Do grad students from out of state change residency and car insurance?

[Designated]

So how many of you out of state students changed residency? How many of you out of state students kept your home state residency, car insurance, registration etc.?

I currently live in California and will be going to school in Michigan. I am getting conflicting information on residency and auto insurance. I was going to type up my confusing story on why I prefer to stay a CA resident and keep my CA auto insurance (the gist of it involves my immigrant parents who do not speak English and depend on me for a lot of things, one of them is dealing with our car insurance), but I won't get into that.

If anyone is interested, this is the information I have gathered so far from the various people I have spoken to:

CA DMV - the CA DMV told me that since I am only going to school in MI, I can still be a CA resident if I use a CA address as my permanent address and my Michigan address as my mailing address. Even though I am currently an independent and have been living on my own in an apartment for the last few years, I was thinking of changing my permanent address to my parents' address and then using my new Michigan address as my mailing address so I can get letters from the DMV regarding my license, car registration, etc.

My CA auto insurance - my CA auto insurance company said that even if I am technically still a CA resident with a CA license, I am considered "living" in MI and my CA auto insurance policy cannot cover me and I need to switch over to a MI auto insurance company. If I was much younger and still living with my parents, it would be possible for me to keep my CA insurance, but since I am much older and an independent, I cannot.

Random MI auto insurance company #1 - said that within 30 days of moving to Michigan, I needed to become a Michigan resident: get a Michigan driver's license, license plate, etc. They said that I needed a Michigan driver's license in order to sign up for their car insurance.

Ann Arbor Police Department - the Ann Arbor Police Department told me that since I am just a student and since I am not establishing residency by buying a house in Ann Arbor, I did not have to change residency and can keep my CA license and my CA tags/registration. Should an officer pull me over and question me, I can explain to them that I am a temporary resident and just going to school.

My grad program's coordinator - she said that she suspects most grad students keep their home state residency, car insurance, etc.

Random MI auto insurance company #2 - also stated the "within 30 days" thing at first, but I told them what the police department told me above. I asked if I needed to be a Michigan resident to sign up for their car insurance and they replied that some companies will allow me to sign up with a CA license, but I would eventually have to become a Michigan resident because where I park my car at night most of the time is where they consider my residency.

So far, it looks like I cannot keep my CA auto insurance and I need to change over to a MI auto insurance. And in order to change over to a MI auto insurance, I need to become a MI resident and go to the DMV and get a MI license, registration, etc.

[runonsentence]

I did change residency. This was partly because my school only funds the out-of-state tuition charge for one year; after one year (when one is officially considered an Ohio resident by virtue of having lived and worked in-state for a year), my department no longer covers this fee of $3k-something per quarter.

Apart from that, having the proper residency probably makes for fewer hassles with things like paying parking/traffic tickets and using public services (e.g., the local public library). You might also find that tax season becomes a huge headache if you're filing as a CA resident but paying your taxes in MI.

However, I don't know the extent of your personal situation with your parents. Would you still be able to help them out (still help them keep up on their car insurance, for example) without being a CA resident?

[Designated]

I did change residency. This was partly because my school only funds the out-of-state tuition charge for one year; after one year (when one is officially considered an Ohio resident by virtue of having lived and worked in-state for a year), my department no longer covers this fee of $3k-something per quarter.

Apart from that, having the proper residency probably makes for fewer hassles with things like paying parking/traffic tickets and using public services (e.g., the local public library). You might also find that tax season becomes a huge headache if you're filing as a CA resident but paying your taxes in MI.

However, I don't know the extent of your personal situation with your parents. Would you still be able to help them out (still help them keep up on their car insurance, for example) without being a CA resident?

Thanks runonsentence! You're right about filing taxes... I didn't even think about that. I could still help my parents out, but it would be a more difficult and a big hassle since we will have be on different car insurance policies and maybe even using different insurance companies. *sigh*

[Tall Chai Latte]

I also go to school in MI, and I moved from MD. I didn't change to be a MI resident, and my license tag and driver's license remain as MD. I heard that it is very difficult to regain your CA residency once you give it up, if you plan on going back to CA after graduation, you might not want to change residency.... At my school, once you pass candidacy exam, your tuition rate goes down a lot, so switching to MI residency wouldn't make a difference. One thing here is that you have to file income tax to both CA and MI, something to think about.

[UnlikelyGrad]

I also go to school in MI, and I moved from MD. I didn't change to be a MI resident, and my license tag and driver's license remain as MD. I heard that it is very difficult to regain your CA residency once you give it up, if you plan on going back to CA after graduation, you might not want to change residency.... At my school, once you pass candidacy exam, your tuition rate goes down a lot, so switching to MI residency wouldn't make a difference. One thing here is that you have to file income tax to both CA and MI, something to think about.

My brother-in-law also went to school in MI. I happen to know he kept his CO residency the whole time.

[rising_star]

The taxes thing is really not a big deal if you use a program like TurboTax (Freedom Edition is free) or H&R Block to file your taxes. For example, I attend school in state X but am a legal resident of state Y. TurboTax figures all of that out for me. I stayed a resident of state Y in large part because you cannot get in-state rates for tuition in state X unless you live and work in the state for one year without being a student. Because I'm a legal resident of state Y, that's also where my car is registered and where my insurance is from.

[Tall Chai Latte]

My brother-in-law also went to school in MI. I happen to know he kept his CO residency the whole time.

Yeah that's what I'm planing to do. I still have my MD license tag and everything, which means I have to go home to do emission test once in a while. One more excuse to go home!

[Designated]

Thanks, guys!

But in terms of car insurance, did I screw myself over by telling my car insurance company that I will be going to school in MI? Did you guys keep it a secret from them? Or did they know and not care that your car was in another state for most of the year? My car insurance company is adamant that I cannot be covered under my CA policy because my car will be in MI and they said that I need to switch over to a MI auto insurance policy. I've called 2 MI auto insurance companies and they've both told me that I need to become a MI resident to get MI auto insurance.

Did you guys run into this problem or were your car insurance companies in the dark about your schooling?

[mandarin.orange]

My grad program's coordinator - she said that she suspects most grad students keep their home state residency, car insurance, etc.

Are you getting tuition remission as part of your package/stipend? Most programs stipulate that they will only pay out-of-state fees (much higher) for you for one year. I had to establish new residency for my MS program in 2002. I have already received documentation from my school-to-be that I will need to establish residency there within one year, and what steps I need to take.

Find a school-wide graduate student handbook, and review it. At my MS institution, the department grad coordinator was a 2-year rotation between the faculty and all they really did was sign letters to the incoming students and meet with us once a term to establish TA assignments. It would not surprise me if they did not know the specifics of school-wide policy for an issue such as this. A dept administrator might be more in the know about this, or at least point you to current grad students that you could contact.

[Tall Chai Latte]

Thanks, guys!

But in terms of car insurance, did I screw myself over by telling my car insurance company that I will be going to school in MI? Did you guys keep it a secret from them? Or did they know and not care that your car was in another state for most of the year? My car insurance company is adamant that I cannot be covered under my CA policy because my car will be in MI and they said that I need to switch over to a MI auto insurance policy. I've called 2 MI auto insurance companies and they've both told me that I need to become a MI resident to get MI auto insurance.

Did you guys run into this problem or were your car insurance companies in the dark about your schooling?

The address I used for my car insurance is the address of my parents' place in MD, and we didn't tell the insurance company that I will be away for school. I vaguely remember that a grad student (from OH) doing his PhD at my MD alma mater also kept his OH car insurance, using his parents' address. I haven't had any problems so far, maybe because I've been driving very carefully and not getting into any accidents.

[michpc]

I am planning to move everything over, but in my case this is because I don't have any plans to come back to MA after graduation unless I find some overwhelmingly awesome job here. But in general I'm ready for an adventure and trying new places and don't really want to come back any time soon. I'm treating this like a real move, not like a temp thing as it was in undergrad, where I came home to my parents' house every summer and winter break.

Another thing to note: I'm not sure if this is the case for where you're going in MI, but this may be something to take into consideration for others: if you are moving with your car to a city, many residential areas have permit parking. Where I live currently (Cambridge, MA) you must have your legal residence and car registration at an address within the city in order to get one. Otherwise you'd have to do something like pay for a garage or parking lot spot or find an apartment with off street parking (not always the easiest). Just something for others to think about!

[Designated]

Are you getting tuition remission as part of your package/stipend? Most programs stipulate that they will only pay out-of-state fees (much higher) for you for one year. I had to establish new residency for my MS program in 2002. I have already received documentation from my school-to-be that I will need to establish residency there within one year, and what steps I need to take.

Find a school-wide graduate student handbook, and review it. At my MS institution, the department grad coordinator was a 2-year rotation between the faculty and all they really did was sign letters to the incoming students and meet with us once a term to establish TA assignments. It would not surprise me if they did not know the specifics of school-wide policy for an issue such as this. A dept administrator might be more in the know about this, or at least point you to current grad students that you could contact.

Hmm... I don't think so. The graduate coordinator I spoke to has been there for maybe 10 years at least. I'm fully funded and I don't think in-state or out-of-state fees apply for my PhD program.

So it sounds like everyone pretty much kept their car insurance in the dark about going to grad school in another state. I wanted to be honest and find out if there were any rules/laws I'd be breaking, both from the car insurance company's point of view and from the police department.

[Designated]

I am planning to move everything over, but in my case this is because I don't have any plans to come back to MA after graduation unless I find some overwhelmingly awesome job here. But in general I'm ready for an adventure and trying new places and don't really want to come back any time soon. I'm treating this like a real move, not like a temp thing as it was in undergrad, where I came home to my parents' house every summer and winter break.

Another thing to note: I'm not sure if this is the case for where you're going in MI, but this may be something to take into consideration for others: if you are moving with your car to a city, many residential areas have permit parking. Where I live currently (Cambridge, MA) you must have your legal residence and car registration at an address within the city in order to get one. Otherwise you'd have to do something like pay for a garage or parking lot spot or find an apartment with off street parking (not always the easiest). Just something for others to think about!

Thanks for the note! I remember hearing that about Boston. I am actually renting a room in a house so I will have parking on the driveway!

[neuropsychosocial]

But in terms of car insurance, did I screw myself over by telling my car insurance company that I will be going to school in MI? Did you guys keep it a secret from them? Or did they know and not care that your car was in another state for most of the year?

The problem is that if you need to make a claim on your car insurance, there's a very good chance that they will find out that your car has been "garaged" in Michigan (that's the term, regardless of whether the car is in an actual garage) and then deny your claim based on fraud. So if you don't need to make a claim, you won't have any problems, but if you need the insurance, it will be retroactively cancelled, which seems like a catch-22 to me.

[Raen]

The taxes thing is really not a big deal if you use a program like TurboTax (Freedom Edition is free) or H&R Block to file your taxes. For example, I attend school in state X but am a legal resident of state Y. TurboTax figures all of that out for me. I stayed a resident of state Y in large part because you cannot get in-state rates for tuition in state X unless you live and work in the state for one year without being a student. Because I'm a legal resident of state Y, that's also where my car is registered and where my insurance is from.

I'm completely necroposting and I don't know if anybody will see this, but I just moved from Arizona to Michigan and I'm hoping to keep my Arizona residency. When you file taxes doing student in state X, living in state Y, can you use the EZ form or do you need to use something more complex?

[Monochrome Spring]

I recently moved from California to Michigan and changed to Michigan car insurance and residency.

 

First, you need to call your car insurance provider and ask to be put on a policy for Michigan. You can typically keep your same insurance company if it's a large one. Michigan car insurance is no fault, very different from California, so your coverage is going to be different. Also, Michigan is notorious for having the most expensive car insurance in the states. I went from paying $100/mo in California to $165/mo in Michigan.

 

Then, once you have proof of insurance, you can go to the DMV, and get your new plates, license, and registration. To prove residency, you need a few pieces of mail with your Michigan address on it, to show that you have been living in Michigan. You technically have longer than 30 days, since you can always claim temporary resident, but I would do it sooner than later (of course wait for your funding if it's easier!).

 

Michigan also doesn't have the strict smog check laws that California does, so you won't have to deal with that (one of the reasons I changed to Michigan insurance and residency was to avoid having to get a California approved smog check).

 

If you have any questions, please feel free to message me. It sucks figuring this all out alone!

[geographyrocks]

I'm completely necroposting and I don't know if anybody will see this, but I just moved from Arizona to Michigan and I'm hoping to keep my Arizona residency. When you file taxes doing student in state X, living in state Y, can you use the EZ form or do you need to use something more complex?

You need to make sure that your school doesn't require you to obtain residency in that state. This is generally due to funding. I know if I don't establish residency in one year, I lose all funding.

As for taxes, I can't really give anything but guesses which are useless so hopefully someone else has some insight.

[Vene]

double post

Edited August 1, 2014 by Vene

[Vene]

I'm completely necroposting and I don't know if anybody will see this, but I just moved from Arizona to Michigan and I'm hoping to keep my Arizona residency. When you file taxes doing student in state X, living in state Y, can you use the EZ form or do you need to use something more complex?

My experience is from moving from one state to another, so it's sort of different. But for the portion of the year I lived in the previous state I could easily file the EZ form, I just didn't have to report any income I earned in the other state. You'll probably have to file federal taxes, taxes for Arizona, as well as taxes for Michigan since that's where you're earning your income.

I would imagine that this is already fairly routine, not just because of students, but because there are many places in the country where somebody can live in one state and work in another (most obvious one that comes to mind is somebody in New Jersey working in NYC).

Edited August 1, 2014 by Vene

[avflinsch]

Many states have periodic auto inspections (yearly or every other year) for safety, emissions etc. It could be areal hassle to go from MI to CA, just to get your car inspected, if one is required.

 

This might not be a problem if going between nearby states, but cross country would be difficult.

[juilletmercredi]

I had to file the 1040, but that's because of my fellowship income.  If you have a W-2 from your school (as opposed to the weird stipend dump my school chose to do), you can probably file the 1040EZ.  When I moved I had to file a part-year GA return and a part-year NYS return.  But as someone pointed out, whether you use the EZ, A, or the regular 1040 is a moot point if you use an online tax program like TurboTax or H&R Block.  They take you through the questions and file whichever form you need to file, and it's super easy.  Besides, the state thing is a state tax form, not the federal - which state you file taxes in has nothing to do with which federal form you use; it has to do with which state form(s) you have to file.  Some states, if you live there but declare residency elsewhere, will still make you file taxes there - so you could be in a situation in which you have to file MI, AZ, and federal forms.

 

If you're going to a Michigan public university and you have funding, they'll probably ask you to change your residency to MI so they can pay in-state tuition on you.

 

[danieleWrites]

Residency is a funny thing based on the laws of the two states involved. For people going to school, this generally means that you have a residence (leasing a room qualifies) for about 9 months per year in the school's state, and about 3 months in your state of origin. Each state has laws defining what residency means for 1) tax purposes and 2) voting.

Changing residency doesn't immediately mean getting a driver's license. It can mean nothing more than moving into a place that you intend to spend 75% of your time for the next 2 to 6 years.

The place to check about residency rules is generally the home state's and the school state's department of revenue (or where ever they locate their tax laws). One thing that most state have in common is the idea of intention. If you establish a residence with the intention of staying there permanently, you must change your residency (change driver's license, voter registration, vehicle tags, and so on).

If you must file taxes, and you don't change residency, you will have to file taxes in both states. You should get all taxes paid back from the school's state because you are not a resident. This means you may have to pay taxes to your home state.

As far as car insurance goes, they don't care what's on your driver's license. They charge based on the home address where the vehicle is most often parked. This means the place you live when you're at school.

[SeaOtterNerd]

Reviving this post again because it has honestly been a really valuable source of information for me and I want to add to it.

I'm in the same situation - CA resident going to grad school in MI and maintaining CA residency. I'm just starting my third year and so far it's gone pretty smoothly. My university uses an out of state tuition waiver, rather than paying extra, so they don't really seem to care where my residency is. I'm still on my parents' auto insurance (they also technically still own my car) and have used the associated roadside assistance service without problems (although the no-fault thing caused some unexpected problems when someone ran into my car in a parking lot). I believe that my parents called the insurance company (GEICO) and explained the situation to them and they were fine with it. Filing taxes in both states has presented no issues or obvious extra cost (although MI's refusal to let you pay online is really obnoxious, especially since I have to pay estimated taxes because my university doesn't do withholding from fellowships).

The issue I'm trying to figure out now is voter registration. Since MI is a swing state and all, I feel vaguely guilty for keeping my registration in CA. Here's what I've figured out so far:

- CA seems to be fine with me leaving my registration there, and even has a permanent vote by mail option, which is great.

- If I had a Michigan driver's license, re-registering in the city where I'm going to school would require me to change the address on it.

- Both states list residency in that state as a requirement for voting in that state. I could definitely claim residency in either state, but based on tax forms it doesn't seem like Michigan is okay with me claiming residency in both it and California. The Michigan DMV website says that "long term intent" is what matters.

- I should in theory be able to register to vote in MI without an MI driver's license, and even use a license from a different state as identification when voting.

- campusvoteproject.org goes on to say that "For out-of-state students, registering to vote does not obligate you to obtain a Michigan driver’s license or car registration, but you may be required to obtain a Michigan driver’s license or car registration regardless of voter registration status." I assume this is referring to the issues that we've already discussed here, but it still sounds a little ominous and makes me not really want to mess with it.

Since my long term plan is not to stay in Michigan after grad school, I think I'm just going to leave this alone for now and vote absentee in California, since it seems pretty clear that that's allowed. I wish all of this were clearer, though.

[Vene]

I don't believe Michigan has a voter ID law, so your drivers license shouldn't be of any significance. If you wanted to vote in Michigan, I don't see why you couldn't if you're willing to change your residency although I agree that nobody will complain about you keeping yours in California.

 

But, as an aside, I don't really think Michigan is a swing state as it has a 30 year streak of voting for the Democratic Presidential candidate. Although individual districts may swing and I could see someplace like Lansing or Grand Rapids swinging, but I don't expect that for Ann Arbor (no idea which university you're at).

[ChasingMavericks]

I think part of it is preference. I'm from Arizona, living in California right now for grad school and I never changed over my license or insurance. However, I have friends from out of state who went ahead and changed theirs.