School of Medicine Students
School of Medicine Students
Initial Residency Classification
Initial residency classification for MD and MD-PhD programs is completed at the time of application evaluation.
Residency status is determined by the state of legal residence listed by the student on AMCAS.
Students are required to fill out the Utah Residency Application as part of the secondary application if any of the following apply:
- List Utah as their legal state residence on their AMCAS application
- Have graduated from a Utah high school, college, or university
- Enlisted in the military
- Have American Indian heritage
The School of Medicine Utah Residency Application requires submission of the following information but is not limited to:
- Driver’s license/state ID
- Tax information
- Activities for the past 3 years
- Military experience
- American Indian heritage
If information gathered by the Utah Residency Application is not sufficient to approve Utah residency, a preliminary non-resident status may be assigned.
Applicants who meet all in-state residency requirements at the time of acceptance, listed Utah as their legal state of residency on AMCAS, and were initially classified as a non-resident at time of application, may be eligible to petition for in-state classification with the Residency division in the Office of Admissions upon admittance.
Students wishing to appeal their first year residency status must receive written approval from the School of Medicine prior to requesting a status change with the Residency office.
Varying documentation proving Utah residency may be requested by the Residency Office, including but not limited to:
- Driver’s license/state ID
- Voter registration
- Federal and state tax information
- Documentation of past activities (transcripts, pay stubs, etc)
- Military ties (DD-214, military privilege card, etc)
- American Indian heritage (Certificate of Blood)
All requests and documentation must be submitted by the specified deadlines.
Change of status is not guaranteed even with approval from the School of Medicine.
Medical students who list a state besides Utah, Idaho, Montana or Wyoming will be classified as non-residents for tuition purposes.
- This status will be confirmed upon acceptance and cannot be changed for at least the first year of enrollment except in situations where the applicant meets the requirement for a military, American Indian, or Utah high school graduate exception.
Residency Reclassification
The School of Medicine residency reclassification policy applies to students in the MD and MD-PhD programs who enrolled on or after June 1, 2020.
The School of Medicine policy supersedes all other policies except for military exceptions, American Indian exceptions, and House Bills 118 and 144.
Students who indicated residency in Idaho, Montana, or Wyoming are not eligible for residency reclassification.
Students must meet ALL of the following requirements and submit an application and all necessary documentation by the specified deadlines.
- Students must hold U.S. citizenship, granted permanent residency, or granted asylum or refugee status.
- Students must hold granted status and cannot have expired, removed or in-process status.
- Students with granted permanent residency or granted asylum or refugee status must submit valid and unexpired documentation.
- Students on visas are not eligible for residency reclassification but may qualify for a tuition waiver.
- Students must complete at least two full time consecutive terms of enrollment at the School of Medicine.
- All hours must be completed at the University of Utah.
- Withdrawn, failed or dropped courses will not count towards residency requirements.
- Students must relinquish domiciliary ties (driver’s license, voter registration, and vehicle registration) held in any other state and established them in Utah by the Utah tie deadline.
- Students must submit a valid Utah driver’s license.
- Students must submit proof of active Utah voter registration via their voter registration card or a certified letter from the County Clerk’s office. Students with granted permanent resident status are exempt from this requirement and can submit a secondary Utah tie.
- If the student has a vehicle registered in their name, it must be registered in Utah and the student must submit valid and unexpired vehicle registration.
- Students must submit verification of financial independence showing that they are not claimed as a dependent on the federal tax return of any person who is not a resident of Utah.
- Students who are under the age of 24 and not married must submit the first two pages of their federal tax return for the most recent tax year verifying that they were not claimed as a tax dependent by out-of-state parents or guardians.
- Students who did not file their own federal taxes must submit a copy of their out of state parents’ or guardians’ federal tax return(s) for the most recent tax year verifying that they did not claim the student as a dependent.
- Students must submit proof of their physical presence in the state of Utah for at least the 12 continuous months immediately prior to the first day of class for the academic term they wish to be considered a resident student, with fewer than 29 days total unproven/out-of-state.
- Accepted methods of proof include the following:
- In-person enrollment at the University of Utah or another Utah institution through transcripts
- Employment with a Utah employer through dated pay stubs for each date range the student wishes to prove, or through a signed and dated employer letter on letterhead specifying the dates of employment
- Bank or credit card statements in the student’s name only showing a purchase made in person, in the state of Utah, at least once every 7 days or fewer for the date range the student wishes to prove
- Gym records in the student’s name and with the name and contact information for the gym, showing visits to a Utah gym in person at least once every 7 days or fewer for the date range the student wishes to prove
- In some cases, a signed and dated letter on letterhead from a religious, volunteer, or educational leader or a coach, doctor or therapist specifying the dates of presence in Utah may be used (subject to review)
- The following CANNOT be used to demonstrate proof of physical presence (this list is not exhaustive):
- Utah utility bills
- Utah leases or rental agreements
- W-2s
- Presence of Utah property
- Personal statements
- Letters from friends/parents/landlords
- Records from apps such as DoorDash, UberEats, Uber, Lyft, Venmo, etc
- Photographs or images of people/locations
- Social media posts
- Any form of proof of physical presence in Utah submitted is subject to review; acceptance is not guaranteed.
- Students are expected to report any days they leave the state of Utah.
- Any days that a student cannot prove their presence in Utah by one of the accepted methods will count against the 29 day total.
- Accepted methods of proof include the following:
Ready to apply?
Post Submission Form
If you have already submitted your residency application form and have additional documents you wish to turn in for evaluation, please attach the documents using the:
Exceptions and Restrictions
If you are requesting residency for a spring term, all of the above documentation is required.
For the federal tax return requirement, the you can submit:
- The first two pages of your federal tax return for the most recent tax filing year verifying that you were not claimed as a tax dependent by out-of-state parents or guardians.
- Copy of your out of state parents’ or guardians’ federal tax return(s) for the most recent tax filing year verifying that they did not claim you as a dependent.
- A signed and dated letter on letterhead from a licensed CPA with contact information, verifying that you will not be claimed on federal taxes for the previous year as a dependent by out-of-state parents or guardians.
- Example: If you are applying for residency for Spring 2024, you can submit either your or your parents’/guardians’ filed federal tax return for 2022 federal taxes verifying that you were not claimed as a dependent by out-of-state parents or guardians, or a signed and dated letter on letterhead from a licensed CPA with contact information, verifying that you will not be claimed on federal taxes for the 2022 tax year as a dependent by out-of-state parents or guardians.
Please note that per the Board of Regents and University of Utah Institutional Policy, no time spent during the 12 months prior to the term for which resident student status is being sought* on the following programs can be used towards Undergraduate One Year Rule or Graduate Policy residency reclassification requirements:
- Western Undergraduate Exchange
- Western Regional Graduate Program
- Professional Student Exchange Program
- Utah Tech Good Neighbor Program
- International Student Exchange
- Alumni Legacy Scholarships
- Other programs as specified by the state or institution
- More information can be found in the mandatory reading of the University of Utah Institutional Policy and the Board of Regents Policies, R512.
*Any student wishing to reclassify as a resident for tuition purposes after completing 12 months of residence in Utah must not have spent time during the same 12 months on any of the above programs.
Late Application Submissions
An application is considered late if it is submitted after the deadline (see “Residency for Tuition Purposes Calendar” above).
The hard late deadline for application submission is the tuition deadline. No application will be accepted after the tuition deadline for the requested term of reclassification.
Late applications must be submitted with a late petition explaining why you did not submit by the deadline, and there is no guarantee of application acceptance nor a decision by the tuition deadline for the requested term of reclassification.
Late Documentation
Required documentation (proof of physical presence documents, submission of Utah ties, proof of tax independence documents, etc.) will be accepted through the census deadline of the requested term of reclassification at the latest. Documentation should be submitted as soon as possible prior to this deadline. No documentation will be accepted after the census deadline for the requested term of reclassification.
Students submitting documentation must have a residency reclassification application on file that was submitted by the hard application deadline.
Have Questions?
Contact the Residency Office
(801) 581-8761, Option 5