Hi,
I came to California, US mid January 2008 on a H1 VISA accompanied by my wife( who was on H4 VISA). My wife wanted to enroll into a course in a nearby community college immediately after our arrival, but backed out after she realized that the same courses at a cheaper price if she waits for a years duration( as she would be considered a resident). After duly completing a year in California she joined the course( 25th jan 2009). At the time of admission she was just asked for her passport and POE. After attending 2-3 classes she got a major surprise while she actually went for paying the fees. The fee was 630 USD as opposed to 20 USD that is applicable for residents. At that point of time it was indicated that she would need to provide the utility bills to prove her residency that she promptly did. The utility bill's were dated starting early Feb as i had stayed in my relatives apartment for a period of 2-3 weeks till I could actually find an apartment. Since the utility bills were dated from early Feb it was told that she would fall short of the residency by 10 days. After our repeated attempts to explain the situation ended up futile, she promptly dropped from the course. We also raised a petition for fee waiver as she dropped from the course as soon as she realized she would not be considered as resident and had just attended 2-3 classes and did not attend a single class after it came to her notice that she would not be considered a resident. At that juncture we did provide the following alternatives as a proof of residence:

1. My deputation letter which says I work in San Jose CA( which would logically imply my wife is residing in the same state as she is on a dependent VISA).

2. My Insurance letter which proves that she is covered from mid January and her Home/Mailing address was in California, US.

3. My/My wife's joint tax filing for the year 2008 as a California Resident.


Ain't any of the 3 documents mentioned above good enough to prove my wife's residency? I am expecting an answer from someone more seasoned than yours truly.


The petition was rejected and they have asked me to pay the fees of 630 USD and it was also stated that the utility bill/Lease Term/California residency card is the only way to prove the residency. We made a few more attempts to provide our view point and also made a plea that foregoing a sum of 600 odd USD on a course which she did not attend due to the above sequence of things might be unfair. Even before the dialogue came into a mutual consensus, I get a letter from the Collection department which states I have to make the payment ...else this will have a negative effect on my credit. Being a fearful soul I am I intend to pay this sum ASAP as the above reasoning by me seems to be unreasonable to the college authorities.

The pain of explaining the whole situation was to seek answer's to a few questions I have posed in the sections above and also to make new folks walking into California aware of certain practices that they have to ensure before being considered as a resident:

1. Ensure that you have an address on the day you land in California. If you have friends who can accommodate you, please ensure that you are done with your residency card on the day of arrival. Still better if you have a few days notice before you land in California...ensure that you have a residence on the day you land in this state.

2. Ensure there are some utility bills are on your name and some on your dependents.

3. When joining a college or any other activity where residency status might help, ensure that you pay the fees before you actually start the course/activity. You may in for a surprise if you wait for a day or 2. In fact college authorities imposing these restrictions might be a better way, so that the decision making process starts/ends right on or before course start date.

PS: The intent of the write-up is to make myself aware and also make others aware so that they do not land up in a similar situation.

Thanks

Thanks