California Residency

Forms

Statement of Legal Residence for Readmitted Students
Petition for Change of Legal Residence for Continuing Students
Student Affidavit Form
Parent Affidavit Form
California Nonresident Tuition Exemption Request (AB540)

Special Instructions for New Students
 

Residency Information

Basic Rule for Adult Graduate and Professional Students

To establish California residence, at least 366 days prior to the term for which you request classification as a California resident, you must have established a primary and permanent domicile in California and relinquished all ties to your past place(s) of residence.  You also must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, or you must have an immigration status that allows you to establish California residence.

Establishing Residency for Tuition Purposes

To establish residence, you must be physically present in California with the intent to make California your permanent home, and you must demonstrate by your actions that you have given up your former residence to establish a residence in California. Once you have established your residence in California, you must reside in California for more than one year (366 days) before you will be eligible to be classified as a resident for tuition purposes. If you are in California solely for educational purposes, you will not be considered to have established a residence for tuition purposes, regardless of the length of your stay. Your residence cannot be derived from your spouse or from your parents unless you are a minor.

You are not eligible to establish residence if you are an adult alien present in the U.S. with a nonimmigrant status that precludes you from establishing a domicile in the U.S. (including, but not limited to, B, F, H2, H3, J, M, O, P, Q, S, TN, and TD visas) or an alien without a legal immigration status.

Special rules applied during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Demonstrating Intent

Your intent to be a California resident is judged by your actions. You must show, by the actions you take after you move to California, that you are present in California because you intend to reside here indefinitely, as opposed to being in California to go to school. Acts that may indicate your intent to make California your permanent home include, but are not limited to: establishing a home in California in which your personal belonging are kept; designating California as your permanent address on all records; registering to vote and voting in California elections; registering your vehicle in California and obtaining a California driver license; filing income tax returns in California and other states in a manner consistent with your claim of residence in California; remaining in California during non-instructional periods; establishing bank accounts in California; and the absence of these and any other indications of residence in other states or countries during any period for which you claim California residence.

You must take these actions by the class instruction end date on the Academic and Administrative Calendar for the corresponding quarter one year prior to the quarter for which you seek reclassification.  Thus, if you matriculate at UCSF in fall quarter and you want to petition for reclassification as a California resident effective in fall quarter one year later, you must take these actions to demonstrate intent by the class instruction end date of your first fall quarter.  For income tax filing, you must meet the requirement during the tax filing period closest to your reclassification date.

Financial Independence

Students enrolled at UCSF are assumed to be financially independent since they are enrolled in a graduate or professional program.

Rules Applicable to Minors

Generally, unmarried minors derive residence from their parents. If you are under age 18, your residence is the same as the residence of the parent with whom you live. Unless you are an alien who is in the U.S. on a nonimmigrant visa that precludes you from establishing a domicile in the U.S., once you become an adult (age 18), you may establish your own residence. Your residence for tuition purposes continues to be the same as that of your parents until you have been an adult resident of California for more than one year (and have fulfilled the other residency requirements). 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 parents' right of control. If you live with neither parent, your residence is the same as the parent with whom you last lived. You can derive California residence from a parent if that parent satisfies the one-year durational requirement.

Exceptions to the Rules Applicable to Minors

There are some exceptions to the rules above related to minors. If you are a minor and any of the following circumstances apply to you, you may be eligible to be classified as a resident for tuition purposes: (1) You have a California resident parent and you move to California to begin residing with that parent prior to your 18th birthday; (2) Your parents were California residents who have moved to another state and you remain in California and enroll in a California public post-secondary institution within one year of your parents' departure; 3 You support yourself and you live in California for more than one year immediately prior to the term; (4) You have been living with and been supported by an adult other than your parents for more than two years immediately prior to the term.

Exemptions from Nonresident Tuition

The following categories of students may be entitled to an exemption from nonresident tuition:

(1) members of the U.S. military stationed in California on active duty and their spouses, registered domestic partners, and dependent children;

(2) former member of the U.S. armed forces; the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act (VACAA) of 2014 allows military-connected students using U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) education benefits; effective August 1, 2021, veterans qualify for non-resident tuition exemptions if they are using VA education benefits and living in the state of the institution regardless of formal state of residence;  effective August 1, 2021, dependents qualify for non-resident tuition exemptions if they are using transferred VA education benefits, living in the state of the institution regardless of formal state of residence, or if the sponsor is currently on active duty - learn about military provisions;

(3) unmarried dependent children under age 21, spouses, and registered domestic partners of members of the UC faculty who are members of the Academic Senate;

(4) unmarried dependent children, spouses, and registered domestic partners of full-time UC employees who are assigned to work outside California (a review will be conducted each term to verify continuation of the applicable status);

(5) full-time UC employees who are assigned to work outside California (a review will be conducted each term to verify continuation of the applicable status);

(6) children, spouses, and registered domestic partners of deceased public law enforcement or fire suppression employees killed in the course of their official duties who were California residents at the time of their death;

(7) dependent children of California residents;

(8) graduates of a California high school operated by the Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs;

(9) credentialed employees of a California public school;

(10) amateur student athletes training at the US Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista;

(11) certain students who attended school in California;

(12) surviving dependents of California residents killed in the 9/11/01 terrorist attacks;

(13) recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor and their children under age 27.

Temporary Absences

If you are in the process of establishing residence in California for tuition purposes and you leave California (e.g., if, during the summer break, you return to your former home state or to the state in which your parents reside), you will be presumed to be in California solely to pursue your educational objectives. Only convincing evidence to the contrary will rebut this presumption. Students who are in California solely for educational purposes are not eligible to be classified as residents for tuition purposes regardless of the length of their stay in California.

If you are have been classified as a resident and you leave California, your absence could result in the loss of your residence status unless you can show that your absence was temporary and that while you were away you maintained your California residence and did not acquire a residence elsewhere.

Petitions

You may petition for a change of classification from nonresident to resident status by submitting a Petition for Change of Legal Residence with copies of the supporting documents (see the section "Demonstrating Intent” for example of documentation).  For the California tuition exemption for students who have attended school or community college in California (AB540), submit California Nonresident Tuition Exemption Request (AB540). Petitions and documentation must be submitted by the following deadlines:

Petition deadlines by terms
Term Date
Fall Quarter July 16
Winter Quarter October 15
Spring Quarter January 7

Time Limitation for Providing Documentation

If additional documentation is required for residence classification or for the tuition exemption, you will be allowed until the last day of instruction of the quarter in which you are applying for classification of your status to provide documentation.

Incorrect Classification

If you have been incorrectly classified as a resident, or incorrectly determined to be exempt from nonresident tuition, such errors will be corrected and you will be required to pay all nonresident tuition not paid. If you conceal information or furnish false information resulting in an incorrect determination, you may be subject to student disciplinary procedures. Resident students who have become nonresidents must immediately notify the campus residence deputy.

Inquiries and Appeals

Inquiries regarding residence requirements, determination, and exemptions should be directed to Residence Deputy, Office of the Registrar, UCSF Box 0244, 500 Parnassus Avenue MU-200W, San Francisco CA 94143;Telephone: 415-476-8280 or e-mail: [email protected] or Principal Legal Analyst, University of California, 1111 Franklin Street, 8th Floor, Oakland CA 94607. No other university personnel are authorized to supply information regarding residence requirements and exemptions.

Information on the appeal process is available from the Office of the General Counsel.

Dependent Member of the Military

A student who is a dependent natural or adopted child, stepchild, spouse or registered domestic partner of a member of the armed forces of the United States stationed in California on active duty is entitled to a resident classification. Graduate and professional students are entitled to the waiver for no more than one academic year. If, while the student is in attendance at UC, the member of the armed forces is (1) transferred outside California where he continues to serve on active duty or (2) is retired from active duty, the student will not lose his exemption until he has resided in the state the minimum time necessary to become a resident (366 days). Financial independence will not be a requirement and the waiver is available to all children who are dependents for federal income tax purposes; it is not limited to minors.

Requirements
The student must be the dependent of a member of the armed forces who:

  1. Is stationed in California on active duty on the residence determination date, or
  2. After serving in California on active duty has been transferred outside California where he continues to serve, or
  3. Has retired from active duty immediately after serving in California.

Additional Information

The University of California Office of the President provides additional information on California residency requirements.

University of California policies governing residency for tuition purposes are established by The Regents and implemented by regulations established by the president, in consultation with the general counsel (Regents Standing Order 110.2; Regents Policies 3105 and 3106).

Disclaimer

This explanation is not a complete explanation of the law regarding residence.  Changes may have been made in the residence requirements between the publication of this information and the relevant residence determination date.  Following the final decision of the residence deputy, any student may appeal a nonresident classification in writing to the principal legal analyst within 30 days of notification of the residence deputy's final decision.