Residency Documentation

ACCEPTABLE DOCUMENTATION TO DEMONSTRATE RESIDENCE IN TEXAS - HIGH SCHOOL IN TEXAS (RATIONALES A & B):

High School Transcript, GED, or receipt of diploma equivalent showing three years of attendance at a public or private high school in Texas before graduation or receipt of a diploma equivalent.

Students still enrolled in the Texas High School need only submit the high school transcript showing 3 years of enrollment. In cases where there may be a gap longer than the summer immediately following graduation, you will also need to submit one or more of the following:

  • Texas Voter Registration Card
    Must be issued at least 12 months prior to census date of the semester in which you enroll.
  • Utility Bills
    Must list your name and Texas Address for the 12 consecutive months preceding the census date of the semester in which you enroll.
  • Texas Bank Statements
    Must list your name and Texas Address for the 12 consecutive months preceding the census date of the semester in which you enroll.
  • Texas Vehicle Registration
    Must be issued at least twelve months immediately preceding the census date.
  • Valid Texas Driver’s License or Texas identification card
    Must be issued at least twelve months immediately preceding the census date.
  • Lease or Rental of Residential Property
    Must list your name and Texas Address for the 12 consecutive months preceding the census date of the semester in which you enroll.
  • Other documentation used by the student to establish eligibility to enroll in the school district where the student attended high school.

ACCEPTABLE DOCUMENTATION TO DEMONSTRATE THE ESTABLISHMENT AND MAINTENANCE OF DOMICILE IN TEXAS FOR 12 CONSECUTIVE MONTHS  
(Must have documentation for one of the three listed categories. Can be met by the student/applicant, by their dependent parent, or spouse. Documentation may be required to show dependency, parental relationship, or marriage.)

  1. Significant Gainful Employment Documentation 
    • Employer written statement of dates of employment in Texas (including the beginning and current or ending dates, average hours worked per week, and annual salary) for the 12 consecutive months preceding the census date of the semester in which you enroll OR
    • Pay stubs for the 12 consecutive months preceding the census date of the semester in which you enroll OR
    • Proof of other earned income such as pensions, veterans' benefits, social security, and savings from previous earnings for the 12 consecutive months preceding the census date of the semester in which you enroll OR
    • For a person who is unemployed and living on public assistance, written statements from the office of one or more social service agencies in Texas for the 12 consecutive months preceding the census date of the semester in which you enroll
    • For a person who is self-employed, federal tax documents showing significant gainful employment and domicile in Texas (beginning and current or ending dates) that encompass at least the twelve consecutive months immediately preceding the census date of the semester in which you enroll
  2. Residential Real Property Ownership or Lease Documentation
    Needs to show you have established and maintained domicile at that residence during at least the twelve consecutive months immediately preceding the census date of the term in which you enroll.
    • Warranty Deed or Screenshot of county tax appraisal district with the owner’s name, address, and purchase date
    • Lease or rental agreement(s) showing renter’s name, address in Texas, and the dates/lease term
  3. Ownership of a Business Entity Documentation
    • Documentation of filing with the Texas Secretary of State or other official documentation that provides evidence of the organization of a business in Texas for twelve consecutive months prior to the census date for the term in which you enroll, that reflect your ownership interest and customary management of the business without the intention of liquidation for the foreseeable future.

ACCEPTABLE DOCUMENTATION TO DEMONSTRATE LAWFUL PRESENCE IN U.S. FOR NON-CITIZENS, NON-PERMANENT RESIDENTS AND INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

  • Texas Driver’s License (current, not expired)
  • Visa issued by USCIS (current, not expired)
  • Initial visa issued by USCIS (expired) and paperwork showing active extension (I-797)
  • Birth certificate or birth record issued by the appropriate State Bureau of Vital Statistics or equivalent agency from a U.S. state or local government, a U.S. territory, or the District of Columbia
  • U.S. passport book or passport card
  • Permanent resident card (I-551)
  • I-94 stamped “Sec. 208 Asylee” or “Sec. 207 Refugee”
  • Employment Authorization Card (I-766)
  • U.S. Department of State Certificate of Birth Abroad issued to U.S. citizens born abroad (Form FS-240, DS-1350, or FS-545)
  • Machine Readable Immigrant Visa with temporary I-551 language and ADIT stamp
  • I-20 non-immigrant students (F-1)
  • Non-student documents with alien number or I-94 number
  • U.S. citizen identification card (I-179 or I-197)
  • I-94
  • US Travel Document (I-327 or I-571)
  • I-551 stamp in foreign passport
  • U.S. Citizenship Certificate or Certificate of Naturalization (N-550, N-560, N-561, N-570, or N-578)
  • Student documents with SEVIS number
  • DS-2019 exchange visitor (J-1) certificate

Residency Glossary

Census date
The date in an academic term for which an institution is required to certify a person's enrollment in the institution for the purposes of determining formula funding for the institution.

Clear and Convincing Evidence
That degree of proof that will produce a firm conviction or a firm belief as to the facts sought to be established. The evidence must justify the claim both clearly and convincingly.

Coordinating Board or Board
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

Core Residency Questions
The questions promulgated by the Board to be completed by a person and used by an institution as a significant aid in determining if the person is a Texas resident. The core questions shall be those set forth in the ApplyTexas Application or posted on the Board web site.

Deferred action
Discretionary determination to defer a removal action of an individual as an act of prosecutorial discretion. An individual who has received deferred action is authorized by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to be present in the United States, and is therefore considered by DHS to be lawfully present during the period deferred action is in effect.

Dependent
A person who:
     a. is less than 18 years of age and has not been emancipated by marriage or court order; or
     b. is eligible to be claimed as a dependent of a parent of the person for purposes of determining the parent's income tax liability under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 26 U.S. Code §152, regardless whether another person has claimed the dependent.

Domicile
A person's principal, permanent residence to which the person intends to return after any temporary absence.

Eligible for Permanent Resident Status
A person who has filed an I-485 application for permanent residency and has been issued a fee/filing receipt or notice of action by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) showing that his or her I-485 has been reviewed and has not been rejected.

Eligible Nonimmigrant
A person who has been issued a type of nonimmigrant visa by the USCIS that permits the person to establish and maintain domicile in the United States.

Established domicile in Texas
Physically residing in Texas, with the intent to maintain domicile in Texas, for at least the 12 consecutive months immediately preceding the census
date of the term of enrollment, allowing for documented temporary absences.

Significant Gainful employment
Employment, including self-employment, intended to provide an income to a person or allow a person to avoid the expense of paying another person to perform the tasks (as in child care) that is sufficient to provide at least one-half of the person's tuition, fees and living expenses as determined in keeping with the institution's student financial aid budget or that represents
an average of at least twenty hours of employment per week. A person who is living off his/her earnings (present or past- such as pensions, veterans' benefits, social security, and savings from previous earnings) may be considered gainfully employed for purposes of establishing domicile, as may a person whose primary support is public assistance. Employment conditioned on student status, such as work study, internships, the receipt of stipends, fellowships, or research or teaching assistantships does not constitute gainful employment for purposes of resident determination.

General Academic Teaching Institution
As defined in Texas Education Code §61.003(3).

Independent institution
As defined in Texas Education Code §61.003(15).

Institution or institution of higher education
Any public technical institute, public junior college, public senior college or university, medical or dental unit, or other agency of higher education as defined in Texas Education Code §61.003(8).

Lawfully Present Alien
A non-U.S. citizen who seeks resident tuition and who proves by clear and convincing evidence that the alien is lawfully present in the United States as required by 8 U.S.C.
§1623(a)

Legal guardian
A person who is appointed guardian under the Texas Probate Code, Chapter 693, or a temporary or successor guardian.

Maintain domicile
Physically residing in Texas such that the person always intends to return to the state after a temporary absence. The maintenance of domicile is not interrupted by a temporary absence from the state.

Managing conservator
A parent, a competent adult, an authorized agency, or a licensed child-placing agency appointed by court order issued under the Texas Family Code, Title 5.

Nonresident tuition
The amount of tuition paid by a person who is not a Texas resident and who is not entitled or permitted to pay resident tuition under this subchapter.

Nontraditional secondary education
A course of study at the secondary school level in a nonaccredited private school setting, including a home school.

Parent
A natural or adoptive parent, managing or possessory conservator, or legal guardian of a person. The term would not otherwise include a step-parent.

Possessory conservator
A natural or adoptive parent appointed by court order issued under the Texas Family Code, Title 5.

Private high school
A private, parochial, or home school in Texas.

Public technical institute
As defined in Texas Education Code §61.003(7).

Regular semester
A fall or spring semester, typically consisting of 16 weeks.

Residence
A person's home or other dwelling place; where a person resides.

Residence Determination Official
The primary individual at each institution who is responsible for the accurate application of state statutes and rules to individual student cases.

Resident tuition
The amount of tuition paid by a person who qualifies as a Texas resident under this subchapter.

Residential real property
Land and improvements on it, such as a dwelling intended for long-term human habitation.

Temporary absence
When a person who has previously met the criteria for resident status but is absent only for a short duration (i.e., less than one year) from the state of Texas and the person has the intention to return to the person's domicile in Texas. Temporary absence does not include a person's or dependent's parent's service in the U.S. Armed Forces, U.S. Public Health Service, or U.S. Department of State, due to employment assignment or for educational purposes.

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
The bureau of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that is responsible for the administration of immigration and naturalization adjudication functions and establishing immigration services policies and priorities.