What happens to residency while in grad school?

[holykrp]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask but hoping someone will know the answer!

 

I am from Ohio and moved to Kentucky over 5 years ago, so I'm obviously currently a Kentucky resident. I will be selling my condo and am not married to my boyfriend, who will be getting his own apartment in KY or OH. I'll be moving out of state to MO. After my masters degree I plan to apply to medical school, so I'm wondering if I am totally forgoing my KY residency and becoming a MO resident, or if there is a caveat if you just moved to a city to go to grad school there? Or if I can claim a "permanent" address with either my dad or boyfriend in OH or KY? Anyone know?

[hyronomus4]

I think it varies from state to state.  I was a resident of WA while going to school in WI for my masters.  I even changed my official address (that was linked to my drivers license and all of my official state mail) to WI while keeping my WA residency.  I then kept it for another year while living in IL (which was probably a stretch).  I never ran into any problems.  What I found when first looking into it was that you have to change your residency within three months of declaring permanent residence.  I figured as long as I was in school I could say I wasn't permanent. Honestly though I never looked into it too deeply because I had no desire to spend the money to change my residency.  I got pulled over once and told the police officer I was a student and he didn't question it.

[Adelantero]

I think in most places you're supposed to get a driver's license in the state you've moved to within a few month or so. That said, you can swing it if you're a student. I moved to Maine from New Mexico and kept my NM license until it expired. My car was registered in Maine (where I bought it) but I drove with an out of state license. My partner was pulled over once in a similar license/registration situation and the cop didn't mind because she told him she was a student. The problems come when you want to open a local bank account (especially for regional credit unions) and other bureaucratic things. Still, I considered myself a resident of Maine while holding a NM license and registered to vote in ME using a local bank statement. If you want to follow the letter of the law, you change your residency. Otherwise, you do what's most convenient to you and apologize later if it becomes a problem.