update on my situation - we finally got it to work!! both me and wife used our ORIGINAL invite links from our daughter, and we both checked the married filing separately box. it looked weird at first but when our daughter reviewed the final application it showed both our incomes correctly. her SAI just came back yesterday and it looks right based on our incomes

Thank you everyone for all the helpful advice! Based on what I'm reading here, it sounds like the consensus is to NOT send the duplicate invite and just have my husband use his original invitation link. I really appreciate @Christian Burns and @Heather Tyson breaking down the technical details - it makes so much more sense now why the system is showing that confusing prompt. @Paloma Clark, your success story gives me hope that we can get through this without issues! I'm going to follow the advice about taking screenshots and making sure we both indicate "married filing separately" consistently. Fingers crossed our SAI calculation comes back correctly!

As a newcomer to this community, I'm incredibly grateful for all the detailed advice and real experiences shared in this thread! My daughter is currently a junior who switched from Pre-Law to Elementary Education, and we're facing the same 9th semester situation that so many of you have described. What's really striking me is how much the proactive approach and early documentation seems to matter for success. The advice about having academic advisors and financial aid counselors work together as a team is brilliant - I would never have thought of that coordination strategy on my own. I'm particularly interested in the mention of emergency completion grants and alumni funds that some schools offer. These seem like hidden resources that aren't well-publicized but could make a real difference for that final semester. Has anyone had success finding these types of institutional grants, and do you have tips for how to ask about them effectively? Also, for those dealing with Education majors specifically - did you find that student teaching requirements created any special considerations for financial aid? I know student teaching is typically unpaid and full-time, which could impact my daughter's ability to work during that semester. Thank you all for creating such a supportive and informative discussion. It's reassuring to know we're not alone in navigating this situation, and the practical advice shared here is invaluable!

As a newcomer to this community, I'm finding this discussion incredibly thorough and helpful! My son is currently a freshman, but he's already talking about potentially switching from his current major (Computer Science) to something in the health sciences field. Reading through all these experiences, what really stands out to me is how critical early planning and documentation seems to be for maintaining financial aid through extended graduation timelines. The collaborative approach between academic advisors and financial aid counselors that several people mentioned is something I never would have considered, but it makes perfect sense. I'm particularly grateful for the specific information about TAP extension requirements and the Pell Grant lifetime limits. Having those concrete numbers (12 semesters for Pell, potential extensions for TAP with proper documentation) gives me a much clearer framework for planning. One question I have that I haven't seen addressed - for those who successfully maintained their aid through major changes, did timing within the academic year matter for when you initiated the switch and the extension paperwork? I'm wondering if there's an optimal time to start these conversations with the school to maximize the chances of a favorable outcome. This thread has been such an eye-opener about resources and strategies I didn't even know existed. Thank you all for sharing your experiences so openly - it's incredibly valuable for parents trying to navigate these complex situations proactively!

Thanks everyone for the advice! I called my school's financial aid office today and they said they'll extend my priority deadline by 2 weeks if I email them documentation showing I'm working on completing the FAFSA (screenshots of the contributor invites). And I'm going to try the video call with my dad this weekend to help him set up his account. Fingers crossed this all works out!

I just went through this same nightmare situation! My parents have been separated for 4 years but never legally divorced, and the FAFSA system required both of them to create accounts. What helped me was creating a shared Google doc with all the required information (SSN, tax forms, bank statements) and sending it to both parents ahead of time. Then I scheduled separate video calls with each of them to walk through the account creation process step by step. My mom took 45 minutes, my dad took over an hour because he kept getting confused, but we got it done! Also definitely reach out to your financial aid office - most schools are understanding about these contributor delays since it's such a common issue with the new FAFSA system. Good luck!

I'm jumping in as another parent who went through this exact confusion last year! My daughter turned 18 in June and I spent months worrying about this same question. What really helped me understand it was thinking about WHY these systems exist separately: - Tax dependency is about who deserves the tax benefits because they're actually supporting the student financially - FAFSA dependency is about ensuring that parents who have the ability to contribute to college costs are expected to do so, regardless of tax filing games Since you're paying for most of her expenses, you absolutely should claim her as your tax dependent - you're entitled to those benefits! Her small campus job income won't disqualify her from being your dependent as long as you're still providing the majority of her support (which clearly you are). For FAFSA, she'll be considered your dependent until 24 no matter what, so your income will be factored into her aid calculation regardless. There's literally no way to "optimize" this by changing how you file taxes. We ended up saving about $2,000 on our taxes by claiming our daughter as a dependent, with zero negative impact on her financial aid eligibility. Don't overthink this - just handle it based on who actually supports her!

I'm dealing with this exact same situation right now! My son turned 18 in October and I've been stressing about this for weeks. Reading through everyone's experiences has been such a huge relief. The part that really helped me understand was realizing these are two completely different government systems that don't talk to each other. Tax dependency is about who gets the tax breaks for actually supporting the student, while FAFSA dependency is just based on age and a few specific circumstances. Since we're paying for his tuition, room, board, and most everything else (he has a small work-study job earning maybe $2,500), we're definitely providing way more than 50% of his support. So we should claim him as our tax dependent and get those benefits. For FAFSA, he'll be considered our dependent until he's 24 regardless, so our income gets factored in either way. There's no magic trick to get more aid by changing how we file taxes. I feel so much better knowing other families have navigated this successfully. Thanks everyone for sharing your real experiences - it's way more helpful than trying to decode government websites!

Just joining this community and wow, this thread is exactly what I needed! I'm a parent with three kids - already completed FAFSA for my eldest last year, and now my twins are both applying for 2025-2026. I was totally panicking about whether to create separate accounts for each of them. Reading everyone's experiences here, especially the horror stories about fraud flags and months-long delays, has been incredibly eye-opening. The official FAFSA website really does a terrible job explaining this process clearly. I'm so relieved to know I can use my existing parent FSA ID for both twins' applications. One thing I'm wondering about - since both my twins will be adding me as a contributor around the same time, should I wait to complete one fully before starting the other? Or can I have both applications "in progress" simultaneously in my parent dashboard? Thanks to everyone for sharing such detailed guidance - this community is invaluable!

Just wanted to add my experience as another newcomer who was about to make this same mistake! I have two kids - completed my older daughter's FAFSA last fall and now my son is applying for 2025-2026. Like everyone else here, I was completely confused by the FAFSA website and was about to create a separate parent account for him. Thank goodness I found this thread first! Reading through all these responses has been incredibly reassuring. I love how this community provides such clear, step-by-step guidance that you just can't find on the official site. For anyone else reading this later - the process really is straightforward once you understand it: use your ONE existing parent FSA ID for all your children, have each child add you as a contributor with your exact email address, and complete each parent section when you get the notifications. This thread should honestly be pinned as a resource for other parents navigating multiple FAFSA applications!