Your Student Aid Report (SAR) may indicate you must submit proof to your citizen status to the financial aid office at your school. In order to expedite the processing of your financial aid, please forward a copy (front and back) of your citizenship documentation to the Office of Student Financial Aid Services, located in the Wilbur Cross Building or upload your signed documents using the Submit Documents link on the front page of the website. We will review your file using the submitted document to award an unofficial financial aid package. Per Federal Regulations governing the awarding of Federal Financial Aid, it is permissible to make a copy of your citizenship documentation for this purpose.
Acceptable Documentation
- Copy of student’s birth certificate showing U.S. birthplace
- Copy of U.S. passport, current or expired, except limited passports(which are typically issued for short periods, such as a year, and which don’t receive as much scrutiny as a regular passport when applying)
- Copy of U.S. passport card
- Certificate of Citizenship, is issued by USCIS to individuals who derive U.S. citizenship through a parent.
- Certificate of Naturalization, issued by USCIS (or, prior to 1991, a federal or state court), or through administrative naturalization after December 1990 to those who are individually naturalized.
- Certification of Birth Abroad, form FS-545, DS-1350, or FS-240, “ Reported of Birth Abroad including an embossed seal indicating “United States of America” and “ State Department”
- Unexpired Permanent Resident Card or Resident Alien Card (Form I-551)
- Foreign passport including a Machine Readable Immigrant Visa (MRIV). The MRIV must appear in the holder’s unexpired passport and must be endorsed with an admission stamp and the statement “Upon endorsement serves as temporary I-551 evidencing permanent residence for 1 year”
Students Rights
The school must allow at least 30 days from the time you receive the notice to provide documentation of immigration status. During this period and until the results of the secondary confirmation are received, the school cannot deny reduce, or terminate aid to the student. If the documentation supports the student’s status as an eligible noncitizen, and if at least 15 business days passed since the date on which the documentation was submitted to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the school can disburse aid to an otherwise eligible student pending the USCIS response.
Replacing Lost DHS Documents
Requests for replacement documents should be made to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) District Office that issued the original documents. You will be asked to complete a Form I-90, “Application to Replace Alien Registration Card” or a Form I-102, “Application for Replacement/Initial nonimmigrant Arrival-Departure Document.” These forms can be downloaded from the USCIS web site at www.uscis.gov . A temporary I-94 may be issued while the replacement documents are pending. If you are not sure which district office issued the original documents, you can submit the request to the field office nearest to your place of residence.