Find out if the school considers you an international student now.
The tuition will be more expensive then.
We all want things and it’s hard to wait.
But it would be better for both of you to live at her parents while attending school, or live together and both work and save up money for school.
When I got my green card it was conditional for two years. We had to prove that we were living together, having joint bank accounts and such.
You can’t really afford to live apart to go to school.
Like I said, I don’t intend to enroll until I have a green card…and @twoinanddone I don’t know how much I’ll be paying… I haven’t applied yet, I’m just being hypothetical but that looks like the correct amount based on calculators(which aren’t very reliable in the first place)
Like I said, I don’t intend to enroll until I have a green card…and twoinanddone I don’t know how much I’ll be paying… I haven’t applied yet, I’m just being hypothetical but that looks like the correct amount based on calculators(which aren’t very reliable in the first place)
http://www.finaid.org/ has a lot of useful information for you about student loans and federal financial aid.
You also should visit the financial aid offices at the universities that are on your short list, and have conversations about what an aid package will look like once you are a permanent resident. You also need to verify information about in state residence. In most cases, if your wife is a state resident, you will be too.
Some colleges and universities don’t like to put married people into dorms with regular undergraduates. So if you were thinking of living in a college dorm, find out if that would be possible for you. You might be required to live in married student housing or with the grad students. Of course, if you planned to live off campus then that is a whole different situation. But do be careful with your living situation. As pointed out above, living on campus while your wife lives with her parents can make it look like this is not a real marriage. When you go to that next interview in two years, be sure that the two of you have clear rationale for living separately.
Your wife may have a nice credit score but her income isn’t high enough to be a qualified cosigner. As you noted, she doesn’t make enough to pay for rent/etc by herself, so obviously a bank would say, “sorry, her income isn’t high enough to guarantee your loans”.
You’re looking at this wrong. Between NOW and the time you enroll, you need to be earning/saving as much as you can.
ALSO…while you’re going to college, you need to be working as well. Nearly all students with money issues WORK while going to college…even with challenging majors. There’s no reason why between summers and part-time school year that you can’t earn $6k or more.
The others are right. If you borrow the $12.5k per year for junior and senior years, you will regret if you borrow more than that…too much debt.
Too many are short-sighted and just want to have the “money issue solved” with a quick signature (big loans). Then after they graduate and time comes to pay back those loans, they’re regretting all of this.
By the time you graduate, you and your wife will likely want to be moving on with your lives…perhaps buy a home, start a family, buy a couple of decent cars, etc. The burdens of outstanding substantial loans will get in the way…big time.
Not sure he can work until he has the green card.
Because a car loan is a SECURED loan. If you miss payments, they quickly take BACK the car. If you don’t pay back school loans, the bank has little recourse…they can’t cancel your degree. Lol.
Student loans are unsecured…so LOTS of risk.
That said, it would have to be some SHADY dealership who would finance a brand new Mercedes with someone with only a $22k income. The rate would be crazy high and they would grab that car back as soon as a payment was missed.
You think that your wife can afford a $700 per month MB car payment for 8 years???
Maybe…depends on his current visa situation.
How do all those with ITINs work?
How did you pay for your AA? With what money? Did/do you have a job? And who paid for your rent then?
Something isn’t adding up. How is your rent being paid now if your wife doesn’t earn enough???
If he lives apart from wife and she’s living with/getting mail at parents, are they considered married?
OP- don’t do anything to risk your immigration status. That’s rule number 1, 2 and 3. So as others have pointed out, a plan which involves you living apart from your wife (for more than a couple of days at a time) where you both have established residences is not a good idea.
Both of you living with her parents? Fine. You living in one city and her living with her parents? Probably doesn’t pass the smell test.
If a legally married couple spends some time living apart for whatever reason, does that mean they shouldn’t be considered married? I don’t get it.
My niece married her foreign husband in the US. He couldn’t work until he got his green card. He could visit or live here, but couldn’t work, and the USCIS didn’t require him to stay here until the green card came through. He worked in Canada and she worked in the US for almost 2 years. He visited 3-4 times a month, but he followed all the rules and didn’t work here. He always has his green card on him, as required.
Now that he has the green card, they still have to file proof of the marriage for 2-5 years with the USCIS (bank account, taxes, his work record, etc.)
@gearmom you probably remember me. http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1755271-no-way-out-p1.html.
this talks a lot about my story… I was 21 then 
@gearmom What if my wife only had a car insurance to pay and lived with her parents? Do you think it’d be enough?
So…how did you resolve you undocumented residency status…?
lol ^. My wife is a U.S. citizen.
Ok…so you are married to a U.S citizen.
I agree with others. Do nothing to make anyone question why you got married. Don’t let this look like a marriage ONLY for the purpose of gaining citizenship or green card status for college. Just don’t.
Plus…you and your wife don’t have enough income to support living separately.
Why can’t you go to college within commuting distance of HER parents home to save money? Live together there.
If she wants to take out a loan, go to a bank and ask what the requirements are and what the terms are. I think you will be very disappointed that you can’t qualify or can’t afford the loan. Unsecured, personal loans usually have high rates and short repayment terms.
You have issues with immigration which haven’t been resolved. I don’t think the green card will come as quickly as you think since you had to answer that you had overstayed a visa. They don’t like that. Don’t borrow anything until you have that green card and then stick to government student loans.
We’ve been together for 4 years… PLENTY of proof right there. So many trips together, many many many pictures texts etc that date all the way back to 2014 including proof of engagement in 2016 and marriage in 2017(marriage didn’t take place in a city house either.)