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Can anyone vouch for how difficult it is to gain AZ residency for their 2L and 3L years?

I'm interested in this as well...

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I've made some calls and done some research and apparently it is quite difficult. The part that trips up most people is that you have to show "financial independence" for two years prior to applying for residency. This is NOT the same as your parents no longer claiming you as a dependent on their taxes. You need to show that for the two previous years that you were responsible for 51%+ of your expenses. In addition, the website said in general, students who are in Arizona for educational reasons only, are almost never granted residency. I know of people who have lived in Arizona their whole life then left for 6 months prior to enrolling for an internship and lost their residency. My guess is that a lot of this is the result of Arizona's (*cough unconstitutional *cough) immigration/residency laws.

Aroldis105 wrote:I've made some calls and done some research and apparently it is quite difficult. The part that trips up most people is that you have to show "financial independence" for two years prior to applying for residency. This is NOT the same as your parents no longer claiming you as a dependent on their taxes. You need to show that for the two previous years that you were responsible for 51%+ of your expenses. In addition, the website said in general, students who are in Arizona for educational reasons only, are almost never granted residency. I know of people who have lived in Arizona their whole life then left for 6 months prior to enrolling for an internship and lost their residency. My guess is that a lot of this is the result of Arizona's (*cough unconstitutional *cough) immigration/residency laws.

This is what I was told when I was considering Arizona. As for the educational reasons only part, you really need to be able to convince them that you're going to stay in Arizona for good after graduation. I know people who were able to do this, but also people who weren't. It wasn't easy/automatic.

I read, re: scholarships, that if you switch from out of state to in-state your scholarship takes a cut as well, since out of state scholarships are proportionally larger.

A. Nony Mouse wrote:

Aroldis105 wrote:I've made some calls and done some research and apparently it is quite difficult. The part that trips up most people is that you have to show "financial independence" for two years prior to applying for residency. This is NOT the same as your parents no longer claiming you as a dependent on their taxes. You need to show that for the two previous years that you were responsible for 51%+ of your expenses. In addition, the website said in general, students who are in Arizona for educational reasons only, are almost never granted residency. I know of people who have lived in Arizona their whole life then left for 6 months prior to enrolling for an internship and lost their residency. My guess is that a lot of this is the result of Arizona's (*cough unconstitutional *cough) immigration/residency laws.

This is what I was told when I was considering Arizona. As for the educational reasons only part, you really need to be able to convince them that you're going to stay in Arizona for good after graduation. I know people who were able to do this, but also people who weren't. It wasn't easy/automatic.

Do you know how strict the financial independence rule is? I've heard the same requirement at others schools, albeit for only one year, not two. How can the school go about analyzing your financial independence? Tax returns? Bank Statements? Trust fund accounts? Seems...invasive and unnecessary. Living there year round, registering to vote/Arizona license, and applying to join the Arizona bar should suffice IMHO