California Proof of Residency Letter: DMV and School Rules

Proof of Residency Letter (California)

This document has two parts. Use Part A when an organization writes the letter for a California DMV application; it is the only letter on the DMV’s list that is written to vouch for where someone lives. Use Part B when you, a parent or the person you live with must declare residency for a school district or another recipient. Delete the part you do not use.

Part A. Letter Attesting That the Applicant Resides in California (for the DMV)

[Print on the organization’s letterhead]

[Organization’s Full Legal Name]
[Street Address]
[City], California [ZIP] (or the organization’s out-of-state address)
[Phone] · [Email] · [Website]

[Date]

To: California Department of Motor Vehicles

Re: Letter attesting that [Applicant’s Full Legal Name] resides in California
Date of birth (optional): [Date]

[Organization’s Full Legal Name] is (check one):

• [ ] a homeless shelter
• [ ] a shelter for abused women
• [ ] a nonprofit entity
• [ ] a faith-based organization
• [ ] an employer
• [ ] a government agency

located within the United States.

I attest that [Applicant’s Full Legal Name] resides in California at [Street Address, Unit], [City], California [ZIP].

(Delete if no P.O. box.) The applicant receives mail at P.O. Box [Number], [City], California [ZIP].

I know this from (check one and complete):

• [ ] our personnel records. The applicant has been employed by us since [Date] as [Job Title], and the address above is the home address in those records.
• [ ] our service or shelter records. The applicant has [received services from us / stayed at our shelter] since [Date].
• [ ] other: [Describe how the organization knows where the applicant lives].

The DMV may contact me at [Phone] or [Email] to confirm this letter.

Sincerely,

___________________________
[Signer’s Full Name]
[Title]
[Organization’s Full Legal Name]

Part B. Declaration of Residency

To: [School District or Other Recipient]
From (declarant): [Full Name]
Address: [Street Address, Unit], [City], California [ZIP]
Phone / Email: [Phone] · [Email]

1. Who I am (check one):

• [ ] the parent or legal guardian of the pupil(s) listed below (Education Code § 48204.1(a)(7))
• [ ] the owner or leaseholder of the home where the person(s) listed below live
• [ ] the landlord of the home, under a lease dated [Date]
• [ ] other: [Describe]

2. Residence. To my personal knowledge, [Full Name(s)] [live / lives] at [Street Address, Unit], [City], California [ZIP] and [have / has] lived there since [Date]. I know this because [I live there too / I am their landlord under a lease dated ___ / other: ___].

(Only if the district form asks.) They live at this address [Number] days and nights per week.

3. Pupils (delete if this is not for a school):

Pupil’s full name	Date of birth	Grade	School
[Name]	[Date]	[Grade]	[School]
[Name]	[Date]	[Grade]	[School]

4. Everyone who lives at this address:

Full name	Relationship to declarant	Living here since
[Name]	[Relationship]	[Date]
[Name]	[Relationship]	[Date]

5. Documents attached (check all that apply):

• [ ] copy of my photo ID
• [ ] property tax payment receipt
• [ ] rental contract, lease or rent payment receipts
• [ ] utility service contract, statement or payment receipt
• [ ] pay stub
• [ ] voter registration
• [ ] correspondence from a government agency
• [ ] other: [Describe]

If I blacked out anything, it was only [amounts due and balances / other details the recipient allows]. I have not changed any name or address.

6. Changes. I will tell [School District or Other Recipient] in writing within [Number] days if any person listed above moves out or if I move.

7. Verification (delete if this is not for a school). I understand that [School District or Other Recipient] may take reasonable steps to verify this information under its board policy (Education Code §§ 48204.1(c), 48204.2).

I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing is true and correct.

Executed on [Date] at [City], California.

___________________________
[Declarant’s Full Name]

Witness (only if the recipient requires one; some districts require an adult who is not a family member):

I am 18 or older, not a family member of the declarant, and saw the declarant sign.

___________________________
Printed name: [Name]
Date: __________

Notary Jurat (Only If the Recipient Requires It)

[The notary completes this certificate. Do not fill it in yourself. Sign the declaration in front of the notary, after the notary gives you an oath or affirmation (Government Code § 8202).]

A notary public or other officer completing this certificate verifies only the identity of the individual who signed the document to which this certificate is attached, and not the truthfulness, accuracy, or validity of that document.

State of California
County of ____________

Subscribed and sworn to (or affirmed) before me on this ____ day of __________, 20__, by ____________________, proved to me on the basis of satisfactory evidence to be the person(s) who appeared before me.

Signature ___________________________ (Seal)

Before You Use It (Delete This Section)

• The DMV does not list a letter from family, a roommate, a neighbor, a landlord or a property manager. The only letter on its list written to vouch for where you live comes from a homeless shelter, a shelter for abused women, a nonprofit, a faith-based organization, an employer or a government agency, on letterhead (13 CCR § 15.01(d)(20)). An employer or organization outside California uses its own address in the heading. A landlord can give you a rental or lease agreement signed by both owner and tenant instead.

• Living with family? Use the documents of the parent, spouse or domestic partner you live with, plus a birth certificate, marriage license or domestic partner registration certificate, and name-change papers if the names differ (13 CCR § 15.01(b)). A minor can use a parent’s documents with a birth certificate, or foster forms SOC 154, SOC 154A or SOC 156.

• REAL ID needs two different printed documents with your first and last name and the same mailing address as your application. Part A counts as one of them. A standard license needs one.

• Homeless applicants can use a shelter’s letter (Part A) or a completed and signed DMV No Fee Identification Card Eligibility Verification form (DL 933).

• A child living with a relative or family friend does not need Part B. The adult the child lives with, if 18 or older, fills in items 1 to 4 of the Caregiver’s Authorization Affidavit in Family Code § 6552 and signs it (Family Code § 6550(a)). No notary or court order is needed.

• Homeless children and unaccompanied youth must be enrolled in school immediately without proof of residency. An unaccompanied youth may sign their own declaration (Education Code § 48204.1(d), (e)).

• Voter registration does not need this letter. You certify your residence address on the registration form under penalty of perjury.

• Use the district’s own form if it has one. Some districts print their own residency affidavit with extra rules, such as a witness or a deadline to report a move.

• Only sign what you know is true. Knowingly stating a false material fact under penalty of perjury is perjury, punishable by imprisonment for two, three or four years (Penal Code §§ 118, 126).