daniela_r Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 My husband and I live overseas, but we are both from the United States. We go back to the States every few years for several months at a time, for "furlough". Do we need to keep up with homeschool requirements for the state that we are from? Details: Our oldest is 4, so this isn't urgent, just trying to plan for the future. I'm from Texas (practically no homeschool "hoops") but my husband is from Florida (basically, homeschoolers need to submit a letter of intent, keep a portfolio for 2 years, and get either a Florida certified teacher to sign off on their portfolio yearly or get standardized testing done yearly). Florida is technically our home state: my in-laws' home is our permanent address, that is where we are registered to vote, and that is where our drivers' licenses are from. For federal income tax purposes, however, we are residents overseas most of the time. When we are back in the States for furlough, probably for 9-12 months, we will most likely be living in FL and only making visits to TX (and elsewhere). So, if we are overseas for all of a school year, I can't see why we would need to keep up with Florida homeschool laws, right??? And if we happened to do a short vacation to the States to see family, it still shouldn't matter for that year, right? (Think one or two weeks in TX and then one or two weeks in FL.) What if we are back in the States for, say, 6 months of a school year? Then we would need to meet FL requirements. But what if "they" asked what we had been doing previously? Would we just show documentation that we had been overseas (like our stamped passports)? Advice??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lily_Grace Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 Are you overseas as a civilian or military? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 Where are you claiming residency? (you can probably tell this from your USA tax form). You really need to check the laws of the country that you are actually living in. Here in NZ, if you are American and you put your child on a student visa, you are bound by the homeschool laws of the last state that you lived in (where your voting residency is). However, if your child is an American citizen but a permanent resident of NZ, then you need to follow the homeschool laws in NZ. Ruth in NZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daniela_r Posted September 14, 2012 Author Share Posted September 14, 2012 Are you overseas as a civilian or military? Civilian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2boysmom Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 Nope. We've never reported. (16 years overseas in Japan, with ocassional visits back home) I've asked (in NC) and it's always, "if you aren't living in the state, and live overseas, then you are not required to report." In fact, I wouldn't even give it a worry until high school. (that is, if you think you might need In-state tuition). I think you have to live in the state 1 whole year and then you qualify. So no worries. Esp. Texas (I think) would be even easier than NC. I wouldn't even try to open a "can of worms" even if you're in the states for months. (if a year maybe, but just visiting for a few months, no). Hope that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricm Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 (edited) We are an overseas military civilian family from Texas living in Grafenwoehr Germany with two home school kids and we don't report and don't plan to. DODea doesn't require you do any reporting either but registration through the school does give you access to resources like the library and after school clubs. It's good to live overseas! As far as Florida goes I would ignore that whole issue. Not based on any study of Florida home school law... Edited September 14, 2012 by ricm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lily_Grace Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 Civilian. Then you follow the law of the country you live in, or the state where you claim primary residence if you will be there less than 6 months at a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amira Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 Like others have said, you follow the rules of the place where you are living- where your child would be going to school if you weren't homeschooling. Think of it this way- if you had been in public school in Florida, and then moved away from Florida to live overseas and homeschool, no one in Florida should expect that you continue to report to them about your schooling. Schoolingwise, you moved away, no matter what your tax and voter regististration forms say. We've never had anyone ask about previous schooling when we've moved back to the US (most, if not all, states aren't supposed to ask), but if I were required to report something, I'd just say we'd been homeschooling overseas. If you move from a state/country that doesn't require testing, for example, and the new state does, they can't require previous years' tests. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2boysmom Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 Then you follow the law of the country you live in, or the state where you claim primary residence if you will be there less than 6 months at a time. I'm not sure about this because, you technically are "American" and don't have to follow the country law you live in. Unless maybe it's Germany? In Japan, we don't have to report to the "Japanese" govt. because we are Americans and live under "American law." Of course, we live in Japan, but we are not considered "Japanese." You might want want to even open those can of worms either. It only confuses things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 I'm not sure about this because, you technically are "American" and don't have to follow the country law you live in. Unless maybe it's Germany? In Japan, we don't have to report to the "Japanese" govt. because we are Americans and live under "American law." Of course, we live in Japan, but we are not considered "Japanese." You might want want to even open those can of worms either. It only confuses things. In most countries, foreigners are not entitled to disreegard local laws. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freesia Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 In most countries, foreigners are not entitled to disreegard local laws. :iagree: Unless you are a diplomat you absolutely have to follow local laws. And you are bound by the local justice system. We had a long lecture on this when I moved to Africa. To the poster who posted if it's less than 6 months you have to follow the laws of the state of your last residency: I am interested in this topic, too. Where did you find that information? I was always under the impression that you had to follow the laws of the country you presently live in but were under no obligation to your "home" state. This was more of a sense of what seemed right, though. Because, for instance, if you live in Germany, unless you are military, you cannot homeschool even if your home state says you can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathryn Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 :iagree: Unless you are a diplomat you absolutely have to follow local laws. And you are bound by the local justice system. We had a long lecture on this when I moved to Africa. To the poster who posted if it's less than 6 months you have to follow the laws of the state of your last residency: I am interested in this topic, too. Where did you find that information? I was always under the impression that you had to follow the laws of the country you presently live in but were under no obligation to your "home" state. This was more of a sense of what seemed right, though. Because, for instance, if you live in Germany, unless you are military, you cannot homeschool even if your home state says you can. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lily_Grace Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 :iagree: Unless you are a diplomat you absolutely have to follow local laws. And you are bound by the local justice system. We had a long lecture on this when I moved to Africa. To the poster who posted if it's less than 6 months you have to follow the laws of the state of your last residency: I am interested in this topic, too. Where did you find that information? I was always under the impression that you had to follow the laws of the country you presently live in but were under no obligation to your "home" state. This was more of a sense of what seemed right, though. Because, for instance, if you live in Germany, unless you are military, you cannot homeschool even if your home state says you can. You can stay in a foreign country for up to 6 months without residency. If your intended plan is to go there, come back for a month or two, and then go back, you can do that and maintain your residency requirements of your home state. However, at that 6 month mark most countries will kick you out unless you have a permit to stay longer. And it's at that point that you need to follow their residency requirements - including making sure you have the proper permits and everything before you go. We have a lady here who is an American civilian (not associated with the military) and I asked our legal office how it works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathryn Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 http://www.hslda.org/hs/international/International_Membership_Policy.pdf Civilian Families not assigned to the U.S. Department of Defense (or other government agency subject to U.S. treaty provisions) are generally subject to the local government's law regarding education. Even if the family maintains a place of domicile in the U.S. while physically residing in another country, they are subject to that country's laws. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb in NZ Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 I'm not sure about this because, you technically are "American" and don't have to follow the country law you live in. Unless maybe it's Germany? In Japan, we don't have to report to the "Japanese" govt. because we are Americans and live under "American law." Of course, we live in Japan, but we are not considered "Japanese." You might want want to even open those can of worms either. It only confuses things. You are bound by the laws of the country where you are hold residency, unless you are on a diplomatic passport. You aren't required to report, etc to your home state. IF you plan to someday enroll them in PS back "home" it would be a good idea to keep good records (testing, portfolio, etc.) from age 13+ to ease the transition into highschool, but this isn't required. Dd & ds#1 were HSed for highschool, while ds#2 is in PS here in NZ. If we had moved back "home" during their highschool years & enrolled them in PS, none of my dc would have been expected to have followed VT educational requirements. JMHO, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 Do you drive on the right side of the road, since you "live under 'American law'" while in Japan? How about carrying firearms? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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