Mallory

Since you are 18, it seems it would be best to go back to UK and pay the fees. Can you stay in the US on an H visa after age 21?

Sally Redux

Are you sure about the US fees? I thought you just had to be resident in the state for a year.

hdrummond15

Not too sure about this. My parents def want me back in the UK for Uni. We have, after many customs/immigrations problems, decided to all apply for green cards for easy access to and from the USA- this helps my Dad have job freedom in the US and Uk

hdrummond15

GA regulations

“Eligible Non-Citizen” means a person who, in accordance with the Federal Title IV Regulations, is a United States permanent resident with a Permanent Resident Card (I-551); or a conditional permanent resident (I-551C); or the holder of an Arrival-Departure Record (I-94) from the Department of Homeland Security showing any one of the following designations: “Refugee”, “Asylum Granted”, “Parolee” (I-94 confirms paroled for a minimum of one year and status has not expired); or “Cuban-Haitian Entrant”. Victims of human trafficking, in accordance with the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act, may also be considered Eligible Non-Citizens. Persons with an F1 or F2 student visa, a J1 or J2 exchange visitor visa, or a G series visa are not Eligible Non-Citizens.

Mallory

You could go to the UK and have a Gap year, work, and save some money to help with tuition. Then start uni - you would have two years at international rate, and then the rest of time would be at home rate.

dunroving

I don't think it works that way.

The 2 years paying international fees would not count towards years being "ordinarily resident" because being in the country primarily for the purposes of full-time education is not classed as "ordinarily resident" (hence my UK citizen postgrad student paid 6 years of international fees as an undergraduate student and was going to have to pay international fees for her PGR years also until I stepped in and we worked on a strong case for home fees status).

Sally Redux

I don't think he can get a Green Card if he's moving back to the UK.
It doesn't specifically say H - but it could be. It's kind of tough because undocumented students are in a position to get in-state rates, one of those anomalies.

Bluegrass Lass

A Green Card will allow him to work for any company in the US, this is true. However, if he leaves the US for 1yr or more, he risks falling into the 'abandonment' category. When a person obtains Permanent Residency in the US, they are expected to make the US their permanent home, not periodically visit the US. Also, depending on the visa he is here on, it could take years to be approved for a green card. So don't count on a GC to solve your uni fee problems anytime soon.

patrick101

Hey Everyone,

Like everybody, I'm going through the problem of whether I will be assessed with the Home/EU fees or the international and therefore be able to take out a student loan... I have applied to my chosen universities in England through UCAS, but I am worried that I may not meet all the eligibly criteria listed on the websites. Believe me, I have read every single one of the websites which include such information about temporary absences, but I just thought maybe someone who has gone through the same thing can help me... My situation is the following:

I am an EU national and EU citizen, I hold the Cypriot citizenship and Cypriot passport. I was born in Cyprus and I have lived there for seventeen years. I am now eighteen years old. However, I was forced to temporarily reside outside the European Union when an unfortunate incident happened to my family when my little brother fell extremely sick due to a defected kidney. Therefore, we were advised and recommended by our family doctor in Cyprus to have him treated in Lebanon by a specialist doctor whom he knows and trusts. We were of course ready to do anything to treat my sick brother, so as a result, on 15 August 2009, my father decided to have us move temporarily to Lebanon and have my brother treated here, as I continued my education in a Lebanese school. I am currently studying in Lebanon, although my father constantly flies back to Cyprus for business trips EVERY month since his company is registered there, in other words, his business has become between both countries – Cyprus and Lebanon. As we were renting a house in Cyprus, sadly we were never able to maintain ownership of a residence, which is such a shame as it would have been good evidence... This is really only a temporary absence and we hope that things will get better for us so that we can return to Cyprus as soon as possible. Our future is most definitely not in Lebanon...

I have all the evidence for proof of what I said which include my passport, my ID, my birth certificate, my father's passport and all the stamps at the back and his COUNTLESS tickets to Cyprus and back, his social insurance there, his business being registered there, and the letter from the Cypriot doctor advising us to treat my brother in Lebanon... Do you think I may need anything else?

I don't know what to reply back to the universities regarding my offers since I am entirely depending on the loan, considering my extremely unbelievably low financial status.. I would seriously commit suicide if I were classified the international fees ... I don't know what I'd do ... I don't know whether I should be excited that some of the universities have given me an unconditional offer or whether I should just decline them, coz without the loan I can't go anywhere! .... But they haven't assessed me as anything in their decision letter, they just sent me a Fee Assessment Questionnaire which I filled in and had sent....

Thank you so much in advance for any help you can give me.

Sally Redux

That's a new one I suppose.

Sue

Hi Patrick,

Firstly don't panic you've got a bit of time before you have to accept/decline your offers. I have two questions for you:

First, have you actually contacted the universities directly and asked them if they can determine if you are eligible for home rates yet? If not then that should be your first course of action. They could walk you through the criteria and determine from the start what fee status you come under. That way you will know exactly what you are dealing with. My son has different circumstances to yours, but we've already heard from 3 universities about what fees status he comes under. (He has applied to 5 universities and had decisions back from 2, still waiting to here from the other 3 )

Secondly, have you applied to any other universities outside of the UK? If not then perhaps that may also be an option? We encouraged our son to have a couple of back-up plans were he not to get accepted at any UK univirsities.

killerhales

As you have already sent the fee assessment questionnaires to the universities then I guess you will have to wait for their judgement.

It sounds like you have a clear case to be considered only temporarily absent from the EU. The sticking point may be that the date of your return is unclear.

If you don't get the "home/EU" status you are hoping for I would phone the universities to explain your circumstances in more detail. I don't know if there is an "appeals" procedure, but if you call the unis they will be able to inform you about this.

Good luck

patrick101

Thank you for your immediate replies!

Sue, to answer your questions, yes, I have contacted ALL the universities directly about my eligibility for home rates, but they all replied with the same answer claiming that the procedure of assessing each individual takes too long and therefore they cannot help me in any way without sending the questionnaire first with all documents enclosed... Which is what I did ...

Concerning your son, which fees have the universities assessed him with? What is his situation? What sort of proof did you provide them with?

Killerhales, thank you for your help as well. Waiting is what I've been doing, but I thought that I just needed some reassurance from someone because I may be going out of my mind with all the waiting ... I know, I sound pathetic ... :S How would I tell them of the date of my return back to Cyprus? Will they take my word for it if I just "say" it? ..... I will definitely call the universities and give them an earful should they classify me with overseas rates .. ! It is possbile for one university to classify you with the home rates and another with the overseas, right? So, the only problem is convincing Student Finance for the loan .... I applied in late November, and only ONE university has decided on my application so far... the others are taking so long, is that normal?

Thanks again and sorry for my tedious questions !

Sue

patrick101,

My son has been assessed as an International student, but again his situation is different from yours.

Did the university you have heard back from offer you a place? If so call them and find out, what fee rate they have assessed you. That way you won't be left wondering.

Yes it is completely normal to still be waiting for decisions. My son applied at the end of November and has still to hear from 3 universities. If you login to Track on the UCAS site there is a message on the welcome page that says "Universities and colleges send decisions at different times if we receive your application by 15 January, you will hear from all your choices by 6 May." So you may have a little wait yet, but you will hear from they by May 6.

Again, call the university you have heard back from and ask them about what fees rate you have been assessed. We can guesstimate here until the cows come home as to what the universities may or may not do, but as we aren't the ones who make the decision you would be best placed to get it straight from the horses mouth as it were. So call them and take it from there.

patrick101

Dear Sue,

Thanks a million for your help. The university that offered me a place mentioned in its decision letter that the personal information provided in my UCAS application was not sufficient for them to assess my fee status, so I had to fill out a Fee Questionnaire and send it. Isn't that a good sign? Does that mean I may have hope, since they didn't just immediately tell me that I'll be paying fees at the international rate?

Thank You !