FAFSA citizenship verification glitch delaying my international adoptee's financial aid - anyone else stuck?

omg yes!!! happened to me last year with my son. he was adopted from Russia when he was 3yrs old. the fafsa system kept flagging him as "international student" even tho hes been a citizen for like 20 yrs! we had to call like 5x and the school kept saying they couldnt do anything until fafsa updated their end. so frustrating!!!

This is unfortunately a common issue with international adoptees. The FAFSA system sometimes flags citizenship verification requirements even when students have been citizens since childhood. A few suggestions: 1. Request an official letter from the financial aid office stating they've received your citizenship verification documents and are awaiting system updates 2. Ask if they can make a note in your daughter's file that she's met all requirements pending FAFSA updates 3. If the May 1st deadline approaches, request a decision deadline extension due to the FAFSA technical issues Most schools understand these FAFSA glitches are beyond your control and will work with you.

I work at a university financial aid office and see this issue frequently. The citizenship verification flag in FAFSA is separate from the school's verification process. If you've submitted documents directly to the school, they can proceed with finalizing her financial aid package even if the FAFSA system hasn't updated yet. Call the financial aid office again and specifically ask to speak with a financial aid counselor (not front desk). Explain the May 1st deadline concern and request they process her aid package with the documents you've provided while waiting for the FAFSA update. They have the authority to do this.

had similar problem but with income verification not citizenship. the upload button thing is happening to ALOT of people this year, total disaster. ended up having to fax my documents can u believe it? in 2025??? anyway, ur daughter will be fine, just keep calling them

After struggling with FAFSA's broken system for weeks trying to sort out my son's verification issues, I finally discovered Claimyr and it saved my sanity. Their service connected me directly to an FSA agent who manually updated his citizenship status in their system. Took like 20 minutes total instead of waiting until mid-May. Check out their demo video (https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ) - the website is claimyr.com. Honestly worth it to skip the endless busy signals and disconnected calls.

The FAFSA system is COMPLETELY BROKEN this year!!! This is affecting hundreds of thousands of students and the Department of Education keeps pretending everything is fine. Citizenship verification, tax verification, SAI calculations - all broken. My daughter's school told us they've had to hire extra staff just to deal with all the FAFSA glitches. This is a SYSTEMIC FAILURE and somebody should be FIRED over this disaster.

u should also double check that her social security # was entered correctly on the fafsa application. some times the system flags citizenship when its actually a SS# mismatch issue.

I'd also recommend asking the school for a "Conditional Financial Aid Package" while waiting for the FAFSA update. Many schools can provide this based on the citizenship documents you've already submitted. This gives your daughter an estimated aid amount for decision-making purposes before May 1st, even if the official package can't be finalized until the FAFSA system updates.

Update on this? Did you get it resolved? My nephew is going through something similar and I want to tell my sister what worked for you

I'm dealing with something similar but for my adopted daughter from South Korea. She's been a US citizen since she was 2, but FAFSA keeps flagging her for additional documentation. The most frustrating part is how the system treats adoptees differently even when they've had citizenship for decades! It's like the database can't handle the complexity of international adoptions. Have you tried reaching out to your congressperson's office? Sometimes they can help expedite federal agency issues like this. Also document every phone call - date, time, who you spoke with, what they said. It might help if you need to escalate later.