yall stressing too much lol. the fafsa ppl and the irs barely talk to each other anyway. my cousin works in a financial aid office and says returns on hold happen ALL THE TIME and its never an issue

I went through this exact situation last year and can confirm what others are saying - you absolutely can and should proceed with your FAFSA using your filed tax information. The key word here is "filed" - the IRS processing delays don't affect your ability to complete the FAFSA. A few practical tips from my experience: 1. Try the IRS Data Retrieval Tool first - it often works even when returns are still processing 2. If the DRT fails, manually enter your information from your tax return copy 3. Keep detailed records of what you entered in case of verification 4. Don't wait for the IRS to finish processing - financial aid deadlines are more important than IRS processing timelines The good news is that these IRS delays have become so common that financial aid offices are very familiar with this situation. They won't penalize you for something completely outside your control. Focus on meeting your daughter's financial aid deadlines rather than waiting for the IRS to catch up!

UPDATE: I finally got through to someone at the financial aid office! They said my verification is actually complete but there was a system glitch that wasn't updating the portal status. They're going to manually update it today and I should be all set for registration next week. Thanks everyone for your help and advice!

So glad you got it resolved! This is actually a great example of why it's worth trying multiple approaches when you're stuck. The combination of contacting FSA to confirm your FAFSA status + providing that specific info to your school's aid office seems like a really smart strategy. I'm definitely saving this thread for future reference - there's so much helpful advice here. Hope your registration goes smoothly next week!

As someone who just went through this exact same confusion with my daughter's FAFSA last month, I can confirm what everyone else is saying - FAFSA aid and EIC are completely different things! The key is to look at the actual tax return (Form 1040). If there's nothing on line 27a (Earned Income Credit), then the answer is NO for the EIC question. I made the mistake of overthinking it too and almost marked yes because I thought it was asking about her financial aid eligibility in general. Also, double-check if the question is asking about YOUR tax return (as the parent) versus your daughter's tax return - they're separate questions and need separate answers. I qualified for EIC as a single parent, but my daughter didn't on her own return. The whole process is needlessly confusing but stick to what's literally on the tax forms and you'll be fine!

Just wanted to jump in as someone who works in financial aid at a community college - this thread has some really solid advice! The confusion between FAFSA aid and EIC is super common, so don't feel bad about being puzzled by this. To add to what others have said: the FAFSA system is specifically looking for tax benefits that might indicate your family's financial situation. The EIC question helps them understand if you're in a lower income bracket that might qualify for additional aid considerations. Quick tip: if you're ever unsure about what was claimed on tax returns, you can request free tax transcripts from the IRS online at irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript. This will show exactly what credits were claimed and can help you answer FAFSA questions accurately. Also, remember that getting selected for verification isn't the end of the world - it just means providing some documentation to confirm your answers. Better to be honest and potentially get verified than to make an error that could affect your aid eligibility!

one more thing! tell ur daughter to check her SAI score on the fafsa site. if its 0 or close to 0 thats how u know shes getting the max pell amount. my sons was like 3700 and he only got partial pell

As someone who just went through this process with my twin daughters last year, I wanted to add that timing can vary significantly between schools. One daughter's community college processed her Pell Grant within 3 weeks of submitting verification docs, while her sister's state university took almost 8 weeks! Don't panic if it seems to be taking forever - some schools are just slower than others. Also, make sure your daughter accepts her aid package once it's posted (there's usually a deadline), otherwise the Pell Grant can get cancelled even after it's been approved. Good luck with the verification process!

UPDATE: We got it submitted successfully last night! Such a relief. Thanks everyone for your help. The signature section was definitely the issue - I can't believe they don't make that more obvious in the system. Now fingers crossed we don't get selected for verification!

Congratulations on getting it submitted! This thread is so helpful - I'm a junior starting to research the FAFSA process for next year and had no idea about the signature step being separate from completing all the sections. It's crazy how many people seem to get stuck on this exact same issue. I'll definitely bookmark this discussion for when I start my application. Quick question - for those who have been through this, do you recommend having your parent create their FSA ID well in advance, or is it something that can be done quickly when you're ready to submit?