residency. Look at the FAQ i posted.
@“Erin’s Dad” , if you check the link and look under domiciliary residents, it specifically mentions college students from VA in another state being domiciliary residents. What I’m confused about is that it seems like you’re saying I’m a real resident of Virginia when I’m actually not, if I understand correctly. However, I could be wrong because I’m a bit confused on the wording - it says the student is domiciliary if the student “maintains Virginia as his/her legal state of residence”.
For the last time, you will remain a resident of VA. Like Erin’s Dad said, the website you’re referring to is regarding taxes and what status you have to be to file Virginia taxes. If you look under the definition of resident, it says:
“A person who lives in Virginia, or maintains a place of abode here, for more than 183 days during the year, or who is a legal (domiciliary) resident of the Commonwealth is considered a Virginia resident for income tax purposes.”
You will be a domiciliary resident, but that’s still a legal resident of Virginia. It looks like there’s not really a difference between actual and domiciliary as far as benefits go. Until you become a resident of another state (which you actively have to try to become, you won’t magically become one by living in a dorm at x state), you will remain a resident in the state of VA. Again, look at my situation–I attend college in Missouri but am still a resident of VA (because I live here on breaks, have a VA driver’s license, and vote in VA elections).
Even Alaska, which has pretty restrictive rules for state residency (because state residency determines getting an annual payment from the state) allows out-of-state college students to maintain state residency as long as they line in Alaska while they’re not attending school.
It’s the “place of abode” that determines residency for most states—and for college students, the place of abode is their permanent address, which for most dependent traditional-age college students is going to be their parents’ or guardians’ address.
I get it now. Thanks for the clarification!