Due the impact of COVID 19 it has been announced that online classes taken during Fall 2020, Spring 2021, and Summer 2021 will count for proof of physical presence. Keep in mind that only the dates of enrollment will count (first day of the term to the last day of the term.)

If you are not able to establish your Utah ties by the tie establishment deadlines for Summer 2021 or Fall 2021, you must submit evidence that you are attempting to establish your ties (such as an appointment confirmation at the DMV) and a statement as to why you could not establish them by the deadline. For Summer 2021, ties will be accepted up until the last day of term, August 6th, 2021. For Fall 2021, ties must be submitted by Monday, September 13th, 2021. No ties will be accepted after these dates.

Any time that school was not physically in session at the University of Utah due to COVID-19, our office will not be requesting proof of physical presence. This includes the following date ranges: 03/12/2020 - 8/24/2020; 09/27/2020 - 10/11/2020; 11/26/2020 - 01/18/2021; 03/01/2021 - 03/14/2021. Other than these specified date ranges, a student is expected to provide proof of physical presence in Utah or use their 29 day out of state limit.

The timeframe begins 12 months immediately prior to the start of the term for which a student requests to reclassify, on the first day of classes.

No. Our office must verify that a student has 12 months immediately prior to the semester a student is wishing to reclassify for tuition purposes.

Our office verifies that all ties have been relinquished in any other state and established in Utah. If a student has a driver’s license in any other state a Utah driver’s license would need to be obtained. If student does not have a driver’s license, then a Utah state ID would need to be established and another Utah tie provided.

Ties need to be established approximately 90 days prior to when a student is trying to reclassify. Respective deadlines: Fall - May 1 Spring - Oct 1 Summer - Feb 1

Yes, our office will need to see that a student has relinquished all ties and established all domiciliary ties in Utah. If a car is registered in the student’s name, it must be registered in Utah.

If a person is not eligible to vote, they may submit one additional tie to Utah. This can include a rental agreement, a utility bill, or evidence of employment in Utah or Utah state taxes filed as a part or full year resident. Note: If a student is eligible to vote, they are expected to submit voter registration.

If a student's name is not listed on the out of state vehicle registration then it can remain out of state. Our office will still request the vehicle registration to be submitted with the application so that our office can verify that student's name is not listed on out of state vehicle registration.

No. If a student is not employed or does not make enough to file our office can use the parents’ or guardian’s taxes to determine that a student is not claimed as dependent on the federal taxes of any person who is not a resident of Utah.

• As stated in Utah state law, “A student who is claimed as a dependent on the tax returns of a person who is not a resident of Utah is not eligible to apply for resident student status.” (53B-8-102 3c)

Proof of physical presence can be demonstrated in the following ways:

• Enrollment at the University of Utah or another Utah institution through transcripts
• Employment with a Utah employer via dated pay stubs or through a signed and dated letter on letterhead from the Utah employer specifying the dates of employment

Our office will accept bank statements or credit card statements showing a purchase made in the state of Utah in person every four days or fewer. The credit card or bank card must not be linked to any other individuals. We also accept documents such as meal plans or gym memberships in Utah showing a daily transaction. Doctors notes proving that you were in a Utah facility will also be accepted. It is important to note that rental or housing agreements will not be accepted.

For the Undergraduate Policy/One Year Rule, you must show proof of physical presence for 12 continuous months in Utah. You may not be absent from the state for more than a total of 29 days. If you are unable to prove your presence for any days requested, those days will be listed as absences and will count against your 29 day total.

Residency reclassification is a one-time process for attending students. Students are expected to maintain ties to Utah and financial independence throughout their programs, but do not need to follow the 29 day limit for future years. Once reclassified, a student holds their new residency status through the end of their current academic program. Your residency will not be re-evaluated unless you submit a new application for admission to the university.

No. Utah addresses, rental or lease agreements cannot be used to demonstrate presence or residency in Utah.

No. You must reside in Utah and claim residency in Utah, regardless of where you or your parents work.

We are unable to grant residency to any dependent who was claimed by parents or guardians outside of Utah. However, our office does work with amended tax returns or signed letters on letterhead from licensed CPAs verifying that a dependent is no longer being claimed or is being removed from taxes.

Our priority deadline is put in place to give our office enough time to process your application before tuition is due. Our office will accept application up until the Friday before classes start for the semester for which you applying for residency, however, our office CANNOT guarantee a decision before tuition is due on any application submitted after the deadline.

If you have been classified a resident for the semester you have already paid out of state tuition for, you are now eligible for a refund. You can now contact Income Accounting for details on how to receive this refund.

We are unable to grant residency retroactively. After the first day of the current semester, you will be unable to apply for residency of that term. The one exception to this rule applies to military applications. These applications will be accepted up until the last day of the current semester.

Tuition for online courses is based on residency. If you do not classify as a resident, you will be charged out of state tuition.

Working remote for an out of state company will not impact your residency status as long as you are able to provide proof of physical presence using a different approved method.

Please fill out your FASFA form with the information that is relevant at the time you submit the application. If your residency status changes Financial Aid will be notified.

If you have been outside of Utah for longer than 12 continuous months, but have maintained your Utah residency (maintained Utah ties/paid Utah state taxes and paid non-resident tuition at your out of state college) you may be eligible to reclassify under the "Utah Resident Away for School" exception.

If the reclassification request is denied, the student may meet with the Residency Officer to submit additional information or have the application reviewed in person. If a denial is upheld by the Residency Officer and the student wants to appeal the denial of a residency application, the students may request a hearing through the Residency Officer with the full Residency Appeals Committee. The appeal request must be made within 10 days of the Residency Officer’s decision. There is no appeal process for retroactive residency or for applications submitted after the final deadline. 

There is not a minimum number of credit hours that need to be taken. As long as you are enrolled in one course on campus, the dates of enrollment for the term you are enrolled in will count towards your proof of physical presence.

Reclassifying for summer semester will not impact your cost of tuition. Students may wish to reclassify for this semester based on their physical presence in Utah for following year. We also get a significant amount of Fall reclassification applications, so reclassifying for summer instead will likely make the process quicker.

If a technical error prevents you from uploading your documents through the application process or through the Post Submission Form, we also accept documents sent to our email residency@utah.edu. Please include your full name, date of birth, and UNID when submitting documents over email.

If you will meet the 12 months of physical presence by the start of the semester that you are wishing to reclassify please make sure to submit an application by the term deadline of that semester. Our office will work with students to submit additional documents to complete their residency application and the requirements.

A student who must leave the state during the 12 months in which they are attempting to qualify for reclassification for the purpose of satisfying the requirements for institutional internships, institutional courses, University of Utah study abroad programs, or athletic training required by the institution will be allowed to count this time toward the 12 continuous month requirement. The student must provide written documentation from the university’s representative working with the particular program in which the student is participating including verification of the program dates and proof of major or area of study requirement of the internship or study abroad.

In general, residency is coded off of living in Utah for a consecutive year prior to your application. Birthplace does not play a role in your classification.

Our office requires verification of independence/dependence through tax documents. You can cross out any sensitive information as long as we are able to see who is claimed as a dependent or if you are able to be claimed as a dependent. We also need to see that they are filed tax returns (not filled out forms) that have been signed.

As long as there is permissible evidence that you in Utah at some point in the day, it will count towards your proof of physical presence.

Processing time depends on the time of year and our volume of applications, and if our office needs to reach out to you for more information. 3-4 weeks is an average processing time. It is recommended to submit your application as soon as possible.

If you believe that you were coded a non-resident in error, please reach out to our office so that we may take a closer look at your application for admission to determine why you were coded a non-resident in error of if our office needs clarifying information. Once our office has looked at your application further instructions will be given.

Yes, you can still be classified as a resident. In this case, you will need to show that you have lived in Utah before your service or mission for at least one year, maintained Utah ties and taxes, and that you returned to Utah after your service or mission.

You will need to wait until you are formally admitted to the University submit an application for residency.

Even if you qualify under an exception you will need to formally submit a residency reclassification application, certification form, or military exception form to be reclassified as a resident.

Our evaluators look for all of the following information:

• U.S. citizenship, permanent residency, or granted asylum or refugee status
• Utah driver’s license
• At least 12 continuous months of presence in Utah at the date of application
• If under the age of 24 and not married, an applicant’s parents or guardians live in Utah and done so for at least 12 months

Unfortunately, no. International students who are present in the United States on visitor, student, or other visas which authorize only temporary presence in this country, do not have the capacity to intend to reside in Utah for an indefinite period and therefore are classified as nonresidents. The only exception is students who qualify for House Bill 118. International students who have been granted immigrant or permanent resident status in the United States are classified for purposes of resident student status according to the same criteria applicable to citizens.

If you can demonstrate all of the following:

• Attended Utah high school three years or more
• Graduated from Utah high school or received the equivalent of a Utah diploma in Utah
• Did not attend college classes before Fall 2002

You may be able to qualify for House Bill 144 or House Bill 118 which is not residency, but a tuition waiver. If granted, you will receive a waiver for the non-resident portion of your tuition.

For residency purposes, immediate family is defined as either the parent of a dependent child, or a spouse.

No. As these companies do not withhold Utah state tax from your paychecks, employment in Utah cannot be verified through these paystubs.

No. Due to the nature and limitations of these documents, our office does not accept screen shots of delivery or purchase apps or any other app including but not limited to Lyft/Uber/UberEats/Door Dash/Grubhub/Postmates/Instacart/Venmo/Phone records /Facebook/Instragram/or any other similar documents.

Students that have started a graduate program must reclassify under the Graduate Policy and obtain 40 graduate hours before being eligible for residency reclassification.  The only exceptions to this include students who meet the requirements for a military or American Indian exception, or meet the requirements for House Bill 144 or House Bill 118.

Do you meet the requirements of the Undergraduate Policy/One Year Rule? If a student has not started their graduate program, they are eligible to reclassify under any qualifying policy prior to starting their graduate program. The only exceptions to this are students that have been admitted by the School of Dentistry, College of Law and the School of Medicine as non-residents - those students are held to the policies of their respective schools.

Please see the Law Policy in the University of Utah institutional policy brochure for specific College of Law requirements.

Please see the Dental Policy in University of Utah institutional policy brochure for specific School of Dentistry requirements.

Please see the Medical Policy in University of Utah institutional policy brochure for specific School of Medicine requirements.

For the purposes of residency reclassification, you are allowed and approved to submit a copy of your Military ID. Please visit the Department of Defense Common Access Card site at https://www.cac.mil/uniformed-services-ID-card/managing-Your-ID-card/ for more information on authorized photocopying.

In this case, you are able to apply to the application for the semester that is currently open on our website. When our staff sees that you are applying under a military exception they will verify your current enrollment and update the semester that you are applying for manually. No further action is needed.

Any dependent child or spouse of a military veteran can submit a Military Service Exception form to reclassify their residency. This application requires a copy of military veteran’s DD-214, which includes proof of honorable or general discharge as well as 180 days of service.

After you are no longer using your GI bill benefits you will lose your residency status and will need to reclassify under a different policy.

There were three recent updates to HB 45:

1. Change in eligible person definition- This change simplifies and makes more equitable the definition of eligible person while maintaining compliance with the Federal Choice Act of 2014. This item is designed to eliminate inequities institutions face in awarding in-state tuition to only those discharged under Chapters 30 and 33 of the GI bill.

2. Elimination of five year limit for immediate family members of veterans- This change eliminates the five-year limit since discharge for in-state tuition eligibility of immediate family members of veterans. This brings consistency between the definitions of immediate family member and eligible person, and it eliminates a seemingly arbitrary time limit.

3. Adjustment to Veterans Tuition Gap Program- This change allows veterans using the Veterans Tuition Gap Program to receive funds for fees and books, along with tuition. This allows institutions to better support veterans by using unspent funds that have been appropriated for the Veterans Tuition Gap Program.

No, it is an either/or choice. WUE impacts a student’s ability to gain residency. A student must be off of WUE for 12 continuous months immediately prior to the requested term of reclassification before being able to reclassify.

A student can cancel WUE for their current term or decline it for future terms, but they may not pay it back or rescind WUE retroactively.

Our office encourages student/parents to run the numbers and include any scholarships/aid calculations. Please note that WUE does have a GPA requirement and is only available for 8 semesters, and some scholarship/aid programs have a resident or non-resident requirement.

No. Any time spent on WUE cannot be used towards residency reclassification requirements. You would need to be off of WUE for twelve continuous months to be eligible for residency.