FAFSA 2025-26 glitch - parent invite not sending and no form showing in My Activity

yep same issue here but with my twin daughters applications. One worked fine the other one is stuck in limbo. So frustrating!!!

This is a known system-wide issue with the 2025-26 FAFSA that FSA hasn't officially acknowledged yet. The parent contribution invites sometimes get stuck in the system queue and the database doesn't properly update to show existing applications. I recommend these steps: 1. Try accessing from a completely different browser (not just incognito, but a totally different browser) 2. Clear all browser cache and cookies before attempting 3. Wait 24-48 hours for the system to fully process - sometimes the database catches up overnight 4. Have the parent contributor try creating their own FSA ID and logging in directly to see if they can access the contribution section If none of that works, you'll unfortunately need to contact FSA directly. Their phone system is absolutely overwhelmed right now.

The whole FAFSA system is GARBAGE. They completely overhauled it for 2024-25 and it's still broken for 2025-26!!! My daughter lost a $5000 scholarship last year because of these exact problems. The system is designed to FAIL.

After facing this exact situation last week, I finally managed to get through to someone at Federal Student Aid who reset my daughter's application on their end. I tried calling the main number for THREE DAYS but kept getting disconnected or told the wait would be 4+ hours. What finally worked was using Claimyr.com - it schedules a call with the FSA for you and then calls you when they actually have an agent on the line. Saved me hours of waiting. There's a video demo of how it works at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ if you're interested. The agent was able to clear the ghost application and I was able to restart the form successfully.

I work at a university financial aid office, and we're seeing this issue with about 15% of our applicants right now. The technical explanation is that the database that stores the FAFSA progress isn't properly syncing with the user interface in some cases. A few important points: 1. If you've received confirmation emails for ANY part of the process, save those - they prove you attempted to complete the form before deadlines 2. The parent invite emails sometimes go to spam/junk folders, so have your ex check there first 3. In our experience, the system usually resolves itself within 72 hours as background processes catch up 4. If you're approaching a critical deadline, contact your school's financial aid office directly - many institutions are offering deadline extensions specifically for these technical issues 5. As a last resort, calling FSA is your best option, but be prepared for very long wait times

have u tried doing it on ur phone instead? the desktop site is super buggy but the mobile version worked for me after having almost the same problem

UPDATE: First, thank you all for the suggestions! After trying everything (different browsers, mobile version, waiting 48 hours), I finally used Claimyr to reach someone at FSA. The agent confirmed that our application was stuck in a processing loop and needed manual intervention. She cleared it from their system and we were able to start fresh. The parent invite went through immediately this time, and everything is now showing correctly in My Activity. For anyone else experiencing this, definitely try to get human help rather than fighting with the system!

My son is in his second year and we've had FAFSA problems both years. What worked for us was calling our school's financial aid office directly - they have special contacts at FSA and were able to escalate our case. Just another option if you keep hitting walls!

Just joined this community because I'm dealing with the exact same nightmare! My daughter's 2025-26 FAFSA is stuck in the same loop - parent invite never arrived, application disappeared from My Activity, but can't start a new one. Reading through all these responses gives me hope that there are actual solutions. Planning to try the Claimyr service mentioned here since calling FSA directly seems impossible. It's incredibly frustrating that we're dealing with the same technical issues that plagued last year's rollout. Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences and workarounds - this is exactly the kind of help parents need right now!

I'm new here but dealing with the exact same issue! My son's 2025-26 FAFSA has been stuck for over a week now. The parent invite never went through, and like everyone else, the application vanished from My Activity but I can't start fresh. I've tried different browsers, clearing cache, and even the mobile version - nothing works. It's reassuring to see I'm not alone in this mess, but also terrifying that this is such a widespread problem. Going to try the Claimyr service that several people mentioned since direct calling seems hopeless. Has anyone had luck with FSA's live chat feature, or is that just as useless as their phone system? My son's scholarship deadline is in two weeks and I'm starting to panic!

Just wanted to jump in here as another parent going through this exact frustration! My daughter's application is stuck in the same cycle - sent parent invite to my ex-husband three days ago, nothing in his inbox (including spam), and now the form has completely disappeared from my dashboard. What's really maddening is that this is happening during peak application season when every day counts toward scholarship deadlines. I've bookmarked the Claimyr suggestion from @Julian Paolo since it seems like that's been the most successful approach for actually reaching someone who can manually reset these stuck applications. It's honestly ridiculous that we have to use third-party services just to access a federal system that should work properly. Thank you to everyone sharing solutions - it helps to know we're not going crazy and there are actual ways to fix this mess!

New member here dealing with the exact same FAFSA nightmare! My twin sons both started their 2025-26 applications last week - one went through perfectly fine, but the other is completely stuck. Parent invite never arrived (checked all folders), application disappeared from My Activity, but can't start over due to the "form already exists" error. It's so frustrating that we're still dealing with these same technical glitches that made headlines during last year's disastrous rollout. Reading through everyone's experiences here has been both reassuring (I'm not alone!) and infuriating (this is clearly a widespread system failure). Planning to try the Claimyr service that @Julian Paolo mentioned since calling FSA directly seems like a lost cause. Thank you all for sharing your workarounds and solutions - this community is a lifesaver during such a stressful time!

New here and unfortunately joining the club of parents dealing with this exact FAFSA disaster! My daughter's 2025-26 application has been stuck for 5 days now - parent invite never came through, application vanished from My Activity, but I get the "form already exists" error when trying to start over. It's absolutely maddening that we're facing the same technical failures that made the 2024-25 FAFSA such a nightmare. Thank you to everyone who's shared solutions here, especially the Claimyr recommendation from @Julian Paolo - seems like that's been the most reliable way to actually reach a human who can fix these database sync issues. I've screenshot all my error messages and saved the confirmation emails from when I initially started the process. Really appreciate this community for sharing real solutions during such a stressful time!

New member here and unfortunately dealing with the exact same technical nightmare! My son's 2025-26 FAFSA has been stuck in this exact loop for almost a week now - parent invite never arrived despite multiple attempts, application completely disappeared from My Activity, but I can't start fresh because of the "form already exists" error. It's absolutely infuriating that we're still battling the same system failures that made last year's FAFSA rollout such a disaster. Reading through everyone's experiences here has been both comforting (knowing I'm not losing my mind) and terrifying (realizing how widespread this problem is). I've tried every browser trick mentioned, cleared cache multiple times, even attempted the mobile version with no luck. Planning to try the Claimyr service that several people have recommended since calling FSA directly seems completely hopeless. Thank you all for sharing actual solutions and workarounds - this community is providing more help than the official FAFSA support channels! Fingers crossed we can get this resolved before scholarship deadlines start hitting.

Just joined this community because I'm facing the exact same FAFSA nightmare! My daughter's 2025-26 application has been stuck for over a week - parent invite disappeared into the void, application vanished from My Activity, and I get the dreaded "form already exists" error when trying to start over. It's mind-boggling that we're still dealing with these identical technical failures that plagued last year's rollout. After reading through all these experiences, I'm convinced this is a massive database synchronization issue on FSA's end. Going to try the Claimyr service that @Julian Paolo recommended since it seems like the most reliable way to actually reach a human who can manually reset these stuck applications. I've documented everything with screenshots and saved all confirmation emails from the initial process. Thank you everyone for sharing real solutions - this community is providing more actual help than FSA's official support channels! Crossing my fingers we can get this resolved before priority deadlines hit.

Just joined this community after discovering I'm not alone in this FAFSA nightmare! My son's 2025-26 application has been stuck for 6 days now - sent the parent invite to my ex-wife, it never arrived (we've checked everywhere including spam), and now the entire application has vanished from My Activity. When I try to start over, I get the same "form already exists" error that everyone else is describing. It's absolutely ridiculous that we're dealing with the exact same technical failures that made headlines during last year's disastrous rollout. Reading through all these experiences has been both reassuring (I'm not going crazy!) and infuriating (this is clearly a massive system failure). I've saved screenshots of all the error messages and have confirmation emails from when I initially started the process. Planning to try the Claimyr service that @Julian Paolo mentioned since it seems like the most reliable solution based on everyone's success stories. Thank you all for sharing actual working solutions - this community is providing more real help than FSA's official support channels! Hopefully we can get this database mess sorted out before scholarship deadlines start hitting hard.

New member here and unfortunately joining the growing list of parents dealing with this exact FAFSA disaster! My daughter's 2025-26 application has been stuck in the same endless loop for 4 days now - parent invite never made it to my husband's email (we've checked every folder multiple times), application completely disappeared from My Activity, but I can't start fresh because of the "form already exists" error message. It's absolutely infuriating that we're still battling the same systematic failures that made the 2024-25 FAFSA rollout such a complete mess. After reading through everyone's experiences here, it's clear this is a widespread database synchronization issue rather than isolated user problems. I've documented everything with screenshots and saved all the confirmation emails from my initial attempts. Planning to try the Claimyr service that multiple people have recommended since calling FSA directly seems completely futile based on everyone's experiences. Thank you all for sharing real working solutions - this community is providing far more actual help than any of the official FAFSA support channels! Hoping we can get this technical nightmare resolved before our priority deadlines start approaching.

New member here and dealing with this exact same FAFSA nightmare! My son's 2025-26 application has been stuck for over a week now - the parent invite never reached my ex-husband despite multiple attempts, the application vanished completely from My Activity, but I get that same infuriating "form already exists" error when trying to start over. It's beyond frustrating that we're still facing these identical technical failures that made the 2024-25 rollout such a disaster. Reading through all these experiences has been both comforting (knowing I'm not alone) and terrifying (seeing how widespread this problem is). I've tried every troubleshooting step mentioned - different browsers, clearing cache, mobile version - nothing works. Based on everyone's success stories here, I'm going to try the Claimyr service @Julian Paolo mentioned since calling FSA directly seems hopeless. I've saved screenshots of all error messages and confirmation emails from the initial setup. Thank you all for sharing actual solutions - this community is providing more real help than FSA's official support! Crossing fingers this gets resolved before scholarship deadlines hit.