btw just so u know the SSI income your kid gets isnt taxable so dont report it in the income section or you'll mess up the caluclation

Update: I completed more sections and finally found where to enter our tax information in the contributor section! For anyone else with a student who receives SSI, I learned you do still need to report parent income and you report the SSI as untaxed income. Just wanted to update in case someone else has the same question.

UPDATE: I managed to get through to FSA this morning after trying that Claimyr service someone suggested. The agent confirmed my PDFs were received but said one of them was showing as "unreadable" in their system. Apparently the phone scanning app I used created a format their system couldn't process correctly. I've resubmitted using proper computer-generated PDFs like someone here suggested, and they said it should be processed within 7-10 business days. Also reached out to my school's financial aid office and they're giving me a verification extension. Thank you all for your help!

So glad to hear you got it resolved! This is exactly why I always tell people to avoid phone scanner apps for important documents like FAFSA verification. The compression and formatting can cause so many issues that aren't obvious until the system rejects them. For anyone else reading this - if you need to scan documents, try to use a proper scanner or at least make sure to convert phone scans to flattened PDFs through a computer before submitting. The verification process is stressful enough without technical issues making it worse!

good luck! the whole fasfa thing is so complicated this year with all the changes

As someone who just went through this process last year, I completely agree with the "file now and update later" approach. We had a similar situation with an amended return that increased our AGI by about $8,000. I filed the FAFSA in early February with our original tax info, then contacted each school's financial aid office once our amendment was processed in April. Most schools were very understanding and simply asked us to complete a verification worksheet with the updated information. The key is being proactive in your communication - don't wait for them to discover the discrepancy. Also, keep detailed records of all your communications with each school since they all handle it slightly differently. Your son's aid packages might be adjusted slightly, but it's much better than missing priority deadlines entirely!

I just went through this exact situation with my partner who doesn't have an SSN! The trick is to exit completely, then re-enter the FAFSA through the STUDENT'S account (not the parent's account). Then when you get to the contributor section, there's a special workflow for adding contributors without SSNs that only appears when you're logged in as the student. The system is incredibly confusing because it gives different options depending on which account you're using to access the form. When you go through the student account, you'll see a checkbox that says "My contributor does not have a Social Security Number" which isn't visible through the parent account for some reason. Hope this helps!

This is such a helpful thread! I'm a new member here and dealing with the exact same issue - my mom is a permanent resident without an SSN and I've been stuck on this FAFSA signature page for weeks. Reading through all these solutions gives me hope that I can actually get this figured out before my deadline. It's really frustrating that there are so many different workarounds and the system doesn't make any of them clear. The fact that the solution changes depending on whether you log in as a student vs parent is just ridiculous - how are families supposed to know that? Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences, especially @Scarlett Forster for that student account tip. I'm going to try that approach first thing tomorrow morning!

Great to hear you got it sorted out! That's exactly the breakdown I would have expected for a first-year student with your SAI. It's frustrating that the award letter got stuck in their system - this seems to happen more often than it should. For future reference, if anyone else runs into this issue, you can also log into your Federal Student Aid account at studentaid.gov to see your loan history once the school actually processes and disburses the loans. But definitely always get that official award letter first so you know what you're accepting before you sign anything!

As someone who just went through this process myself, I wanted to add that you can also check your school's net price calculator or financial aid estimator tools - sometimes they'll show a more detailed breakdown of expected loan types based on your financial profile. Also, if you're having trouble reaching your financial aid office by phone, try emailing them with your specific student ID and ask for your "Direct Loan allocation between subsidized and unsubsidized amounts." In my experience, they respond faster to emails with specific requests than general phone calls. The key is being very specific about what information you need!