After dealing with this same problem for days, I finally got through to someone at Federal Student Aid who fixed it for me! I used Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get past the phone wait - they have this service where they wait on hold with FSA for you and call you when an agent picks up. Saved me from sitting on hold for 2+ hours! The agent had to manually reset something on my account. Check out their demo video if you're curious how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ

Quick update for everyone: The Department of Education just posted that they'll be doing system maintenance this weekend specifically to fix this redirect issue. The portal will be down from Friday 10pm to Sunday 6am, and they expect the problem to be resolved after that. So if you can wait a few days, you might not need to call or try workarounds!

My twins graduated last year and honestly I'm STILL confused about how all this works lmao. But congrats on your daughter's acceptances!!! That's awesome! 🎉

Update: I called the admissions offices for the 3 schools she already applied to directly. Two of them said NOT to submit Common App since she's already accepted, but the third one actually wants her to submit through Common App too! They said it's for "record keeping purposes" which seems silly, but I guess we'll do it. Thank you everyone for the advice - this forum has been more helpful than the high school counselor!

Just wanted to mention that the FAFSA website has been having tons of issues this application cycle. My daughter and I had to try 5 different times over several days before we could get through all the sections properly. So frustrating! Keep trying and don't submit until you can enter all your information correctly.

UPDATE: Success! After trying multiple browsers and getting nowhere, I used Claimyr to reach an FSA agent (took about 20 minutes to get connected). The agent confirmed there's a known glitch affecting some renewal applications. They had me create a new FAFSA ID and start a fresh application rather than using the renewal option. This time all sections appeared correctly including the income questions! For anyone else experiencing this: DO NOT SUBMIT without income information. It's absolutely required and your application will either be rejected or flagged for verification, which will significantly delay your aid. Better to start fresh than submit incomplete info. Thank you all for your help!

Update from someone who's been through this process multiple times: if you've already received aid offers from schools, you don't necessarily need to panic. Even if your SAI changes slightly after the review, many schools won't adjust your financial aid package unless there's a substantial change (usually over 10-15% difference in your SAI). Some schools have a policy of honoring their initial aid offer even if your FAFSA gets adjusted later, especially if you're close to the deposit deadline. If you're really concerned, contact the financial aid offices at the specific schools rather than just FAFSA.

UPDATE: I finally got through to someone at FSA this morning! Apparently the review was triggered because my employer submitted a corrected W-2 in February (there was a small error in reported retirement contributions that changed our AGI by about $200). The agent said the review is standard procedure when tax documents get amended, and that such a small change wouldn't impact our SAI enough to change aid offers. She marked our file as urgent since we're approaching decision deadlines, and said the review should be completed within 5-7 business days. Thanks everyone for your advice!

just wanted to update - i just checked claimyr that someone mentioned above and it actually worked for me! got through to a real person at fsa in like 20 minutes today after trying for over a week on my own. they were able to fix my verification problem right away. it was worth it just to stop stressing about this!

UPDATE: I finally got through! Used Claimyr like several people suggested, and was connected to an FSA agent in about 15 minutes. They confirmed there was an error in how my mom's business income was being calculated in the system. The agent filed a correction request and said it should be fixed within 5-7 business days. Such a relief! Thanks everyone for your suggestions and support through this nightmare!