Florida Residency Forum

[hoogs23]

Are there any current students at either FSU or UF who were out-of-state, and then either successfully or was unsuccessful in obtaining Florida residency? What were the biggest factors?

I have received emails from UF telling me what I should do, and that 70% out-of-staters gain residency, and is this realistic?

Thanks for any information because this is a major factor for me deciding between law schools with the in-state tuition being so much less.

[untar614]

maybe many years ago, but Florida has very strict rules regarding residency. One of them is that once you start school as an out-of-stater, u can't gain residency except through marriage, or taking a leave of absence to gain residency the old fashion way while not actively enrolled. So unless you are marrying a Florida resident, or are buying a house in Florida and working fulltime for a year prior, i wouldnt count on it.

I went to Florida from OOS for UG; I've looked into this extensively. I'm curious as to what they're telling you you should do to gain IS tuition rates.

[hoogs23]

maybe many years ago, but Florida has very strict rules regarding residency. One of them is that once you start school as an out-of-stater, u can't gain residency except through marriage, or taking a leave of absence to gain residency the old fashion way while not actively enrolled. So unless you are marrying a Florida resident, or are buying a house in Florida and working fulltime for a year prior, i wouldnt count on it.

I went to Florida from OOS for UG; I've looked into this extensively. I'm curious as to what they're telling you you should do to gain IS tuition rates.

they told me this:

"Also -- you asked this question elsewhere, but it's extremely easy to gain in-state residency as a 2L. Basically, you have to move to the state, get a drivers license, and a couple other registration-type things at least one year before the first day of classes 2L year, and you're set."

[minuit]

Yeah, that person is wrong. Undergrad requirements are different and much more difficult than law school requirements.

[Antrim]

Yeah, that person is wrong. Undergrad requirements are different and much more difficult than law school requirements.

UF counted me as a Florida resident for UG but when applying to LS told me I was not a resident. I'd been living there for 17 years, but I guess having a parent who had't paid a dime for me since I was 16 living in some state I didn't know made me no longer a Floridian.

tl;dr they'll screw you however they can

[minuit]

Yeah, that person is wrong. Undergrad requirements are different and much more difficult than law school requirements.

UF counted me as a Florida resident for UG but when applying to LS told me I was not a resident. I'd been living there for 17 years, but I guess having a parent who had't paid a dime for me since I was 16 living in some state I didn't know made me no longer a Floridian.

tl;dr they'll screw you however they can

I dunno what to tell you about UF. I assumed that they'd be comparable to FSU, but that sounds pretty shitty of them. My experience is limited to FSU, and I know lots of people who do it every year without any issue as long as they follow the directions FSU provides.

[untar614]

http://www.flbog.edu/forstudents/ati/re ... ements.php

see 4 and 5. This is not specifically for UG or and grad/professional program

Based on the bolded in the opening paragraph, it seems the school could deem you a resident in spite of these rules if it so desired, but they're under no obligation to do so, and would go against their general standards:
http://www.admissions.ufl.edu/pdf/residencyreclass.pdf

[minuit]

http://www.flbog.edu/forstudents/ati/re ... ements.php

see 4 and 5. This is not specifically for UG or and grad/professional program

Based on the bolded in the opening paragraph, it seems the school could deem you a resident in spite of these rules if it so desired, but they're under no obligation to do so, and would go against their general standards:
http://www.admissions.ufl.edu/pdf/residencyreclass.pdf

Yes, but you see... there's this thing in law school called registering for the bar... and Florida lets you do it as a 1L... so if you register for the Florida bar, presumably you are going to take the Florida bar, and you will work in Florida... so number 4 is satisfied. I'm not even sure registering for the bar is a necessary requirement at FSU law, though, but it is surely sufficient.