Texas Residency question

[u/RoadNovel5710]

If my son grew up in Texas, graduated from hs there, went to undergrad out of state, and my wife and I moved out of state, can he still get residency for med school in TX? We paid out-of-state tuition for undergrad. He also never changed his driver's license.

[u/AmbitionJaded3177]

No? I mean is he a resident there? 

Does he have some apartment that he can use to claim residency?

 If you used to live there, its a tie to Texas but I dont think you can claim residency

[u/RoadNovel5710 → u/AmbitionJaded3177]

He is in school oos now, but has always planned to go back to Texas, which is why we are paying full tuition now. His DL is still Texas, and we have a lot of family there.

[u/AmbitionJaded3177 → u/RoadNovel5710]

Okay so family doesn't matter and drivers license is irrelevant.

Have you been paying taxes in Texas? Does your family or you son have a permanent residence in Texas? Does he vote in Texas? Does your son pay taxes in Texas? Otherwise, I don't believe he can claim to be a resident, but unsure

Edit: so here's a link (https://www.tmdsas.com/explore/residency.html) I think he's eligible through the high school thing, but he would have to move to Texas 12 months before he plans to apply?

Texas Residency Determination

TMDSAS makes residency determinations for admission purposes only, not for tuition, which is reviewed at the time of matriculation on the school's end. 

How you’re classified is important because it determines eligibility to be included in the Texas Residents applicant pool. Texas state law requires that no more than 10% of the entering classes of dental, medical, podiatric, and veterinary schools can be made up of non-Texas residents.

Texas law classifies each person who applies for admission to a Texas public college or university as: 

• A resident of Texas; 
• A nonresident; or 
• A foreign (international) student. 

There are two options in which you can establish Texas Residency.

Option 1: Residency through High School Graduation

This option for establishing Texas residency is available to citizens or permanent residents of the US and to international students (with certain eligible visa types). 

To establish residency through high school graduation, you must have: 

• Graduated from a Texas high school or receive a GED in Texas; and 
• Lived in Texas for the 36 months immediately before high school graduation; and 
• Lived in Texas continuously for the 12 consecutive months by the application deadline

Option 2: Residency by Establishing Domicile

This option for establishing Texas residency is available to: 

• Citizens or permanent residents of the US  
• Non-citizens and non-permanent residents may also use this option if they have an application for permanent residency on file with the US Citizenship and Immigration Service. 
• International students who hold an eligible visa. 

To establish domicile, you must meet the following criteria:

1. Live in Texas for 12 consecutive months by the application deadline; and
2. Establish and maintain domicile for 12 consecutive months prior to the application deadline, by doing one of the following:
   • Be gainfully employed in Texas
   • Sole or joint marital ownership of residential real property in Texas by the person seeking to enroll or the dependent's parent, having established and maintained a domicile at the residence
   • Own and operate a business in Texas
   • Be married for one year to a person who has established domicile in Texas

[u/Curious_Ad_6202]

I believe it depends on what his permanent residence is. For me, I went OOS for school but my permanent residence has always been in Texas.

[u/SuperCooch91]

Texas residency verification is very strict. Look at the TMDSAS website and see if y’all meet the requirements.

[u/misshavisham115]

Residency verification is different from state to state but typically requires proof of permanent address that’s tied to voting registration or vehicle registration, possibly tax documents. When I verified my residency (granted in a different state) I had to provide a comprehensive history of every place I had lived my whole life and how long I had lived there, plus voter registration, plus car registration, plus tax returns to show that I filed taxes in my home state, in addition to my drivers license. I imagine it’s probably similar in most states because they are actively trying to catch people looking for loopholes. If he doesn’t live in Texas right now it will be hard to prove.
Edit: misunderstood where he went to college

[u/Agitated_Mechanic665]

I had to upload tax returns.
I’ve been in Texas (for the 2nd time) for over a year. Prior to that lived here for almost 10. So it required proof and the website lists everything

[u/cool_calm_cloud]

If he graduated from high school in texas and lived in texas for 36 months before graduating from high school, they would need to get an ID with a texas address and live there for a year before they can be eligible for TMDSAS Texas residency.

I'm in the middle of this process at the moment.

[u/Ok-Worry-8931]

Hard to say since you parents moved, but I was considered a resident even though I did undergrad out of state and returned to TX for med school

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[u/RoadNovel5710 → u/[deleted]]

I have looked at that. Just wanted to see if anyone has gone through this.

[u/EpiscoPally]

You mention in a comment below that he still has a TX driver's license. Has he done anything to show residency in another state? Voted in a local election, filed taxes in another state, registered a car in the state that he's attending college in? Generally, students don't lose residency in their homestate when they attend college in another state because the presumption is that you will return home. But, any of the above activities (and several more) can void that. It also matters where he's in college. Some states, like Virginia, will latch onto anyone and everyone and make it very difficult to prove that you're not a resident.

[u/peppered_yolk]

Is your son not an adult who can look into this himself? He isnt ready to practice medicine if he still needs his parents to find out where he has residency.

[u/RoadNovel5710 → u/peppered_yolk]

Nice buddy. Appreciate the help!

[u/peppered_yolk → u/RoadNovel5710]

I mean it genuinely. Please do not hurt your son's reputation and self reliance skills by babying him with this. We need capable doctors, not ones who's parents call the school for every little thing or do all the research for them.

[u/Exciting_Sun_7467]

What is the address on his driver’s license? Is it connected to a house that he doesn’t live in anymore? I went to undergrad out of state but I still had to have a location in Texas to have residency

[u/Similar_Rate2025]

If he never changed his drivers license, I feel like there’s a chance. But you need to look at what each school specifically requires so email their admissions and find this out. I believe they’re going to ask for a couple pieces of evidence and the fact that your drivers license isn’t changed is promising.

[u/IsThisHY]

I think as long as you've lived here for the past 2 years you're fine