Can I restart my sister's FAFSA after listing me as parent? Income issues for non-US parents
Hi everyone! I'm in a really confusing situation with my sister's FAFSA application. She started filling it out and listed me as her "Mother" and my husband as her "Father" (we're actually her older sister and brother-in-law). Now it's asking for our 2023 income information, and after calculating everything, the numbers seem way too high - I'm worried she won't qualify for any aid with our income being counted. Our actual parents live outside the United States, and I'm not sure how to handle this situation. Can we restart the FAFSA application completely? Or is there a way to edit the parent information after it's been submitted? Would she qualify as independent since our biological parents don't live in the US? This is stressing me out because she really needs this financial aid for college next year!
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Dylan Mitchell
You definitely need to fix this ASAP!!! My cousin did something similar and it totally messed up her SAI score. The system treats you as the parents when you're actually siblings - thats NOT right for FAFSA calculations
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Fatima Al-Hashemi
•Oh no! That's exactly what I'm worried about. Did your cousin end up fixing it? I'm just not sure if we should start over or if there's an edit option somewhere.
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Sofia Martinez
Yes, you can actually restart the FAFSA application. Your sister should log in to studentaid.gov, go to the FAFSA form section, and select "Start Over" to begin a fresh application. This is important to fix because FAFSA has very specific definitions of who qualifies as a parent for dependency purposes. Living outside the US doesn't automatically make her independent - her biological parents' information would still be required unless she meets one of the dependency override criteria. Make sure she accurately answers the dependency questions at the beginning of the application.
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Dmitry Volkov
•wait but what if the parents dont have US tax returns? my friends parents live in mexico and they couldnt submit anything from the irs
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Sofia Martinez
•Great question. Foreign parents without US tax returns would report their income manually rather than using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool. They'll need to convert their foreign income to US dollars using the exchange rate from the day they complete the FAFSA. There's a specific section for foreign income reporting in the FAFSA that doesn't require US tax documentation.
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Ava Thompson
I went through something almost identical with my younger brother! Our parents are in the Philippines and I tried to list myself as his parent because I'm his guardian here. HUGE mistake. The financial aid office rejected his application and we had to restart everything. The key is your sister needs to list herself as dependent with parents abroad. She'll need to manually enter their income converted to USD. If they had $0 income, she needs to indicate that (with documentation ready if they request verification). But DEFINITELY don't list yourself as her mother - that's considered misrepresentation and could actually get her in trouble with the aid office.
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Fatima Al-Hashemi
•Thank you for sharing your experience! That's really helpful to know. Did your brother end up getting financial aid even with parents living abroad? I'm worried about the verification process since getting documents from our parents can take weeks.
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Ava Thompson
•Yes, he did get aid! But we had to be ready with translated copies of our parents' income statements from their country. The school asked for verification and gave us about 3 weeks to provide everything. Start gathering those documents now - bank statements, employment letters, anything showing income. Most schools understand international parent situations, but they still need documentation.
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CyberSiren
To directly answer your question about editing vs. restarting: If she hasn't submitted the FAFSA yet, she can edit the parent information. If it's already submitted, she needs to submit a correction. However, given the significance of this particular error (listing incorrect people as parents), I'd recommend contacting the Federal Student Aid Information Center directly at 1-800-433-3243 to explain the situation before making corrections. They can advise on the best approach since this involves a fundamental misunderstanding rather than just updating numbers.
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Miguel Alvarez
•Good luck getting through on that phone number tho 😩 I spent TWO DAYS trying to reach someone about my verification issue. FAFSA phone system is the absolute worst
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Fatima Al-Hashemi
Everyone, thank you SO MUCH for all this advice! I talked to my sister and we're going to restart her application completely. We'll make sure she lists our actual parents and will start gathering their income documents from back home. I had no idea this was such a big deal - I thought I was helping by having her list us since we're supporting her here. Definitely don't want to mess up her chances for financial aid!
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Dylan Mitchell
good luck!! the FAFSA is such a NIGHTMARE sometimes!! 😵💫
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Ava Thompson
One more tip - once she restarts the application, she should check the box for "My parents live in a foreign country" when it asks about parent tax information. This will bypass the IRS Data Retrieval Tool requirement and allow manual income entry. Make sure she saves her work frequently because the system times out quickly!
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Fatima Al-Hashemi
•Thank you! I'll make sure she checks that box. I didn't even know that option existed!
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Zainab Yusuf
not to go off topic but is anyone else having issues with the new FAFSA interface?? i cant figure out how to even START the application for my kids. the old version was way better imo
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Sofia Martinez
•The new interface is definitely challenging. You need to create a StudentAid.gov account first, then find the FAFSA form under the Apply for Aid section. They changed the whole system for the 2024-2025 aid year, so many people are struggling with it. I recommend using a laptop/desktop rather than mobile - the mobile experience is even more difficult to navigate.
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Miguel Alvarez
has anyone had experience with the dependency override for siblings raising siblings? my friend is basically raising her 3 younger siblings but the parents are technically still around just not involved at all. wondering if there's a way for the younger siblings to apply as independent without parent info?
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CyberSiren
•Dependency overrides are handled case-by-case by each school's financial aid office, not directly through FAFSA. For situations like your friend's, the younger siblings would still need to complete the FAFSA listing their legal parents, but then immediately contact each school's financial aid office to request a dependency override. They'll need substantial documentation - court records, letters from professionals (teachers, counselors, clergy) who can verify the situation, and a detailed personal statement. It's a challenging process but absolutely possible in legitimate cases of parent abandonment or absence.
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