If you are planning ahead and hoping to establish Washington residency for a future term, this page talks about the steps that you need 12 months prior to your application.
If one of your parents, step-parents, or legal guardians lives in Washington, then you may be eligible to apply for residency as a Dependent. If they do not, you must meet the criteria for financially Independent. If your permanent residence was in Washington state for the 12 months prior to your first term at WSU, the Residency Affidavit is the easiest way to apply for residency.
Financially Independent students must take action to establish a domicile in the state ONE YEAR prior to the semester that residency is desired. State law requires that you prove that you moved to Washington for more than educational purposes. You can demonstrate this by carefully following the recommendations below.
Dependent student residency is based on the residency of a parent, step-parent, or legal guardian. It is possible to have residency in more than one state when parents are divorced or have established separate domiciles. It does not matter where the dependent student has been living; residency is based on the parent's domicile. Documentation of domicile is required of the parent, step-parent, or legal guardian.
You will apply for residency no earlier than 60 days before the start of the term. Current deadlines are on the homepage.
Students who do not have a parent, step-parent, or legal guardian living in Washington must apply as financially independent.
You must live in Washington state for 12 months before the start of the term to be considered a resident of Washington. Previous residency in Washington does not grant current residency if you have taken steps to establish residency in another state. If you lived in Washington, then lived outside the US, you may still be considered a Washington resident if you did not take action in another US state. Dependent students who spent 75% or more of their junior/senior years of high school in Washington, but their parents moved out of state, may be eligible for residency depending on the circumstance.
Obtaining Washington documents is a vital step in demonstrating that you have moved to Washington for more than educational purposes. WSU requires that you obtain your state documents within 30 days of the start of your waiting period. The state identification card, learner permit, or drivers license is a REQUIRED document at WSU.
Links to the DOL and WAVote sites can be found on our Links and Resources Overview page. Visit the FAQ pages for answers to common questions.
Students who do not have a parent, step-parent, or legal guardian living in Washington must apply as financially independent. The state requires that you show you are financially independent for two years - the calendar year prior to your application and year of your application. WSU uses 51% of the Estimated Cost of Attendance in these calculations. Information about personal financial resources that are eligible can be found on the Financially Independent Student page.
The DVM Program requires that you be a resident on the date that you apply. Unfortunately, we are not able to certify Washington residency earlier than 60 days before the start of a term. If you believe that you are a resident, we recommend that you apply as a resident. If you are coded as a non-resident, you will need to apply for residency through our office. You are likely a resident if:
Visit the Future Residency page for establishing residency in a future term.
Here's a link to a page that shows you how to read your tuition bill in myWSU. Please note that it take several days for your tuition bill to update after a residency change.
Residency applications are processed by several units at WSU. This is a list of which unit will process each type of application. Contact Information.