Update for everyone: The Department of Education just announced they're working through a backlog of paper FAFSAs from January and February. They're prioritizing electronic submissions and those with approaching school deadlines. This is why I always recommend electronic filing when possible, but for those who submitted paper forms, contacting both your school and FSA directly is your best course of action.

I'm so glad you got it sorted out! Your experience is exactly why I always tell people to go electronic if at all possible. The paper processing delays have been getting worse each year, and with all the FAFSA changes this cycle, it's been particularly brutal. For anyone else reading this thread who might be in a similar situation - don't wait! Submit online immediately and document everything. Most schools are understanding about these processing delays if you communicate proactively with their financial aid office. And definitely keep that postal receipt if you mailed a paper form - it's your proof of when you actually submitted!

One more important thing - when you complete your section, you might see a message saying the application is "pending student validation" even after you submit your part. That's normal! The whole application will automatically progress once all validations complete. Just make sure you actually finish and submit your section completely.

Just wanted to add my experience - I was in the exact same situation two weeks ago and went ahead with my parent section while my daughter's validation was still pending. Everything worked perfectly! The key thing is to make sure you complete ALL required fields in your section and hit submit. Don't just save as draft. Once both validations were done (hers took 3 days, mine was instant), the full application automatically processed and we got our SAI within 24 hours. The new system is actually pretty efficient once you understand how it works!

To directly answer your original question: Yes, your ex (biological father) is NOT included on the FAFSA if he doesn't live with your daughter. Only you and your current spouse need to be included. Regarding verification concerns: Keep good documentation of your marriage date. While normal marriage within the tax year typically doesn't trigger verification, having both married and single filing statuses within one FAFSA cycle sometimes causes the system to flag the application. Also, consider submitting a special circumstances letter to your daughter's college financial aid office explaining the recent marriage. They may be able to make professional judgment adjustments if your family's financial situation has changed significantly due to the marriage.

Welcome to the community! I'm also navigating blended family FAFSA requirements for the first time. Your situation sounds very similar to mine - I remarried last year and have been stressed about getting everything right for my son's application. From what I've learned lurking here, it sounds like the key is getting your husband's FSA ID set up ASAP since that can take a few days to process. I've been putting together all our financial documents early just in case we get selected for verification. The marriage certificate advice seems really smart too. Good luck with your daughter's application - at least we're not alone in figuring this out!

UPDATE: Thank you all for the advice! I ended up using my phone's data connection to complete the online FAFSA. It took about an hour but I got it done and received my confirmation email right away. My SAI calculation came through two days later. So glad I didn't attempt the paper version after hearing all your experiences!

That's awesome that you got it sorted out! The mobile FAFSA experience has really improved over the last couple years. For anyone else reading this thread with similar issues - Harold's solution of using mobile data is probably the easiest workaround. Also wanted to mention that many libraries have dedicated FAFSA help sessions during peak filing season if you need in-person assistance with the online version. Way better than dealing with paper forms!

I'm dealing with something similar! My FAFSA was processed in mid-March and then suddenly reprocessed last week without any warning. I have twins starting college this fall, so I'm especially worried about how this affects the multiple-student calculation. Reading through all these comments is both reassuring and terrifying - it sounds like this is happening to lots of families, but the outcomes are so inconsistent. I'm definitely going to follow the advice here about downloading both SAI reports and contacting each school directly. Has anyone had experience with schools that initially said they wouldn't adjust but then changed their mind after you provided more documentation? I'm trying to figure out if it's worth appealing if the first response is negative.

I'm a newcomer here but going through the exact same nightmare! My FAFSA was processed in early March and then mysteriously reprocessed two weeks ago. I have one child currently in college and another starting this fall, so reading about these multiple-student calculation issues has me really concerned. The lack of communication from the Department of Education is absolutely maddening - how are families supposed to make informed decisions about college when the numbers keep changing without explanation? I'm going to try the Claimyr service that Zane mentioned to actually get through to someone who can explain what happened to our application. This whole "simplified" FAFSA has been anything but simple! Thank you all for sharing your experiences - at least now I know we're not alone in this chaos.