Petitions for Georgia Residence Classification and all supporting documentation must be filed with the residence auditor no later than sixty (60) days after the beginning of a specific academic semester for which classification as a legal resident for fee payment purposes is requested. Petitions received after that time will not be considered for that semester. If the petition is approved, classification as a legal resident for fee payment purposes will not be retroactive to prior semesters.

A student/applicant wishing to appeal a denial decision resulting from his or Petition for Georgia Residence Classification may request a review of that decision before the Vice President for Business and Student Services and shall submit such request in writing to the Dean of Students within twenty (20) days of the decision.
If the petition is denied and the student/applicant wishes to petition for a later semester, a new Petition for Georgia Residence Classification must be submitted for that semester.

OBJECTIVE STANDARDS FOR ACQUIRING IN-STATE STATUS

For purposes of these regulations, a resident student is defined as a student domiciled in the state of Georgia. A nonresident is defined as one whose domicile is elsewhere. A student shall not be considered domiciled in Georgia unless he or she is in continuous physical residence in this state and intends to make Georgia his or her permanent home, not only while in attendance at an institution of the University System of Georgia, but indefinitely thereafter as well, and has no domicile or intent to be domiciled elsewhere.

Normally a person from another state who comes to an institution of the University System of Georgia does so for the primary or sole purpose of attending the institution rather than to establish a domicile (residency) in Georgia. Thus, one who enrolls in a system institution as a nonresident is presumed to remain a nonresident throughout his or her attendance at the institution unless and until he or she demonstrates by clear and convincing evidence that his or her previous domicile has been abandoned and that Georgia domicile has been established.

No person shall be eligible for classification as an in-state student unless he or she has been domiciled in Georgia and has resided in Georgia continuously for not less than 12 months immediately preceding the date of registration. However, there is a strong presumption that such person shall continue to be classified as a nonresident throughout the entire period of his or her enrollment. Ordinarily, such periods (while enrolled in school) will not count as periods of domicile for purpose of the twelve-month durational residency requirement.