7 Easy ‘Must Do’s’ to Prove You Are an Official NYS Resident

You probably never had to think about it, but if you need to prove that you live in New York State, for work or to get in-state tuition, what do you need to do to prove it? How do you go about proving it? Wild, right?

Get our free mobile app

I never thought about it until my neighbor told me he was registering at a local college and even though he had lived in New York for four years, he had a few things to do to prove that he was a New York State resident, for at least the last 12-months.

Here are ways that you can prove it, should you ever need to, not just for New York, but these would pretty much work for any state in the nation:

• As soon as you know that New York is going to be your home, grab some info and head to the Department of Motor Vehicles. Get yourself a New York Non-Driver ID or a Drivers License, and if you drive, register your car at the same time.
• To prove that you have lived here, grab a piece of mail, or a pay-stub, make sure that there is an NYS address on both of these.
• Use a utility bill as proof, which can be an issue if you rent a place with all utilities included.
• Register to vote in the state.
• At tax time, make sure to file New York State tax returns. You will need to know the date that you first moved to the state.
• Open a bank account and use your New York address.
• This step could be considered extreme, but buy a piece of property and make it your main residence.

Welcome to New York! It might take a few minutes to get you set up, but once you take care of a few things you can easily consider yourself a 'New Yorker.'