FAFSA contributor access missing from spouse's activities page - can't send new request
I'm at my wit's end trying to complete our daughter's 2025-26 FAFSA! I added my husband as a contributor last week, but when he logs into studentaid.gov, there's NOTHING on his activities page showing he needs to complete anything. We've checked multiple times daily. I've tried to resend the contributor invitation but keep getting an error saying 'Invitation already sent to this email address.' Called FSA several times but keep getting disconnected after 40+ minutes on hold. Has anyone else dealt with this contributor visibility issue? Is there some trick to making it appear? Our daughter's financial aid deadline is in 3 weeks and I'm starting to panic!
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Ava Thompson
same thing happnd to me!! so frustrating. my wife couldnt see anything either. ended up having to delete the whole application and start over from scratch. wasted like 2 weeks of time
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Dmitry Volkov
•Ugh, that's the last thing I want to do! Did you have to call FSA to get them to delete the application or is there a way to do it ourselves?
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CyberSiren
This is actually a common issue with the new FAFSA system. The problem might be that your husband is logging in with a different email than the one you used for the contributor invitation. Make sure the email addresses match exactly. Also, sometimes there's a 24-48 hour delay before it appears on the activities page, though it sounds like you've waited longer than that.
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Dmitry Volkov
•Thanks for responding! We double-checked and he's definitely using the exact email I sent the invitation to. It's been 8 days now since I sent it - way beyond any reasonable processing delay. So frustrating!
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Miguel Alvarez
EXACT SAME ISSUE HERE!!! Been trying for THREE WEEKS to get my husband's contributor section to show up. Called FSA like 6 times and either get disconnected or they tell me "it's a known system issue" with no timeline for fixing it. This new FAFSA is a complete disaster. My son might miss out on thousands in aid because of their incompetence.
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Zainab Yusuf
•tru that. same w/ my parents contribution section. total disaster
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Dmitry Volkov
•Three weeks?! That's terrifying - we don't have that long to wait. Did they at least tell you if there's a workaround?
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Connor O'Reilly
I solved this exact problem last month! Here's what you need to do: 1. Have your husband check if he has multiple FSA IDs tied to different email addresses (this happens more often than you'd think) 2. If he does, make sure he's logging in with the correct FSA ID that matches the email you sent the invitation to 3. If that's not the issue, try this: have him log out completely, clear his browser cache and cookies, then log back in 4. Look under "Messages" instead of "Activities" - sometimes the invitation appears there first 5. If nothing works, you may need to call and specifically request they reset the contributor invitation on your application The new system is definitely buggy, but these steps resolved it for us!
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Dmitry Volkov
•Thank you so much for the detailed steps! We've tried #1-4 already (he only has one FSA ID), but I'll definitely ask about resetting the contributor invitation when we call again. Fingers crossed!
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Yara Khoury
After dealing with this same headache for 2 weeks, I finally got through to someone at Federal Student Aid who could actually help. I used Claimyr (claimyr.com) to connect with an agent without the endless hold times. They have this video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ The agent confirmed it's a known glitch in their system affecting contributor access. They had to delete the contributor invitation on their end and then guided me through resending it while on the phone. The new invitation appeared in my husband's account within an hour. Saved us from missing our school's priority deadline!
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Keisha Taylor
•did they charge you money to do that? i'm broke enough already with college coming up, kinda messed up if we have to pay just to get access to fafsa help
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Yara Khoury
•Yeah, there is a fee, but for me it was worth it since we were about to miss a deadline that would've cost way more in lost aid. I'd tried calling for days before that and kept getting disconnected. Everyone has to decide what their time is worth, I guess.
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Dmitry Volkov
•At this point, I'm willing to try anything - our priority deadline is coming up fast. Thanks for the suggestion, I'll check it out!
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Miguel Alvarez
UGH this whole new FAFSA system is GARBAGE. They had THREE EXTRA MONTHS to get it working and it's STILL full of bugs. My daughter's SAI score came back $14,000 higher than it should be because of all these glitches. Now we're going through appeals with every school. DOCUMENT EVERYTHING and be prepared to fight for your aid!
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Ava Thompson
•wow that's terrible. how do you even know if your SAI is calculated wrong?
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Miguel Alvarez
•We figured it out because I did the Federal Student Aid Estimator calculator beforehand and our actual SAI was WAAAAAY off. Plus they somehow counted my retirement accounts as available assets even though they're not supposed to!
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CyberSiren
Just an update on this issue - the Department of Education announced yesterday they're aware of the contributor visibility bug affecting about 7% of FAFSA applications. They said they're implementing a fix within the next 7-10 days. In the meantime, they're advising schools to extend their priority deadlines for affected students. If you're close to a deadline, I'd recommend: 1. Contact your school's financial aid office to explain the situation 2. Ask if they'll accept a screenshot showing the error message when you try to resend the invitation 3. Get written confirmation of any deadline extensions Hope this helps!
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Dmitry Volkov
•This is incredibly helpful, thank you! I'll reach out to the financial aid office immediately with documentation of our attempts. Really appreciate the update!
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Connor O'Reilly
Just wanted to follow up - did you get this resolved? I'm helping several families with the same issue and curious which solution ended up working for you.
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Dmitry Volkov
•Yes! Finally got it fixed yesterday. What worked was calling FSA (used that call service someone mentioned above to avoid the long wait) and specifically asking them to completely remove my husband as a contributor and then add him back. The agent had to escalate to a supervisor to do it, but the new invitation appeared in his account within 2 hours. Our school also gave us a 2-week extension on the priority deadline because of all the FAFSA issues. Such a relief!
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Nora Brooks
Glad to hear you got it resolved! This contributor visibility issue seems to be one of the most common problems with the new FAFSA system. For anyone else still struggling with this, here are the key takeaways from this thread: 1. The issue affects about 7% of applications according to the Department of Education 2. The most effective solution seems to be calling FSA and asking them to completely remove and re-add the contributor (may need supervisor approval) 3. Contact your school's financial aid office immediately to document the issue and request deadline extensions 4. Check if your contributor has multiple FSA IDs tied to different emails 5. Try looking under "Messages" instead of "Activities" on the contributor's account The new FAFSA rollout has definitely been rough, but it's encouraging to see schools being understanding about deadline extensions for these technical issues. Don't give up - keep pushing for that supervisor escalation if the first agent can't help!
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