Whether a family on a work visa can ever pay the resident rate in California — the governing rule, the H-4 and F-1 answers, the waiting clock, and any high-school-attendance path. The residency officer is always the final authority; this page gets you to the right one with the right citation.
Alien may establish residence unless the INA precludes domicile. UC/CSU eligible charts: A, E, G, H-1(B), H-4, I, K, L, N-8/9, NATO, O-1/O-3, R, T, U, V (E-3 at CSU; P needs confirming). Status must be held 1+ year before the residence determination date. Ineligible: B, C, D, F, H-2/H-3, J, M, P (CSU), Q, TN/TD.
Statewide statute (Ed. Code Part 41); UC (RPG/Regents 3105), CSU (5 CCR §41900 + Immigration Statuses chart), CCC apply aligned lists.
AB 540 / Educ. Code §68130.5 (as expanded by SB 68) — 3+ yrs CA attendance + diploma — but expressly excludes nonimmigrant aliens (T/U excepted). H-4 families use the domicile route instead, which works.
Covers visa-holder kids: no — it excludes nonimmigrants.
Cal. Educ. Code §68062(h)-(i); §68130.5 (AB 540).
Re-verification note: Confirm P-1 on the current UC RPG chart. TN cannot establish CA residency — surface this for the TN persona.
We already computed the public version — it is complete and stays free. Add three facts and the atlas becomes standing: Join DesiSquare and the Square remembers your dates, re-runs this when the rules change, and puts a credentialed human one message away.