FAFSA citizenship error claiming my daughter is not a US citizen - anyone else?

same thing happened to me last week! the system is TOTALLY glitching right now

This is actually a common issue with the new FAFSA system. There are a few things that might be causing it: 1. The Social Security Administration database might not be confirming citizenship status correctly 2. There could be a mismatch in how your daughter's name appears in different government systems (SSA vs birth certificate) 3. Sometimes the system has temporary verification issues My recommendation is to take screenshots of the error, then try again tomorrow. If it persists, you'll need to contact Federal Student Aid directly. You can also submit the form with the error and then provide citizenship verification documents later during the verification process, but that will delay processing.

OMG I had the EXACT same problem with my son 3 days ago!!! I was FREAKING OUT!!! He was born in Boston and the system kept saying he wasn't a citizen. I kept trying over and over and kept getting errors. Then I realized I had his birthday wrong - I put 2005 instead of 2006 (mom brain lol). Double check ALL your info, even the stuff you're 100% sure is right.

I work in my college's financial aid office, and we've seen this issue quite a bit with the new FAFSA. The citizenship verification system is extremely sensitive to mismatches. A few recommendations: 1. Double-check that her name is entered exactly as it appears on her Social Security card (including hyphens, spaces, etc.) 2. Verify the SSN is correct (obviously) 3. Make sure you're not using any special characters in the name fields 4. Try clearing your browser cache or using a different browser If none of that works, you'll need to submit the FAFSA anyway and then provide citizenship documentation during verification. Your daughter will likely need to show her birth certificate or passport to the financial aid office at her school.

I had the same issue but I couldn't get through to anyone on the FSA helpline - was on hold for 2+ hours before getting disconnected! Super frustrating. I finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that held my place in line and got me connected to an actual human at FSA in about 20 minutes. The agent confirmed it was a system glitch affecting lots of people and manually overrode it in my application. They have a video showing how it works here: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ - totally worth it to avoid the endless waiting.

Ugh the new FAFSA is SO messed up this year. My daughter also got flagged for citizenship verification even though she was born in the US. We just did what others here suggested - submitted the FAFSA anyway and then sent her passport copy during verification. It delayed things by about 3 weeks but eventually got sorted out. Just make sure u save the confirmation number when u submit!

this is exactly why im waiting till next month to do mine lol let them fix all the bugs first

UPDATE: I tried again this morning using Firefox instead of Chrome, and it went through without the citizenship error! Seems like it might have been a browser compatibility issue or maybe just a temporary glitch in the system. Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions!

As someone new to navigating FAFSA, this thread is incredibly helpful! I'm planning to fill out my son's application next week and now I know to try Firefox if I run into any citizenship verification issues. It's reassuring to see that these errors are system glitches rather than actual problems with our kids' citizenship status. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences and solutions!

This is such a valuable thread for FAFSA newcomers! I'm about to start my daughter's application and had no idea about the browser compatibility issues or name formatting requirements. Reading through everyone's troubleshooting steps gives me a good roadmap if I hit similar problems. It's also reassuring to know that even if you get stuck with verification issues, you can still submit and resolve it later without losing your place in line for aid. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences - this community is so helpful!