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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!
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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!
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my financial aid office told me that the most important thing is that all the FSA IDs are correct for each person. if u used the right ID for urself and she uses the right one for herself then the system knows who is who and wont duplicate anything
This is correct. The FSA ID is the key identifier in the new system. Each contributor (student, parents, spouse) must use their own unique FSA ID when completing their portion. This is how the system tracks who has provided what information and prevents duplication.
You're not alone in this confusion! The new FAFSA process changed dramatically this year, and many parents and students are struggling with similar issues. If you're still having trouble after your daughter completes her section, I'd recommend calling Federal Student Aid directly. Their wait times can be brutal though - when I needed to reach them about a similar issue, I used Claimyr (claimyr.com) which held my place in line and called me when an agent was available. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ that shows how it works. Saved me hours of frustration and the agent was able to verify that our application was processing correctly despite the confusing interface.
Thank you for the tip! If we run into any submission problems, I'll definitely check out that service. The last thing we need is more delays with her financial aid package.
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everyone keeps saying "dependency override" but from personal experience, those are INCREDIBLY hard to get approved. i work in a high school guidance office and we help seniors with fafsa every year. out of maybe 25 override requests ive seen in the past 3 years, maybe 5 got approved. schools are super strict about this. honestly? just put the mom's info in, put $0 for her income if she doesnt file US taxes, and move forward. financial aid offices know how to handle international parent situations. its way more common than you think.
While I understand you're trying to simplify things, I'd caution against simply putting $0 for the mother's income without proper documentation. This would almost certainly trigger verification, and if they can't then provide documentation, it could lead to even more delays and potential issues with aid. Better to be upfront and follow the proper channels.
financial aid verification happens randomly anyway. like half the students i work with get selected no matter what. might as well just put the info in the simplest way and deal with verification if it happens. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
UpdateI: After researching this further, I want to add something important: For the 2025-2026 FAFSA, there are new rules about who counts as a "contributor" (they don't use "parent" anymore). If his biological father is deceased and his mother is his only living parent, then she would be the contributor whose information is required, regardless of where she lives. One advantage: The new SAI (Student Aid Index) calculation under the simplified FAFSA gives more favorable consideration to single-contributor households, especially with low income. So if his mother in Mexico has minimal income, this might actually work in his favor for aid calculations.
I really appreciate this update. We're going to try contacting his mom in Mexico to get her information. Do you know if there are any specific documents we would need from her since she doesn't file US taxes? Would something like proof of her income in pesos be sufficient?
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lol its actually kinda genius of ur ex if he knows what hes doing. if hes higher income and does the FAFSA ur kid will get less aid. if u do it with lower income they might get more. maybe hes actually trying to help? just saying its possible
Trust me, he's not trying to help. He's been financially manipulative throughout our divorce. I think he's trying to create confusion or possibly sabotage the application entirely.
This is actually a common misconception. FAFSA requires the parent who provides more than 50% of support to complete the form, regardless of which parent would provide a more advantageous financial picture. Deliberately choosing the "wrong" parent to get more aid could lead to verification issues and potential penalties for misrepresentation.
Update: I called my child's prospective college financial aid office, and they recommended I start a completely new FAFSA application as the contributing parent. They said it's better than trying to modify his abandoned application. They also suggested I keep all receipts and documentation showing I provide most of the support (housing, food, clothing, etc.) in case we get selected for verification. Apparently, this situation is pretty common with divorced parents. Thanks everyone for the advice!
Great update! The financial aid office gave you exactly the right guidance. Starting fresh is always cleaner than trying to modify an application someone else began. Good luck with the process!
Smart move calling the school directly! They usually give the best advice since they're the ones who'll actually be processing the aid.
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After you receive the award letters from each school, make sure you carefully review all the different types of aid they're offering. Many schools front-load their packages with loans rather than grants or scholarships. Look specifically for: 1. Free money (grants and scholarships) that doesn't need to be repaid 2. Work-study opportunities 3. Subsidized loans (government pays interest while in school) 4. Unsubsidized loans (interest accrues immediately) 5. Parent PLUS loans (these are in the parent's name) Some schools make their packages look generous by including large Parent PLUS loan amounts, so be careful when comparing offers.
This is incredibly helpful advice - thank you! I'll make sure we're comparing apples to apples when the packages arrive. Definitely prefer grants over loans if possible.
also u need to be super careful abt deadlines for accepting aid. some schools have different deadlines for accepting admission vs accepting financial aid. my brother almost lost his aid package cuz he didn't realize he had to accept it separately from accepting admission
Oh wow, I had no idea! I'll make sure we check for separate deadlines. This whole process is so much more complicated than when I went to college.
Paolo Bianchi
Financial aid office update: Most schools are handling this reprocessing situation by: 1. Extending May 1st deposit deadlines to May 15th for affected students 2. Prioritizing revised award letters for those students 3. Maintaining original award amounts in many cases, especially if the SAI change is minor 4. Only adjusting federal aid components if legally required I recommend accepting your best current offer but explaining to that school that your FAFSA is being reprocessed. Most institutions are being very understanding this year given all the FAFSA challenges.
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Ava Williams
•This is really helpful information. I just checked our portal and the reprocessing is now complete. Our SAI went down by about $1,200, which seems positive. Should I immediately notify the schools that already gave us offers?
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Keisha Thompson
Yes, now that your reprocessing is complete and your SAI decreased, you should: 1. Immediately contact all schools that previously provided aid packages 2. Let them know your SAI has decreased by $1,200 after the Department of Education's reprocessing 3. Ask if they'll recalculate your aid package based on the updated information 4. Request an update on timing for any revised offers With a $1,200 SAI decrease, you might see modest improvements in need-based aid at some schools. This could mean a few hundred dollars more in grants or subsidized loans, depending on each school's awarding policies. Based on conversations with other advisors, most schools are recalculating packages within 48-72 hours for reprocessed FAFSAs at this point. Good luck!
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Ava Williams
•I just got off the phone with three schools. Two said they'll recalculate and get back to us by Friday. The third (her favorite) said they'd honor their original offer regardless of the change and extended our deposit deadline to May 10th! Such a relief. Thank you everyone for all the helpful advice during this stressful situation!
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