(a) Except for an absence allowed under this
section, to be considered a state resident under
AS
47.55.020(a) and this
chapter, a person must be physically present in the state for at least 185 days
of each year, with the intent to remain in the state indefinitely and to make a
home in the state.
(b) Subject to
AS
47.55.035 and (d) of this section, absences
from the state totaling more than 180 days in the year preceding the date of
the application, or in any year that the applicant is on a waiting list for a
pioneers' home, constitute a break from the continuous residence requirement
for purposes of
7 AAC 74.015(a) (2) unless the absences
were for any of the following reasons, and the person returns to the state
within 60 days after completing the matter that required the absence:
(1) pursuit of a formal course of study under
the supervision of an established primary or secondary school, college,
university, vocational school, or professional school, or performance of an
internship or residency necessary to establish a professional
specialty;
(2) medical treatment
upon the recommendation of a licensed physician or psychologist if the absence
did not include a permanent change of residence;
(3) service in the United States Army, Navy,
Air Force, Marines, or Coast Guard, Alaska National Guard, or Alaska Naval
Militia, if the person enlisted or was drafted while a resident of the
state;
(4) employment by the State
of Alaska in a location outside of the state;
(5) service in the United States Congress as
a representative or senator for the State of Alaska, or service on the staff of
such a representative or senator;
(6) service as a presidential appointee as a
cabinet member or as an ambassador, or service on the staff of such an
appointee;
(7) confinement in an
out-of-state correctional institution by order of a court, if the person was a
resident of the state before the confinement began;
(8) medical necessity of a nonresident
spouse, parent, dependent, or sibling requiring the applicant to be out of the
state to provide care for the spouse, parent, dependent, or sibling, if the
applicant was a resident of the state when the medical necessity
arose;
(9) family necessity
requiring the applicant, whose relationship with another state resident was
that of a spouse, parent, dependent, or sibling, to accompany that individual
who was absent for reasons allowed by (1) - (8) and (10) of this subsection, if
the applicant was a resident of the state when the family necessity to
accompany the absent individual arose;
(10) admission to a licensed long-term care
facility outside of the state upon the written recommendation of a licensed
physician, if the applicant continuously maintained residency in the state
while temporarily absent from the state.
(c) Subject to
AS
47.55.035 and (d) of this section, an
applicant, after establishing eligibility and while retaining residency under
AS
01.10.055, may be absent from the state for
181 to 365 days in any five-year period, and remain on the waiting list, if the
applicant
(1) notifies the department at
least 30 days before departure, of the period that the applicant intends to be
absent;
(2) provides an
out-of-state address and telephone number that the department may use to
contact the applicant during the absence; and
(3) informs the department of the applicant's
return not later than 30 days after the applicant returns to the
state.
(d) If an
applicant who is out of state is offered placement in a pioneers' home and
refuses the offer or fails to enter the home within 30 days after the date of
the offer, the applicant's name will be removed from the active waiting list
and put on the inactive list, as provided by
7 AAC 74.060(f) (6).
