Completed FAFSA suddenly shows 'Action Required: Needs Signature' - Anyone else?

Yep same thing happend to me last week!! The system is so buggy this year. I called them and they said sometimes the digital signatures "expire" if there was a system update?? makes zero sense but i had to go back in and re-sign even though i KNOW we already did that part

This is actually quite common with the new FAFSA system. The signature requirement sometimes reappears after system maintenance or updates. Don't panic - your information is still saved, and your original submission date should be preserved. Just log in with both FSA IDs (yours and your daughter's) and navigate to the signature section. You'll need to re-authorize electronically, but you shouldn't need to re-enter any information. Your SAI calculation will remain the same.

this happened to me too!!! so annoying!! but actually when i tried to resift there was an error msg saying system down for maintenance so now idk what to do

I had this exact issue and spent FOUR HOURS trying to get through to the Federal Student Aid helpline. Kept getting disconnected or told the wait was 2+ hours. I finally tried using Claimyr (claimyr.com) and got through to an agent in about 20 minutes. They explained it was a known system glitch that's affecting many students who submitted in January. They had to manually reset something on their end to fix it. There's a video explaining how it works at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ - seriously saved me so much frustration.

The real problem is that the Department of Education completely botched the rollout of the new FAFSA Simplification Act implementation. The system was delayed by MONTHS, then rushed out with countless bugs that they're still fixing. This signature issue is just one of many glitches. If you're seeing "Action Required" after previously completing everything, chances are it's a system error, not something you did wrong. BUT - and this is important - you absolutely need to follow up and fix it, because schools won't receive your information until all steps show complete. The signature glitch is particularly common because that's the final verification step in the process.

I'd recommend taking screenshots of everything if you haven't already. Document each step of the re-signing process and save the final confirmation page. The new FAFSA system is having reconciliation issues between the web interface and the backend database, which is why previously completed steps sometimes appear as incomplete. One important note: make sure both you and your daughter are using the most updated version of your browsers when logging in with your FSA IDs. Some signature issues stem from browser compatibility problems with the new interface. And double-check that you're using the correct FSA ID credentials - the system is particularly sensitive to even minor typing errors this year.

btw does anyone know if this affects when schools get our info? my daughters school said they still dont have her fafsa info and im worried its because of this stupid signature thing

UPDATE: We logged in tonight and re-signed the FAFSA. It seems to have worked! The status now shows "Processing" instead of "Action Required." According to the site, it should take 3-5 days for processing, and then schools will receive our information. Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions! This new system has been such a headache.

So glad to see you got it resolved! This same thing happened to my family last month and it was incredibly stressful. For anyone else dealing with this issue, I found that clearing browser cache and cookies before attempting to re-sign can help avoid some of the technical glitches. Also, if you're still having trouble, try logging in during off-peak hours (early morning or late night) when there's less traffic on the system. The whole FAFSA rollout has been a nightmare this year, but at least there are workarounds for most of these issues.