united-states california education residency
Changing California residency status for school
<p>I moved to California a little under a year ago after falling in love with the state, and don't see myself ever moving back to my native New York. I work as a software engineer, and I'm also a full-time student while I finish my computer science degree.</p>

<p>The problem is, my parents suggested I use their address for school while settling in, in case of delays moving into the home I've now been living in for several months, and I was labeled a non-resident. As a non-resident, I'm paying several times the tuition that would be paid by a resident, and thus I intend to change my status once I hit the one year mark.</p>

<p>How would I go about changing my residency status to resident as considered by a state college?</p>

<p>Various acts will establish residency: using a California address as your "permanent address", registering to vote in California, getting a California driver's license (or at least "renouncing" your NY license), registering your car in California. It takes 366 days of physical presence to change residence. Finally, you have to be financially independent. The requirements for establishing <a href="https://students.ucsd.edu/finances/fees/residence/criteria.html#independence" rel="nofollow noreferrer">financial independence</a> are rather onerous (it takes 2 years of financial independence, which is computed in terms of tax years, not academic years).</p>
