APPENDIX A
RESIDENCE FOR TUITION PURPOSES
If you have not been living in California with the intent to make it your permanent home for more than one year immediately before the residence determination date for each term in which you propose to attend the university, you must pay nonresident tuition as well as all assessed fees. The residence determination date is the day instruction begins at the last of the University of California campuses to open for the quarter, and for schools on the semester system, the day instruction begins for the semester.
LAW GOVERNING RESIDENCE
The rules regarding residence for tuition purposes at the University of California are governed by the California Education Code and implemented by Standing Orders of the Regents of the University of California. Under these rules, adult citizens and certain classes of aliens can establish residence for tuition purposes. There are particular rules that apply to the residence classification of minors (see below).
WHO IS A RESIDENT?
If you are an adult student (at least 24 years of age), you may establish residence for tuition purposes in California if you are a U.S. citizen, or a permanent resident or other immigrant, or if you are a nonimmigrant who is not precluded from establishing a domicile in the U.S. Check with the Residence Deputy in the Office of the Registrar for the latest information on qualifying nonimmigrant visas.
To establish residence you must be physically present in California for more than one year prior to the residence determination date and you must have come here with the intent to make California your home as opposed to coming to California to go to school.
Physical presence in the state solely for educational purposes does not constitute the establishment of California residence, regardless of the length of your stay.
You must demonstrate your intention to make California your home by severing your residential ties with your former state of residence and by establishing those ties with California. If these steps are delayed, the one-year physical presence requirement will be extended until you have demonstrated both presence and intent for one full year.
If your parents are not residents of California, you will be required to be financially independent to qualify as a resident for tuition purposes.
REQUIREMENTS FOR FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE
You are considered "financially independent" if one or more of the following apply:
(1) you are at least 24 years of age by December 31 of the calendar year for
which you are requesting residence classification;
(2) you are a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces;
(3) you are a ward of the court or both parents are deceased;
(4) you have legal dependents other than a spouse;
(5) you are married, or are a graduate or professional student, and you were not
claimed as an income tax deduction by your parents or any other individual for the tax year
immediately preceding the term for which you are requesting resident classification; or
(6) you are a single undergraduate student and were not claimed as an income tax deduction by your parents or any other individual for the two tax years immediately preceding the term for which you are requesting resident classification and you can demonstrate self-sufficiency for those two years. (Note that financial dependence is not a factor in residence status for graduate student instructors, graduate student teaching assistants, research assistants, junior specialists, postgraduate researchers, graduate student researchers, and teaching associates who are employed 49 percent or more of full-time in the term for which classification is sought.)
ESTABLISHING INTENT TO BECOME A CALIFORNIA RESIDENT
Indications of your intent to make California your permanent residence can include the following: registering to vote and voting in California elections; designating California as your permanent address on all school and employment records, including military records if you are in the military service; obtaining a California driver's license or, if you do not drive, a California identification card; obtaining California vehicle registration; paying California income taxes as a resident, including taxes on income earned outside California from the date you establish residence; establishing a California residence in which you keep your personal belongings; and licensing for professional practice in California. The absence of these indicia in other states during any period for which you claim residence can also serve as an indication of your intent. Documentary evidence is required, and all relevant indications will be considered in determining your classification. Your intent will be questioned if you return to your prior state of residence when the University is not in session.
GENERAL RULES APPLYING TO MINORS
If you are an unmarried minor (under age 18), your residence is considered to be the residence of the parent with whom you live. If you have a parent living, you cannot change your residence by your own act, by the appointment of a legal guardian, or by the relinquishment of your parent's right of control. If you live with neither parent, your residence is that of the parent with whom you last lived. Unless you are a minor alien present in the U.S. under the terms of nonimmigrant visa that precludes you from establishing domicile in the U.S., you may establish your own residence when both your parents are deceased and a legal guardian has not been appointed. If you derive California residence from a parent, that parent must satisfy the one-year durational residence requirement.
SPECIFIC RULES APPLYING FOR MINORS
- Divorced or Separated Parents. You may be able to derive California resident status from a California resident parent if you move to California to live with that parent on or before your 18th birthday.
- Parent of Minor Moves from California. You may be entitled to resident status if you are a minor U.S. citizen or eligible alien whose parent(s) was a resident of California who left the state within one year of the residence determination date if (a) you remained in California after your parent(s) departure, (b) you enroll in a California public postsecondary institution within one year of your parent(s) departure, and (c) once enrolled, you maintain continuous attendance in that institution. Financial independence is not required in this case.
- Two-Year Care and Control. You may be entitled to resident status if you are a U.S. citizen or eligible alien and you have lived continuously with an adult who is not your parent for at least two years prior to the residence determination date. The adult with whom you are living must have been responsible for your care and control for the entire two-year period and must have been living in California during the one year immediately preceding the residence determination date.
EXEMPTIONS FROM NONRESIDENT TUITION
- Member of the Military. If you are a member of the U.S. Military stationed in California on active duty, unless you were assigned for educational purposes to a state-supported institution of higher education, you may be exempt from nonresident tuition until you have lived in California long enough to become a resident. You must provide the Residence Deputy with a statement from your commanding officer or personnel officer stating that your assignment to active duty in California is not for educational purposes. The letter must include the dates of your assignment to the state.
- Spouse or Other Dependents of Military Personnel. You are exempt from payment of nonresident tuition if you are a spouse or a natural or adopted child or stepchild who is a dependent of a member of the U.S. military stationed in California on active duty. The exemption is available until you have lived in California long enough to become a resident. You must petition for a waiver of nonresident tuition each term you are eligible. If you are enrolled in a postsecondary educational institution and the member of the military is transferred on military orders to a place outside California where he or she continues to serve in the Armed Forces, or the member of the military retires from active duty immediately after having served in California on active duty, you may retain this exemption under conditions listed above.
- Child or Spouse of a Faculty Member. To the extent of funds available, if you are an unmarried dependent child under age 21 or the spouse of a member of the University faculty who is a member of the Academic Senate, you may be eligible for a waiver of nonresident tuition. Confirmation of the faculty member's membership on the Academic Senate must be secured each term.
- Child or Spouse of University Employee. You may be entitled to a waiver of nonresident tuition if you are an unmarried dependent child or the spouse of a full-time University employee whose assignment is outside California (e.g., Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory). Your parents' or spouse's employment status with the University must be ascertained each term.
- Child of Deceased Public Law Enforcement or Fire Suppression Employee. You may be entitled to a waiver of the nonresident tuition if you are the child of a deceased public law enforcement or fire suppression employee who was a California resident at the time of his or her death and who was killed in the course of fire suppression or law enforcement duties.
- Dependent Child of a California Resident. If you have not been an adult resident of California for more than one year and are the natural or adopted dependent of a California resident who has been a resident for more than one year immediately before the residence determination date, you may be entitled to a waiver of nonresident tuition until you have lived in California the minimum time necessary to become a resident, so long as continuous attendance is maintained at an institution.
TEMPORARY ABSENCES
If you are a nonresident student who is in the process of establishing a residence for tuition purposes and you return to your former state during noninstructional periods, your presence in California will be presumed to be solely for educational purposes and only convincing evidence to the contrary will rebut this presumption. Students who are in the state solely for educational purposes will not be classified as residents for tuition purposes regardless of the length of their stay.
If you are a student who has been classified as a resident for tuition purposes and you leave the state temporarily, your absence could result in the loss of your California residence. The burden will be on you (or your parents if you are a minor) to verify that you did nothing inconsistent with your claim of a continuing California residence during your absence. Steps that you (or your parents) should take to retain a California residence include
- Continue to use a California permanent address in all records.
- Continue to satisfy California tax obligations. If you are claiming California residence, you are liable for payment of income taxes on your total income from the date you establish your residence in California, including income earned in another state or country.
- Retain your California voter's registration and vote by absentee ballot.
- Maintain a California driver's license and vehicle registration. If it is necessary to change your driver's license or vehicle registration, you must change them back within the time prescribed by law.
PETITION FOR RESIDENT CLASSIFICATION
You must petition in person at the Office of the Registrar, Hinderaker Hall, for a change of classification from nonresident to resident status. All changes of status MUST be initiated before the first day of classes for the term for which you intend to be classified as a resident.
TIME LIMIT ON PROVIDING DOCUMENTATION
If additional documentation is required for residence classification but is not readily accessible, you will be given until the end of the applicable term to provide it. Nonresident tuition must be paid pending the outcome of the decision.
INCORRECT CLASSIFICATION
If you were classified as a resident incorrectly, you are subject to a nonresident classification and to the payment of all nonresident tuition not paid. If you concealed information or furnished false information and were classified incorrectly as a result, you may be subject to University discipline. Resident students who become nonresidents must immediately notify the campus Residence Deputy.
INQUIRIES AND APPEALS
Inquiries regarding residence requirements, residence determination, and/or recognized exceptions should be directed to the Residence Deputy, Office of the Registrar, Hinderaker Hall, University of California, Riverside 92521-0118. Students denied residence status by the campus Residence Deputy have the right to appeal, in writing, to Office of the General Counsel/Legal Analyst-Residency Matters, 1111 Franklin Street, 8th Floor, Oakland, CA 94607. Such appeals must be filed within 45 days of notification of the campus Residence Deputy's final decision. No other University personnel are authorized to supply information relative to residence requirements for tuition purposes.
You are advised that the foregoing is a summary of the law regarding residence. A copy of the regulations adopted by the Regents of the University of California is available for review in the Office of the Registrar. Note that changes may be made in the residence requirements between the publication of this statement and the relevant residence determination date.
PRIVACY NOTICE
All information requested on the Statement of Legal Residence form is required by the authority of Standing Order 110.2 (a)-(d) of the Regents of the University of California for determining whether you are a legal resident for tuition purposes. Registration cannot be processed without this information. The Residence Deputy in the Office of the Registrar maintains the requested information. You have the right to inspect University records containing the residence information requested on the form.