One additional solution that's worked for many families with this specific tax filing status discrepancy: Ask the financial aid office if they can initiate what's called a "Comment Code 400" resolution. This is a specific code that tells the FAFSA system there's a mismatch between reported tax filing status and IRS records. Many schools can process this correction internally without requiring you to keep calling the Federal Student Aid helpline. The most important thing is submitting that 2022 Tax Return Transcript directly to the school as soon as possible, as that's the documentation they'll ultimately need regardless of which approach they take to fix the issue.

I work in a university financial aid office (not giving specifics for privacy). This is a common issue this year with the new FAFSA. The financial aid office CAN fix this through the verification process, despite what they might be telling you. Ask specifically to speak with a verification specialist, not just a front-desk person. They need to submit a correction through their institution's correction process, not through the standard FAFSA correction method. Bring a copy of the 2022 tax return transcript, and they should be able to resolve it.

Thank you for the insider perspective! It's reassuring to hear this is a known issue. Out of curiosity, does time of day matter when submitting? Is there a

Great question! We've noticed that applications submitted weekday mornings (9am-noon Eastern) seem to process a bit faster, likely because federal verification systems have lower volume then. Weekends and late evenings tend to have the longest delays. But this is just anecdotal - no guarantees!

One more thing to check - make sure your school has your correct banking information for direct deposit. Some schools default to paper checks if your banking info isn't in their system, which adds another week or two to the process.

Update us when you get your refund! Knowing when it finally came through could help other students estimate their timelines.

did u check ur spam folder for the invitation email? sometimes it goes there

UPDATE: We finally got it working! What worked was a combination of several suggestions here. My daughter canceled the invitation, then we both logged out completely. I cleared my browser cache, and then we waited overnight. This morning she sent a new invitation, and this time when the email arrived, I clicked directly on the link in the email rather than going to studentaid.gov separately. That made all the difference! I can now see her FAFSA in my dashboard and complete the parent section. Thank you all for your help - this community saved us so much frustration!

i dont understand why they always gotta make things so complicated!!! my brother had to resubmit his whole fafsa last year because of some glitch, ended up getting less money because he missed the priority deadline. the financial aid system is rigged against regular people i swear

UPDATE: Just wanted to share that I followed the advice from this thread and it worked! I emailed all three schools with our confirmation number and SAI score. Two already responded confirming they've manually pulled the FAFSA data. I also used that Claimyr service someone mentioned to reach FSA directly, and they confirmed it was a system interface issue between the federal database and certain state systems. They flagged our application for immediate transmission to schools. Thanks everyone for your help - feeling much less stressed now!