Can't reach FAFSA? Claimyr connects you to a live FAFSA agent in minutes.
Claimyr is a pay-as-you-go service. We do not charge a recurring subscription.
Using Claimyr will:
- Connect you to a human agent at the FAFSA
- Skip the long phone menu
- Call the correct department
- Redial until on hold
- Forward a call to your phone with reduced hold time
- Give you free callbacks if the FAFSA drops your call
If I could give 10 stars I would
If I could give 10 stars I would If I could give 10 stars I would Such an amazing service so needed during the times when EDD almost never picks up Claimyr gets me on the phone with EDD every time without fail faster. A much needed service without Claimyr I would have never received the payment I needed to support me during my postpartum recovery. Thank you so much Claimyr!
Really made a difference
Really made a difference, save me time and energy from going to a local office for making the call.
Worth not wasting your time calling for hours.
Was a bit nervous or untrusting at first, but my calls went thru. First time the wait was a bit long but their customer chat line on their page was helpful and put me at ease that I would receive my call. Today my call dropped because of EDD and Claimyr heard my concern on the same chat and another call was made within the hour.
An incredibly helpful service
An incredibly helpful service! Got me connected to a CA EDD agent without major hassle (outside of EDD's agents dropping calls – which Claimyr has free protection for). If you need to file a new claim and can't do it online, pay the $ to Claimyr to get the process started. Absolutely worth it!
Consistent,frustration free, quality Service.
Used this service a couple times now. Before I'd call 200 times in less than a weak frustrated as can be. But using claimyr with a couple hours of waiting i was on the line with an representative or on hold. Dropped a couple times but each reconnected not long after and was mission accomplished, thanks to Claimyr.
IT WORKS!! Not a scam!
I tried for weeks to get thru to EDD PFL program with no luck. I gave this a try thinking it may be a scam. OMG! It worked and They got thru within an hour and my claim is going to finally get paid!! I upgraded to the $60 call. Best $60 spent!
Ask the community...
- DO post questions about your issues.
- DO answer questions and support each other.
- DO post tips & tricks to help folks.
- DO NOT post call problems here - there is a support tab at the top for that :)
Join the conversation
Join the conversation
This thread has been incredibly eye-opening! As someone new to this process, I had no idea how complex FAFSA could be with divorced parents. Reading everyone's experiences makes me realize I need to start documenting everything immediately. One question I haven't seen addressed yet - if my situation is truly borderline (like maybe 52% vs 48% support between parents), and I choose to have the lower-income parent file to potentially get more aid, what happens if we get audited or selected for verification later? Are there any long-term consequences if the government decides we made the "wrong" choice, even if we had reasonable documentation supporting our decision at the time? I'm also wondering about timing - is there a deadline by which we need to make this decision? Can we change our minds if circumstances change significantly during the school year, or are we locked into whoever files the initial FAFSA? Thank you to everyone sharing their experiences - this is exactly the kind of real-world advice that's impossible to find in the official guidelines!
Great questions Andre! From what I've learned researching this process, if you get selected for verification with borderline support percentages, the key is having solid documentation that supports your decision at the time you made it. The government isn't looking to "gotcha" families who made reasonable choices based on available information - they're more concerned with obvious fraud or completely incorrect filings. Regarding timing, you're generally locked into whoever files the initial FAFSA for that award year. You can't switch mid-year unless there's a significant change in circumstances (like a parent losing a job or getting remarried). That's why it's so important to get it right the first time! For deadlines, you want to make this decision ASAP since many states and schools have early FAFSA deadlines for maximum aid consideration. Don't let the complexity paralyze you into missing those deadlines. As others have mentioned, start documenting everything now and have that conversation with your ex sooner rather than later. The worst thing would be to miss out on aid because you waited too long to file while trying to make the "perfect" choice!
As a newcomer to this community, I'm amazed by how helpful and detailed everyone's responses have been! I'm facing a similar situation with my son and had no idea about the complexity involved with divorced parents and FAFSA. Reading through all these responses, I'm realizing I need to start documenting every expense immediately. The spreadsheet approach that several people mentioned sounds like the most organized way to track everything. One thing that really stands out to me is how the stepparent income inclusion seems to catch so many families off guard. It seems like this should be more clearly communicated upfront since it can dramatically impact aid eligibility. For those who have been through verification - how long did that process typically take? I'm worried about delays affecting my son's enrollment if we get selected for verification. Thank you all for sharing your real-world experiences. This is exactly the kind of practical advice that's impossible to find in the official FAFSA materials!
Join the conversation
As a high school senior who just went through this exact nightmare last month, I can totally relate to your panic! My FAFSA disappeared for almost a week and I was convinced I'd have to start over completely. What really helped me was keeping detailed records - I screenshotted everything including the confirmation page, saved the confirmation email, and even took a photo of my computer screen showing the "Application Processing" status before it vanished. When I finally got through to FSA (took about 8 tries over 3 days), having that confirmation number was crucial. The agent was able to pull up my application immediately and confirmed it was just a display issue. She also mentioned that if you submitted before the application disappeared, you're in much better shape than people whose applications are getting lost during the submission process itself. Definitely don't wait - call FSA and email your school's financial aid office today with your confirmation info. Most schools are being super understanding about these technical issues since they're affecting so many students nationwide.
This is such great advice about keeping detailed records! I wish I had thought to screenshot the "Application Processing" status before it disappeared - that would have been really helpful evidence when talking to FSA. For anyone else reading this who hasn't submitted yet, definitely take screenshots at every step including after you hit submit. It's crazy that we even have to do this for a federal application system, but clearly it's necessary this year. Did the FSA agent give you any insight into what's actually causing these display glitches? I'm curious if it's related to the new system rollout or if it's more of a server capacity issue with so many applications being processed.
I'm a financial aid officer at a large state university and I want to add some important information for anyone still dealing with this issue. We've been tracking these FAFSA disappearance cases closely and have found that approximately 15% of applications submitted between late February and mid-March experienced this glitch. The good news is that in every single case we've investigated, the application data was still intact in the federal system - it's purely a dashboard display problem. However, I strongly recommend that affected students do two things immediately: 1) Contact FSA to get written confirmation that your application exists and is being processed, and 2) Submit a "FAFSA Technical Issue Report" to your school's financial aid office along with your confirmation email. This creates a paper trail that protects you if there are any deadline concerns. Most schools have extended their priority deadlines by 2-3 weeks specifically because of these widespread technical problems, but you need to notify us proactively. Don't assume we know about your individual situation unless you tell us.
This is incredibly helpful information, thank you! As someone who's new to the whole financial aid process, I had no idea that schools were tracking these issues or that there were specific forms like the "FAFSA Technical Issue Report." I'm definitely going to submit one of those to my school's financial aid office just to be safe. It's reassuring to hear from an actual financial aid officer that 100% of the applications you've investigated were still intact in the system. Do you know if there's a standard format for the technical issue report, or should we just email our financial aid office with the details? Also, when you mention that most schools have extended priority deadlines by 2-3 weeks, is that something that's automatically applied or do students need to specifically request the extension?
Join the conversation
Not related to the divorce situation but when I was doing my FAFSA I accidentally put my mom's income as $54,000 when it was actually $45,000 (dyslexia problems lol) and it completely messed up my SAI calculation. Just triple check ALL the numbers you enter!
Oh that's good advice! I'm definitely going to double check all the numbers. Did you have to go through a whole appeal process to fix the income error?
I just submitted a correction on studentaid.gov and uploaded her W-2 as proof. It took about 2 weeks to process but they fixed it! My SAI dropped by like $3k which made me eligible for more institutional grants. Definitely worth the effort!
I'm going through the exact same nightmare with my FAFSA! My parents divorced 3 years ago and I've been stuck on the contributor section for weeks. The system keeps rejecting my mom's info even though she provides more support. I called the FSA hotline 4 times and got different answers each time - one rep told me to use my dad's info, another said my mom's, and the third said I needed some form I'd never heard of. The IRS data retrieval tool crashes every time I try to use it. At this point I'm considering just manually entering everything and hoping for the best. The whole system feels like it was designed by people who have never actually filled out a FAFSA themselves. Really hoping they fix these issues before next year because this is beyond frustrating for families already dealing with financial stress!
I feel your pain! The inconsistent information from FSA reps is so maddening. Based on what others have shared here, it sounds like you should go with whoever provides MORE financial support (not necessarily who you live with). Have you tried documenting exactly what each rep told you? That might help when you call back. Also, manually entering the tax info seems to be working better than the IRS tool for most people this year. Definitely keep screenshots of everything in case your SAI changes randomly later! This whole process is such a mess but at least we're all suffering together 😅
Join the conversation
I'm new to this community and just wanted to say how helpful this entire thread has been! I'm preparing to fill out my FAFSA for the 2025-2026 academic year and had the exact same concerns about my personal debt affecting my aid eligibility. It's such a relief to learn that credit card debt, car loans, and other personal debts aren't reported on the FAFSA at all. I was losing sleep over my $9,000 in credit card debt from some family emergencies last year, thinking it would hurt my chances of getting financial aid. The explanations about how the SAI calculation actually works - focusing on income and certain assets rather than debts - really helped clarify things for me. And the tips about having tax documents ready early and using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool are going to save me so much time and stress. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences and knowledge. It's amazing how much clearer this process seems now!
Welcome to the community, Hattie! I'm so glad this thread helped ease your worries - I know exactly how you feel! When I was first preparing my FAFSA, I spent way too much time stressing about things that didn't even matter for the application. It's really one of those situations where once you understand how the process actually works, it becomes so much less overwhelming. Your $9,000 in debt won't appear anywhere on the form, so you can focus on gathering the information they actually need. Good luck with your application - you've got this! 😊
As a newcomer to this community, I just want to say thank you to everyone who contributed to this thread! I was in the exact same boat as Javier - panicking about my $12,000 in credit card debt and how it might impact my FAFSA application. Reading through all these responses has been such a huge relief. I had no idea that personal debts simply aren't part of the equation at all. I've been putting off starting my application because I was so worried about this, but now I feel confident enough to actually begin the process. The information about the IRS Data Retrieval Tool and getting tax documents ready early is super helpful too. I'm definitely going to look into whether my school offers any FAFSA workshops like Elijah mentioned - it sounds like having that extra guidance could be really valuable. Thanks again everyone for creating such a supportive and informative discussion!
QuantumQuest
As a newcomer to this community, I can't express how grateful I am to have stumbled upon this thread! I'm currently facing the exact same name mismatch situation - got married 6 years ago and diligently updated my name everywhere including tax documents, but completely forgot about my old FSA ID that still shows my maiden name from when I originally created it. Reading through all these experiences has been both incredibly enlightening and frankly terrifying! I had absolutely no clue that name discrepancies could trigger such extensive verification processes or cause months of delays that could impact my son's financial aid. Like many others here, I was naively planning to just submit the FAFSA and cross my fingers that everything would work out smoothly. The collective wisdom shared in this thread has completely changed my strategy. I'm now planning to immediately start the name update process, verify my Social Security records are aligned, use the desktop site exclusively for updates, and keep that brilliant backup plan in mind about submitting with the old name if timing becomes critical, then filing corrections once everything is processed. It's really eye-opening how many parents seem to fall into this same trap, yet there's apparently no proactive warning from the FAFSA system about how crucial name matching is for the IRS Data Retrieval Tool and avoiding verification flags. Thank you all for sharing your real-world experiences and potentially saving my family from what sounds like it could be a major headache during an already stressful college application season!
0 coins
Melina Haruko
•Welcome to the community! I'm also completely new here and it's so reassuring to find others in the exact same boat. Like you, I got married several years ago and updated everything except my FSA ID - it's amazing how easy it is to overlook that one system! This thread has been such a wake-up call for me too. I was definitely in the "submit and hope for the best" camp until reading about all these verification horror stories. The fact that so many experienced members are emphasizing how critical it is to fix this upfront really drives home how serious the consequences can be. I'm following the same action plan you outlined - starting the name update process immediately, double-checking Social Security alignment, and keeping that backup submission strategy in mind. It's extra work now, but clearly worth avoiding months of delays and potential missed aid opportunities later. Thanks for sharing your situation - it's comforting to know we newcomers are all learning these important lessons together! Best of luck with your son's financial aid process!
0 coins
Chloe Mitchell
As a newcomer to this community, I'm so relieved to have found this discussion! I'm dealing with the exact same name mismatch issue - I got married 5 years ago and updated my name on all tax documents and official records, but apparently my FSA ID from when I first created it still has my maiden name. Reading through everyone's experiences has been both incredibly helpful and honestly quite nerve-wracking! I had no idea that name discrepancies could cause such lengthy verification delays or potentially impact financial aid deadlines. I was originally planning to just submit the FAFSA as-is and deal with any issues if they came up, but after seeing multiple stories about months-long delays and missed institutional aid opportunities, I'm definitely going to tackle this properly upfront. The practical advice shared here has been invaluable - especially the detailed steps for updating the name in the system and the smart backup approach of submitting with the old name first to protect deadlines, then filing corrections. I'm also taking note of the tips about verifying Social Security record alignment and using the desktop site for any updates. It's really striking how common this issue seems to be among parents, yet there's apparently no clear upfront warning from FAFSA about how critical name matching is for the IRS Data Retrieval Tool. Thank you all for sharing your experiences and potentially saving my daughter and me from what sounds like it could be a very stressful verification process during an already overwhelming college application season!
0 coins
Dominic Green
•Welcome to the community, Chloe! I'm also a newcomer here and it's incredible how many of us are in virtually identical situations with these name mismatch issues. Like you, I got married several years ago and diligently updated everything except that one FSA ID that I completely forgot about from years past. This thread has been such an eye-opener for me too! I was definitely in the "submit and figure it out later" mindset until reading all these detailed accounts of verification nightmares and delayed aid packages. The emphasis from so many experienced members on handling this proactively really shows how serious the potential consequences can be. I'm planning to follow the same strategy you outlined - immediate name update, Social Security verification, desktop-only updates, and keeping that backup submission plan ready just in case. It feels like a lot of extra steps now, but clearly much better than dealing with months of delays during such a critical time. It's both comforting and concerning that this seems to be such a widespread issue with no clear warning from the FAFSA system itself. Thank you for sharing your situation - it's reassuring to connect with other newcomers who are all learning these important lessons together! Wishing you and your daughter the best with the financial aid process!
0 coins