Not the parent's. H-1B families ask us this first, and the answer turns on one field — the student's own immigration status. Bloom's aid engine will tell you what it does with that field, including when it has no basis to decide.
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Choose a status and the engine answers below — the same engine that runs inside a family's account.
The question behind the question
Your visa is not the one being tested.
An H-1B parent reads the FAFSA and looks for a place to enter their own status. There isn't one, and that is not an oversight. Federal student aid tests the student: are they a citizen, a permanent resident, or one of a short list of eligible noncitizen statuses. A parent on an H-1B with a child who is a U.S. citizen has a FAFSA-eligible student. A parent who has naturalised, with a child still on H-4, does not.
This is why the form above asks about one person. Adding a field for the parent's status would look thorough and change nothing, and a control that does not affect the answer is a way of implying it does.
The student's status decides itA parent's status does notAn EAD is not eligibility
Every status Bloom stores
What the engine says about each one.
These rows are not written out by hand. Each one is the same function the form above calls, asked about that status — so this table cannot drift away from the answer a family gets inside the product.
Federal student aid eligibility by immigration status
Status
Federal aid
What the engine says
U.S. Citizen
Eligible
U.S. citizen — eligible for all federal and state aid.
Permanent Resident
Eligible
Permanent resident — eligible for federal and state aid.
Conditional Resident
Eligible
Conditional (2-year) permanent resident — eligible for federal and state aid, same as a 10-year green card.
H-1B holder
Not eligible
An H-1B household — the student's own status of record (often H-4) governs aid eligibility, and this one is not FAFSA-eligible. Focus on citizenship-blind merit aid and each college's institutional aid policies.
H-1B — I-140 approved
Not eligible
An H-1B household with an approved I-140 — an approved I-140 does not by itself change anyone's status, so it does not change aid eligibility. Re-check eligibility if and when adjustment of status completes.
Pending I-485/EAD
Not eligible
Pending I-485 with EAD — an EAD alone does NOT qualify for FAFSA. Ask each financial aid office how they treat a pending adjustment of status, and complete the CSS Profile where it is accepted.
H-4 Dependent
Not eligible
H-4 dependent — not eligible for federal aid. Focus on merit and institutional aid.
F-1 Student
Not eligible
F-1 student — not eligible for federal aid. Institutional and international scholarships may be available.
L-2 Dependent
Not eligible
L-2 dependent — not eligible for federal aid. Focus on merit and institutional aid.
J-2 Dependent
Not eligible
J-2 dependent — not eligible for federal aid. Focus on merit and institutional aid.
DACA
Not eligible
DACA recipient — NOT eligible for federal financial aid (FAFSA). May qualify for state/institutional aid in some states.
Asylee
Eligible
Asylee — an 'eligible noncitizen' for FAFSA. Have your I-94 or USCIS documentation ready for verification.
Refugee
Eligible
Refugee — an 'eligible noncitizen' for FAFSA. Have your I-94 or USCIS documentation ready for verification.
Temporary Protected Status
Not eligible
Temporary Protected Status — work-authorised but not FAFSA-eligible. Some states extend in-state tuition and state aid; check yours.
International
Not eligible
International student — not eligible for federal aid. Institutional scholarships may be available.
Other
Not eligible
Immigration status unclear — verify FAFSA eligibility with financial aid office.
Federal eligibility only. States and individual colleges set their own rules, and several of them are more generous than this table — check both.
When federal aid is closed
There is still money on the table.
An H-4, L-2, F-1 or DACA student loses the federal lane. Families hear that as "we pay sticker," and for most of them it isn't true.
Institutional aid
Many private colleges award their own need-based grants from their own funds, using the CSS Profile rather than the FAFSA. Those funds have no federal eligibility test attached.
Merit scholarships
Automatic and competitive merit awards are usually keyed to grades and test scores, not to status. At a public flagship these can be the largest single line in the offer.
State and private programs
A handful of states extend aid or in-state tuition past the federal line, and private scholarship sponsors set their own terms. Both are worth checking one by one rather than assuming.
Bloom's scholarship matching reads the same citizenship field this page does, so a student never sees an award they are ineligible to hold.