Residency Requirements
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Residency Requirements for In-State Tuition Rates
To qualify for in-state tuition rates, students must fulfill the residency requirements as outlined by the Office of the Registrar: http://www.nmsu.edu/~registra/residency.html
Students awarded financial support through a graduate assistantship pay in-state tuition rates for the first year of the assistantship and must apply for residency status to pay in-state tuition rates after the first year. It is always the student’s responsibility to initiate the petition for residency. The information provided below comes directly from the university website.
How to Establish Residency
To become a legal resident of New Mexico for tuition purposes, four basic requirements must be completed. Each person must meet the requirements individually.
The Twelve Month Consecutive Presence Requirement
A person must physically reside in the state for twelve consecutive months immediately preceding the term for which the resident classification is requested. NOTE: A student cannot begin to complete the twelve month requirement until his/her eighteenth birthday.
The Financial Independence Requirement
Only persons who are financially independent may establish residency apart from parents or guardians regardless of age. A student cannot be approved for residency who is financially dependent upon his/her parents or legal guardians who are nonresidents of New Mexico. Dependency will be determined according to the 1954 Internal Revenue Service Code, Section 152 and is always based on the previous tax year for residency purposes. If under the age of 23 at the time the student applies for residency, a copy of his/her parents' or guardian's 1040 or 1040A U.S. income tax form for the previous tax year is required. If the student is shown to be a dependent on this tax form, he/she will not be considered financially independent or eligible for residency during the current year.
The Written Declaration of "Intent" Requirement
The student must sign a written declaration of intent to relinquish residency in any other state and to establish it in New Mexico.
The Overt Acts Requirement
New Mexico requires the completion of several "overt" acts which support the student's written declaration of "intent" to become a permanent resident. Examples of such acts are:
- Securing a New Mexico driver's license
- Securing a New Mexico automobile registration
- Registering to vote in New Mexico.
- Filing a New Mexico state tax return for the previous year.
- Securing employment in the state.
- Purchasing residential or business property in the state.
- Having a long established bank account.