State residency question

[kbenji]

I currently live in Illinois but will soon be moving to Wyoming to complete my undergrad degree. I plan to live there 2-3 years. My college in Wyoming has indicated that I should have no problem establishing residency there for the purpose of receiving in-state tuition.
My children, on the other hand, will remain here in Chicago. I will keep my apartment here and will remain their sole means of financial support.
My question is, is there a such thing as dual state residency? Of course, I would love to save money by establishing Wyoming residency, but not at the risk of my Illinois residency, with so many med schools here.

Thanks in advance,

Kelly

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[njbmd]

Where you file your state income tax forms is your state of residence. If you file in Wyoming, you will be a resident of Wyoming regardless of where you own property. It doesn't matter where your children live or that you are supporting them.

 

[GeorgeFoster]

I'm not overly familiar with Illinois residency requirements, (see here) but of the one's I've read over, residency is usually determined by looking at tax returns, where you've resided, where you work, where legal documents place you (e.g. is you car tag and drivers liscense IL or WY,). You'll have a hard time keeping IL residency if your filing WY tax returns to get undergraduate residency. But your probably not likely to file IL tax returns anyways if your W2's are from WY.

But, don't lose hope. Of the seven or so med schools in IL, only Southern Ill and UIC consider residency as a major factor in admissions. So for Northwestern, Loyola, Rush, Rosalind Franklin and U Chicago you still have a good chance. And you might want to keep in mind, through the WWAMI agreement, WY residents have favorable consideration for Univ. of Washington Med School Admissions, which is a much more selective school than UIC or So. Ill. So you might end up in a better position in WY after all.

Dual state residency might be possible for some undergraduate offspring of divorced parents who reside, earn income and pay taxes in two different states with liberal residency guidelines, but that's a category you probably won't fall into.

But you must be very careful, as it is very possible to have no state residency. Since many states have a spectrum of guidelines you must fulfill of of before being considered in-state, if you meet some for requirements of WY and some for IL, you'll be out of luck in both.