<p>The student is currently in the honor’s program at PCC. Solid GPA and making sure all prerequisites are getting done to transfer into a UC as an English major.</p>
<p>She was born in California and therefore has American citizenship but hasn’t lived/paid taxes to California. She is taking steps to fulfill the “residency for tuition purposes” and will be able to qualify for the physical appearance and intent. </p>
<p>However, the problem is that she is under age 24 and her parents are non-residents of CA. She will have to prove that she is financially independent. She has a part time job and is able to fully support herself.
The UCSD website states that inorder to prove financial independence…
“A: To verify financial independence (self-support), you need to provide copies of your state and federal income tax returns along with your parents’ returns verifying that you were not claimed as an exemption for two tax years prior to your request for residence classification.”</p>
<p>She began to file her tax returns this summer. However, how can she verify that she was not claimed as an exemption for tax with her parents’ returns if they do not live in the US?</p>
<p>In order to fulfill the financial independence policy, she will have to stay at PCC an extra year and transfer after her junior year. In any case that she is not determined eligible for residency and is required to pay out-of-state tuition, will she be able to receive any type of financial aid from the UC? Or is she required to pay the full price?</p>
<p>The UC schools do not give any type of financial aid to cover the OOS tuition except for loans. The whole point of admitting OOS students is to bring in extra money, and subsidizing them would be self-defeating!</p>
<p>Also you seem a little confused about class level for students entering a UC from a community college. She is not going to transfer after her junior year. No matter how long she’s at a community college, no matter how many lower division units she accumulates, from the point of view of a UC when she transfers she has finished her sophomore year of college and will be entering as a junior.</p>
<p>Yes, thank you for pointing that out. She will spend 3 years at PCC then transfer as a junior. I guess she’ll have to find some way to be considered a CA resident…</p>
<p>Has she lived in any state other than CA? I’m kind of confused - she was born here in CA, then moved (overseas? to a different state?). If she has only lived in CA, it will be easier to establish residency…
Also, what’s her marital status? I only ask because you mentioned she only has a part time job and can fully support herself, which sounds unusual… If she’s married, she’s considered independent regardless of age, and would not have to report anything about her parents’ income and taxes. Other than that, I’m not sure how the UCs analyse foreign income tax returns. Advise her to call the financial aid office at some UCs and ask how they proceed in these cases.</p>
<p>She grew up overseas and returned to live in CA. She is not married, but she has a part time job which pays enough to pay for her expenses (earns 2-3k monthly). She does receive aid from the government I believe and so her CC tuition is not too costly.
If she were trying to prove her financial independence, are there a set of documentations required? or is it up to her to supply them with any document to prove that she is self sufficient and doesn’t receive help from an outsider?</p>
<p>Sorry about bouncing around with my questions. She’s a good friend and I’d love to help her out.</p>
<p>Oh it’s no problem. If CA is the only state she has ever lived in (in the US) it makes it a lot easier. There is no specific set of documents she has to provide. Each UC asks for different things, and it is specific to each student’s situation. By next year, she will have a W2 from her job here, and will be filing her own taxes. Having evidence that she rents a place to live here, and having bills that go to her place under her name are things that can help her prove independence (I think). Again, I’m not familiar with how the UCs handle foreign income and taxes for parents. I still really think she should call a few of the UCs and ask. But since she already receives government financial aid, my guess is that it would probably be a similar process… Did she have to show anything from her parents to get this aid?</p>
<p>Her car, insurance, house, phone plan and so on are all under her name. She used to be supported by her parents until she settled in. She won’t be receiving any help from now and so when she is finished with her 3rd year at PCC she’ll try to petition for financial independence. She’s been filing her tax returns 2 months ago when she began working.
Yes I do agree that calling them would be the best way to find out. I was just wondering if I could get some experiences.
Oh and she receives aid from the government and I’m sure she had to show her family income and all for the aid. If she continues to receive that aid would that be a problem??</p>
<p>It’s great that everything is under her name. Even if her future UC doesn’t request proof of that, she can always use it as evidence.
And you mean she began paying CA income taxes 2 months ago when she started working, right? She will only file her taxes next year, and then use it on her FAFSA application and all.
I don’t think getting government financial aid now will have any impact in determining if she’s financially independent from her parents or not. It will all come down to whether she has been claimed as a dependent on her parents’ taxes, and we don’t know how the UCs evaluate that. On her FAFSA to get financial aid this year, did she show anything about her parents’ income? Maybe looking into FAFSA procedures for this situation can also clarify all these questions.</p>
<p>Oh so paying income tax is different from filing taxes? I’m an International, so I’m don’t exactly know anything about the tax forms and FAFSA. I guess it would be best for her to look up the FAFSA procedures and contact a UC counselor, as you mentioned earlier.</p>
<p>Getting off the college topic here, but here’s how it works. Taxes are deducted automatically each pay check. There is a form called W2 that employers provide their employees around January of each year. Next January, your friend will receive her W2, and it will show how much she earned before taxes, how much was paid in taxes (Federal, State, etc), and how much she actually got paid. The W2 is then later used (along with other documents and receipts and whatever) to file taxes every year. She will use her W2 for 2013 to file taxes in 2014. Then she will file her FAFSA in 2014 with the same information she provided when filing taxes.
Now, in the FAFSA application, there is a part where you input your parents’ income and tax information. Independent students are exempt from filling that part, but I don’t know if she would be automatically considered independent or if there’s something else she would have to do. So we go back to the starting point, check with FAFSA and the UCs (their financial aid offices). She is probably already familiar with some of this process, though, considering she is already getting government aid and must have filed FAFSA before.</p>
<p>Kang, if she’s receiving government aid and/or her parents paid for her housing, she’s not an independent student because she’s relying on others to fund her expenses. She may have to continue to pay OOS fees at the UC’s.</p>