BUpton

Hi, I was wondering if anyone can help. we are a family living in the US now for 4 years on L1 visa. We are looking at a inState college for my son in Sept 2015. i have found out that he is classed as a international student, which has much higher fees, even though we have been paying State tax, and residential/community tax. We pay the higher UK tax which is then credited to our federal tax here. If he goes to college back in the UK he is classed as International due to the fact that he has been living outside the country for 3 years, even though we pay tax there !! If you are illegal in the States you can apply for the Daca form but we are legal and cant seem to get a break on this. Any help would be greatly appreciated !!

Pulaski

Them's the rules, so far as I know. They trap many, and are oft debated here on BE, by parents of teenagers anticipating college in 1-5 years. Some plan ahead, others do not. It is likely that your choices are "pay the higher rate", or postpone until he does meet the criteria for in state/ non-international tuition.

Sally Redux

There is a slim chance you could get home rates in the UK if you made a case for only being out of the country temporarily. It sounds like you are still being paid in the UK. Might be worth talking to some UK admissions departments.

BUpton

Thank you Pulaski and Sally, I appreciate your reply's moving here has been a real challenge in so many ways.
I have the option of sending my son to New Zealand as he has a NZ passport, and even though he has never lived there and we have not paid tax there in the last 10 years he is classed as a domestic NZer. Amazing ! However, if he is out of the country for more than 6 months getting his green card will not be possible. Seems like we are stuck with very few options.

Sally Redux

When are you going to get the green cards? At that point he can get the in-state rate, or get a re-entry permit to study abroad.

If you're committed to staying here and it doesn't happen in time, I think you just have to be philosophical about these additional costs associated with emigrating. I've stopped counting

Pulaski

Right, I thought you'd stopped counting quite some time ago.

BUpton

We are looking to try in the next month or so, but we are going to have to do it through the business and we have not had the best few years, so am nervous about it.
You know Sally I have lived in many countries and this has got to be the most challenging and difficult with all the rules and costs, that just seem to be logical. But the flip side is that the kids have had incredible expierences

Sally Redux

That's why they call it nickel and diming

You have to look at the big picture.

JAJ

Out of interest - why do you still need to pay U.K. tax? Normally, after 4 years, you should be non-resident and only liable to U.K. tax on United Kingdom source income.

BUpton

My husband still has his Business in the UK and draws his salary from the UK.

Pulaski

Which has nothing whatsoever to do with liability for income tax in the UK if he has been living and working in the US for the past four years!

MarylandNed

You should look around because, in my area, in state tuition policy differs from school to school. For example, one local university requires that students must be legally able to live in Maryland permanently (so, in effect, PRs and citizens). However, another local university only requires that students be legally allowed to reside in Maryland - immigration status is irrelevant. This means that anyone here legally on some type of visa also qualifies for in state tuition.

Bob

Go to another school.

They're all different on what they class for in-state, some would take a year of residence in the state, others won't.

petitefrancaise

I'd go back and look at the legal side of being "ordinarily resident" in the UK. Since you are on a temporary,non-resident visa here in the USA, you may find a good argument for this. I know of one family that managed to do this despite the family not having lived in the UK for over 20 years. They had moved around a few times and had always had 2/3 year contracts for their work, and temporary visas when needed (outside of the EU). It sounds to me like you have a stronger case than they did.

International fees for UK are also not so different to the fees charged here either. Since the UK universities LOVE the higher fee-paying international students you may find it easier to get into a great university using this route.

Also, look at english speaking universities in the EU. Maastricht is a very good one and the fees there are peanuts. The only requirement is that you are a citizen of the EU. There are others and it is relatively easy to find them.

We decided to burn our bridges somewhat with the UK for our children and got LPR status in time for our eldest to go to college here. We had good reasons for doing this but since they are also bi-lingual in french if it got tough, they could go to uni in france.

BUpton

Thanks everyone for this I so appreciate it!!!! i have spoken to UMass Lowell and Amherst and there rules are the same. They agree with me that we might get more joy going through the private way as they have many more scholarships etc to offer, so we will try both. Thanks again