Some good news to add - I've heard from several college financial aid officers that they're creating internal systems to flag applications with these common FAFSA delays. Many schools are extending their priority deadlines or creating grace periods specifically because of the widespread signature and processing issues. The most important thing is to document everything - save that email about the missing signature as proof of when you initially submitted.

As someone who went through this exact same situation last month, I can confirm what others have said - the missing signature error is super common this year but your application will still process! Mine took 6 days to process despite the error, then I was able to log back in and add the missing signature. The whole thing was resolved within 9 days total. The key is to stay on top of it and check your status daily once it starts processing. Also, definitely reach out to your daughter's schools proactively - most of them are being really understanding about these FAFSA delays this year. You're doing everything right by staying informed and asking questions!

UPDATE: Mystery solved! My daughter just got home and logged in. Turns out she DID create her FSA ID and start the application, but she never actually submitted it. There was no confirmation number and several sections were still showing as incomplete. She thought saving her progress was the same as submitting! Now we're working through the remaining sections together. Thank you all so much for your help - this would have been so much more frustrating without your guidance!

So glad you got this figured out! This exact same thing happened to my nephew last year - he spent hours filling out forms but never hit that final submit button. The new FAFSA system really doesn't make it clear enough what "saving progress" vs "submitting" means. For anyone else reading this thread dealing with similar issues, definitely look for that confirmation number - it's the only way to know for sure your application actually went through. The system should really have better messaging about this!

Update us on what your school says! Most financial aid offices understand these processing delays aren't your fault. Just be super nice when you call them - they're dealing with thousands of students in the same situation.

That's such great news about your school being understanding! I'm dealing with a similar situation - sent my paper FAFSA about 4 weeks ago and still radio silence from FSA. Reading through all these responses has been really helpful. I had no idea paper forms were taking this long this year. I'm definitely going to call my school tomorrow and see if they'll accept proof of submission like yours did. Thanks for sharing your experience and giving hope to those of us still waiting!

One tip - don't just assume everything is fine because the FSA website says "processed." My daughter's application said that, but when we finally got through to someone on the phone, they said there was actually a verification flag on her account that wasn't showing up on the dashboard. We had to submit her tax return transcripts and my ex-husband's W-2 forms. Better to double-check than find out later you're missing a deadline!

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences! This is really helpful. I'm a new member here and going through this exact same situation with my son's FAFSA. It's been "processed" for about 2 weeks but none of his colleges show they've received it yet. Reading through all these responses makes me feel so much better knowing this is normal for this year. I was starting to panic that we'd missed some deadline or made an error. Sounds like we just need to be patient and wait for the colleges to get their data batches at the end of February. Really appreciate this community for providing such clear explanations about what's actually happening behind the scenes!

UPDATE: I just checked with our systems team at the college. This exact bug was acknowledged by FSA in their latest technical bulletin. They're supposedly rolling out a fix next week, but that might be too late for your deadline. If you get through to an agent, specifically mention "Technical Advisory 2025-06B regarding contributor permission persistence after application deletion." This lets them know you're aware of the documented issue and they'll have specific protocols to follow.

I'm dealing with this exact same issue right now! My son's application was processed and then I got confused by all the emails saying forms were incomplete. I made the mistake of deleting it too and now we're stuck in the same loop - he can see me as a contributor but can't send me an invitation to actually complete anything. Reading through all these responses, it sounds like calling FSA with that technical bulletin number Steven mentioned is our best bet. I'm going to try first thing Monday morning and if I can't get through, I might have to try that callback service Grace recommended. This whole system is such a mess - how are families supposed to navigate this when even the support reps give bad advice? At least now I know we're not alone in this frustration. Good luck getting this sorted out before your deadline!