All domestic graduate students who are not an official resident of North Carolina are expected to apply for in-state residency after their first year in the program.

All residency decisions for entering or continuing graduate students are determined by the Residency Determination Office in the Graduate School. For up-to-date information on the guidelines used in making residency determinations and the process to follow in requesting in-state residency, please click on the Office's home page link above.

Under North Carolina law, to qualify for in-state tuition for a given term, you must prove that you established your domicile in NC and maintained it for 12 continuous months with respect to the beginning of the term at issue. To prove that you have established a bona fide domicile in NC, you must prove the following:

• That you were physically present in the state,

• That you intend to make NC a permanent home indefinitely,

• That you were not in NC solely to attend college.

Because it is difficult to determine directly the intent of a student to make North Carolina home, residency classifiers necessarily must evaluate the actions that you have taken that may indicate this "domicilary intent." The law also states that these "acts of residency" must be performed "in a timely fashion." The Manual lists the following considerations which may be significant in determining this intent:

• Do you live in North Carolina?

• Are you registered to vote in North Carolina?

• If registered, where did you last vote?

• If you drive, where did you last obtain a driver's license?

• If you drive, is the car you drive registered in North Carolina?

• Do you own a home or other real estate?

• Where is your personal property listed for taxation?

• Where do you spend your vacation time?

• Where do you work?

• Where do you keep your personal property?

• Where did you file your state income tax return?

• Where did you last attend college?

• Where did you live before enrolling in a university or college?

• If you have non-resident parents, are you financially independent?

Residency classifiers weigh all the evidence you furnish in your application for resident status, and it is necessary that the preponderance (or greater weight) of the evidence supports your having established NC domicile 12 months before the beginning of the academic term for which you seek to be classified as resident. If the evidence shows a cluster of significant events occurring at about the same time (within the same week for example), the classifier will start counting from that point to determine if the twelve-months requirement has been met. If instead the evidence has accumulated over time, the classifier must decide at what point a preponderance of evidence shows the intent to establish NC domicile, and that is the date on which the counting will begin.

To begin the residency classification process, you must complete an Application For Residency For Tuition Purposes. You may apply for reclassification before or during a given term. The absolute deadline for filing a residence status application is the last day of exams for that term.

THE EFFECT OF MARRIAGE ON RESIDENCY

No one automatically obtains North Carolina domicile solely by marrying a North Carolina resident. If both spouses have established a NC domicile, and one spouse has been a domiciliary longer than the other, the member of the couple who has the shorter duration of domicile may borrow his or her spouse's duration of domicile to meet the 12 months requirement. However, the two durations cannot be added together to meet the requirement.

NON-UNITED STATES CITIZENS

If you are not a U.S. citizen, you may or may not qualify for resident tuition status on the same basis as a U.S. citizen. It depends upon the type of immigration documents you hold. If you are in the country on a student visa, you cannot qualify for in-state tuition. If you have one of the visas that does not allow you to establish domicile, and you later receive a visa that does allow you to do so, the time you spent in North Carolina under the old visa will not count toward the 12-months requirement. After you receive the new document, you must establish North Carolina domicile and wait 12 months. For more detailed information concerning the domicile of non-U.S. citizens, please consult the Manual.

PERMANENT RESIDENT ALIEN STATUS

If you are a permanent resident alien and hold a "green card," you have the same capacity to establish legal residence as a U.S. citizen. However, you must establish NC domicile for 12 months after you receive permanent resident alien status. You cannot count the time you spent in NC while under a different status or visa. If you have applied for permanent resident alien status, but it has not been granted yet, you are considered as still being in the country under the visa or document that you had before you applied for the "green card."

APPEALS

If the Graduate School rules that you are not a resident for tuition purposes, you may appeal that decision to the Graduate Residency Appeals Committee. The decision letter will inform you how to appeal.