Great news! And thanks for posting your solution - this will help others with the same problem. One more tip: make sure your parents keep their FSA ID credentials somewhere safe. They'll need them again next year for the renewal FAFSA and many people forget their login info between applications.

As someone who just went through this nightmare with my parents who moved to the Philippines, I feel your pain! The FAFSA international address system is absolutely broken. Here's what I learned after weeks of frustration: The key is doing the FSA ID creation BEFORE starting the FAFSA. When your parents create their FSA IDs, they need to: 1. Select "Foreign Country" in the address section (not trying to force it into US format) 2. Enter their Mexican address exactly as it appears on official documents 3. Use "00000" for the zip code field (this is the standard workaround) Once they have working FSA IDs, the FAFSA signature process becomes much smoother. Also, definitely contact your brother's school's financial aid office directly - many schools are understanding about FAFSA delays caused by international address issues and can work with preliminary information while you sort this out. Don't give up! The system is frustrating but there are ways to make it work without compromising your brother's aid eligibility.

I'm a newcomer to this community and this whole FAFSA process with my first child heading to college! This thread has been such a lifeline - we submitted our FAFSA in early December and I've been absolutely panicking seeing those "Submit your FAFSA now!" emails flooding in from every single school on my son's list. Reading through everyone's experiences here has given me so much peace of mind. I was convinced we'd somehow messed up a critical step, but now I understand this is a widespread issue with the new FAFSA system rollout. Just checked studentaid.gov and ours shows "Processed" with our SAI, which is reassuring to know we're in the system correctly. I'm definitely implementing that spreadsheet tracking system this weekend to stay organized with all the school communications, and I feel much more confident about calling each financial aid office directly now that I know this is a known system-wide delay rather than user error. Thank you to everyone who's shared their knowledge and experiences here - it's incredibly helpful for us first-time parents trying to navigate this confusing process!

I'm new to this community and going through the exact same nightmare with my daughter's FAFSA! We submitted in early December and I've been losing sleep over those constant "Submit your FAFSA now!" emails from all her schools. As a first-time parent navigating this process, I was absolutely convinced we'd missed some critical step or made a major error. Reading through everyone's experiences here has been such a huge relief - knowing that even families who submitted back in November are dealing with identical delays really puts things in perspective. I just logged into studentaid.gov and confirmed ours shows "Processed" with our SAI displayed, so at least we're in the system correctly. The spreadsheet tracking idea is brilliant - I'm definitely setting that up this weekend to stay organized with all the school communications. Thank you to everyone who's shared their knowledge and experiences here. It's so comforting to find other parents dealing with this exact situation and to understand it's a widespread Department of Education processing issue rather than something we did wrong. This community is invaluable for us newcomers!

Based on my experience working with students, this is a positive sign that things are moving forward normally. The FAFSA simplification for 2025-2026 has changed a lot of the processes, but what you're seeing is standard. Your daughter's financial aid package is being calculated, and you should receive notification through the school's portal when it's complete. One thing to note: many schools are experiencing delays this year due to the FAFSA changes. Award notifications that previously went out in March may not be available until late April or even early May. But the "under review" status is confirmation that they have the FAFSA data and are working on it.

I'm dealing with something similar right now! My son is also an incoming freshman for Fall 2025, and his portal shows the exact same "satisfactory but under review" status. I was panicking thinking something was wrong, but after reading through these responses, it sounds like this is totally normal for new students. What's really helpful is learning that the FAFSA simplification changed how everything works - I had no idea schools now handle all the communications instead of getting direct notifications from Federal Student Aid like we used to. That explains why the process feels so different this time around. I'm definitely going to follow the advice about calling to ask for a timeline and using the Net Price Calculator while we wait. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences - this community is so helpful for navigating all these changes!

Smart decision to go with the laptop! I actually work in a college financial aid office and see students run into technical issues with tablets pretty regularly. One additional tip - make sure to clear your browser cache and cookies before starting the FAFSA, especially if anyone else has used that computer for FAFSA before. Sometimes old session data can cause weird glitches. Also, don't forget to print or save a copy of your Student Aid Report (SAR) once you submit - you'll need it for verification if your school requests it later. The whole process usually takes 30-45 minutes if you have all your documents ready!

I'm a complete newcomer to FAFSA and honestly feeling pretty overwhelmed by all the technical considerations! Reading through everyone's experiences here has been incredibly eye-opening - I had no idea there could be so many potential issues with using tablets. I was originally planning to just use my iPad since that's what I use for everything else, but the stories about document uploads failing, random zooming, session timeouts, and signature problems have me really worried. This is way too important to risk having technical glitches mess things up! I think I'm going to follow the library computer approach that several people suggested. My local library has a computer lab and I can book time slots online. Does anyone know if there are any specific browser requirements I should ask about when I call to reserve time? Also, should I be concerned about using a public computer for something with this much personal financial information, or are the library systems generally secure enough? Thanks for all the detailed advice everyone - this community is amazing for first-timers like me! 🙏

fafsa sucks, i ended up just clicking boxes and hoping for the best lol. got my aid tho so whatever works i guess

As someone new to navigating FAFSA, this thread has been incredibly educational! I'm also a federal employee with TSP and was completely confused about the reporting requirements. It's reassuring to see multiple confirmations that TSP accounts don't need to be reported as assets. The distinction between retirement accounts (excluded) vs regular investments (must report) is really helpful to understand. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences - it makes this whole process feel less overwhelming for those of us doing it for the first time!