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(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