Marrying for in state tuition and financial independance

[johncitizen]

US Citizen, 20 years old, 1st year in college. IL resident attending school in CA. Currently dependant, parents have assets tied up in legal inheritance feuds that are not liquefiable: even though EFC is 300K, they can hardly pay the 60K I need and I may have to drop out next year. In looking for a solution, I came across this:
1) Marry a CA resident. Grants me a) independance and b) probably automatic residency
2) If I don't get automatic residency, I would get it after being independent for 2 years (meeting all other req).
3) File FAFSA & taxes together, putting down my limited income, allowing me to receive substantial financial aid.
4) Buy/sublease a house, get a car, CA DL, voters reg, etc. to seal the deal.

Would I need to show lifestyle proof of marriage (living together, etc.)?
Would this qualify me for independance? Does my parents contributing anything (ex: healthcare, rent, etc.) disqualify me for independance, assuming I list it in the FAFSA as an external contribution/gift?
Could I change my 2014 tax return marital status status (can't hurt to have further proof)?
What forms/procedures would I need to go through to make this a reality? I assume legal marriage, tax returns, FAFSA, joint lease maybe?
One of the big questions when looking amongst my friends is a) would it be possible to do a homosexual marriage (I understand this has not been legalized in CA) and b) is there any advantage to marrying a CA resident (i.e. would that skip the 2 years of financial independance required to be considered in-state)?

Edit: also would be making a prenup of course. I have friends I trust, but in this world trust seems to not cut it many times. Would a stern prenup (that doesn't allow them to take any of my assets, etc. upon divorce) affect any of the above, or is that a private matter?

 

[quincy]

US Citizen, 20 years old, 1st year in college. IL resident attending school in CA. Currently dependant, parents have assets tied up in legal inheritance feuds that are not liquefiable: even though EFC is 300K, they can hardly pay the 60K I need and I may have to drop out next year. In looking for a solution, I came across this:
1) Marry a CA resident. Grants me a) independance and b) probably automatic residency
2) If I don't get automatic residency, I would get it after being independent for 2 years (meeting all other req).
3) File FAFSA & taxes together, putting down my limited income, allowing me to receive substantial financial aid.
4) Buy/sublease a house, get a car, CA DL, voters reg, etc. to seal the deal.

Would I need to show lifestyle proof of marriage (living together, etc.)?
Would this qualify me for independance? Does my parents contributing anything (ex: healthcare, rent, etc.) disqualify me for independance, assuming I list it in the FAFSA as an external contribution/gift?
Could I change my 2014 tax return marital status status (can't hurt to have further proof)?
What forms/procedures would I need to go through to make this a reality? I assume legal marriage, tax returns, FAFSA, joint lease maybe?
One of the big questions when looking amongst my friends is a) would it be possible to do a homosexual marriage (I understand this has not been legalized in CA) and b) is there any advantage to marrying a CA resident (i.e. would that skip the 2 years of financial independance required to be considered in-state)?

Edit: also would be making a prenup of course. I have friends I trust, but in this world trust seems to not cut it many times. Would a stern prenup (that doesn't allow them to take any of my assets, etc. upon divorce) affect any of the above, or is that a private matter?

Seriously?

 

[Ohiogal]

Gotta love fraud.

 

[Silverplum]

You have bigger problems. Your spelling is not of college quality, and is unforgivably easy to check.

 

[johncitizen]

Seriously?

Yes, seriously, or I wouldn't have posted this.

 

[johncitizen]

You have bigger problems. Your spelling is not of college quality, and is unforgivably easy to check.

Please come back when you have upped division standing in programs for 3 different languages and can type something half coherent after being up for >24h studying for three back-to-back final exams.

 

[Silverplum]

Yes, seriously, or I wouldn't have posted this.

People have not fought and suffered so that you can get a discount you did not earn, from a fund to which you and your parents did not contribute.

 

[Silverplum]

Please come back when you have upped division standing in programs for 3 different languages and can type something half coherent after being up for >24h studying for three back-to-back final exams.

L.O.L.

 

[johncitizen]

For those claiming fraud, please provide a legal basis. From what I have gathered, a marriage such as this for immigration purposes is a felony. It can also be considered fraud if done for military or health benefits. In this case I am not getting any benefits from my spouse, nor am I gaining citizenship. Are you guys sure that it is considered fraud to be married to someone in order to be financially independent?

 

[johncitizen]

People have not fought and suffered so that you can get a discount you did not earn, from a fund to which you and your parents did not contribute.

Dude, you know nothing about my family history. I am not going to go into details, but my parents have poured over $1M into the federal system and the state of CA over inheritance litigations. My family previously lived in CA, but I was raised out of the state. So having fulfilled requirements for ancestral establishment in the state and the country, and having contributed more to the state than the grand majority of the students receiving financial aid, do you still feel I am not entitled to it? For christs sake, I have friends whose parents obtained US citizenship illegally and who now receive a full ride, whilst having an academic performance nowhere near mine and a need that in many cases is not greater. And I'm eating rice and pretzels for 2 meals a day.

 

[Zigner]

So having fulfilled requirements for ancestral establishment in the state and the country...

What requirements are those in-so-far as resident tuition is concerned?

 

[Proserpina]

Given that you apparently don't know the difference between residency and citizenship, you might want to rethink the whole.. "endeavor".

You would be an ICE agent's dream.

 

[Silverplum]

People have not fought and suffered so that you can get a discount ...

(I was, of course, referring to homosexual marriage. The OP is not gonna "get" that, I see.)

 

[Ladyback1]

For those claiming fraud, please provide a legal basis. From what I have gathered, a marriage such as this for immigration purposes is a felony. It can also be considered fraud if done for military or health benefits. In this case I am not getting any benefits from my spouse, nor am I gaining citizenship. Are you guys sure that it is considered fraud to be married to someone in order to be financially independent?

Muhwahahahaha...financially independence by getting married. Boy, that's an oxymoron if I ever heard one!

(FYI--if you don't like the answers you get, then go ahead, do what you want--you're going to anyway)

 

[johncitizen]

"To establish residence you must be physically present in California for more than one year [check], and you must come here with the intent to make California your home as opposed to coming to this state to go to school [check]. Your residence cannot be derived from your spouse, a registered domestic partner or a parent."

I didn't come here to start a moral debate. This is about legalities. Someone tell me where marriage for this purpose is defined as fraud. It appears, as per the bolded above, that I would not gain CA residency (for tuition purposes, which I very clearly understand is different than US Citizenship and is not clearly defined legally but rather has a set of guidelines that vary even by institution). Therefore, the marriage becomes only to gain financial independence from my parents (there fixed the oxymoron). I would be financially independent already if I were given the appropriate financial aid, but I can not get said aid because I am not independent... I imagine you can appreciate the cyclic nature of this.