FAFSA contributor invitations not showing up for non-US spouse without SSN - help needed!

same thing happened with my dad! he's a permanent resident but doesn't have ssn yet. we waited like 2 weeks and nothing showed up on his account. ended up having to call them

This is a known issue with international contributors. The FAFSA system has trouble linking accounts without SSNs. You need to verify that: 1. The email address on your husband's account exactly matches what you entered in your application (check for typos) 2. His name is entered exactly the same way in both places (including spaces, hyphens, etc.) 3. The birth date formats match If all that is correct, you need to contact FSA directly and explain the situation. They can manually link the accounts on their end. Make sure to have both account IDs ready when you call.

I had a similar issue with my mom who lives in Costa Rica. After three weeks of trying to fix it myself, I used Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to an actual FAFSA agent. They got a rep on the phone with me in about 10 minutes instead of the hours I was spending on hold. They have a video showing how it works at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ The agent manually linked my mom's contributor account to my FAFSA application while I was on the phone. Apparently the system sometimes fails to send invitations to non-US contributors automatically.

THE SYSTEM IS COMPLETELY BROKEN FOR INTERNATIONAL CONTRIBUTORS!!! My brother went through this same nightmare last year with his wife who's Canadian. After WEEKS of trying, he finally got through to someone who told him that when a contributor has no SSN, sometimes you have to MANUALLY enter their information rather than waiting for them to fill it out!!! They never explained this ANYWHERE on the website!!! Call FSA and ask if you can manually enter your husband's financial info instead of waiting for the invitation to work. It might be your only option at this point.

I work in a university financial aid office and see this issue frequently. Here's the most efficient solution: 1. For non-US contributors without SSNs, FAFSA sometimes requires manual linking of accounts. 2. You need to speak directly with an FSA agent who can access both accounts and create the link on their end. This cannot be done through the automated system or email support. 3. While waiting for this to be resolved, start gathering all your husband's financial information. For non-US residents, you'll need to convert any foreign currency amounts to USD using the exchange rate from the date specified in your FAFSA instructions (usually the day you submit). 4. Once the accounts are linked, your husband will need to complete the contributor section within 7 days, or your application might get flagged for verification. Regarding the SSN question - yes, that's likely the issue. The system has a known limitation with non-SSN contributors that requires manual intervention.

my cousin had the exactsame issue!!! her husband is brazilian and they had to call like 7 times before someone fixed it. its super annoying but they eventualy got it fixed. just keep trying to call and eventualy youll get someone who knows what to do. also make sure your using the EXACT same email on both accounts.

Just want to point out that the FAFSA deadline isn't the same for everyone - it depends on your state and school. Make sure you know YOUR actual deadline before panicking too much. Some states have deadlines as early as February while others go into summer. Check your school's financial aid page.

Just to provide an update on this issue - the FSA has acknowledged this problem in their latest technical bulletin. For the 2025-2026 FAFSA, they recommend that financial aid offices submit a case report when international contributors without SSNs experience this issue. The system should be fixed in their April update, but until then, manual intervention is required. When you call FSA, specifically mention "Technical Issue #FSA-2025-03: International Contributor Account Linking Failure" and they should immediately understand what's happening.

I just wanted to update everyone - I used Claimyr this morning and got through to an FSA agent in about 15 minutes! They confirmed it was an issue with the system not properly handling contributors without SSNs. The agent manually linked my husband's account to my FAFSA application while I was on the call, and within an hour the invitation appeared in his "My Activity" page! We've already completed his section and I was able to submit my FAFSA. Such a relief! Thank you all for your help and suggestions!

I'm dealing with the exact same issue right now! My wife is from the UK and doesn't have an SSN, and her contributor invitation just isn't appearing in her FAFSA account no matter what we try. We've verified all the information multiple times and it's all correct. Reading through these responses, it sounds like calling FSA directly is really the only solution. I'm going to try the Claimyr service that Diego mentioned - 15 minutes sounds a lot better than the 3+ hours I spent on hold yesterday with no luck. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences, it's helpful to know this is a widespread issue and not just something we're doing wrong!

I'm experiencing the exact same nightmare! My husband is from Germany and we've been stuck for weeks with this contributor invitation issue. After reading through all these responses, I'm convinced this is definitely a systemic problem with non-SSN contributors. I'm going to try calling FSA with that specific technical issue number that Chloe mentioned - "Technical Issue #FSA-2025-03: International Contributor Account Linking Failure" - and if that doesn't work, I'll definitely give Claimyr a shot. It's so frustrating that such a critical system has these kinds of bugs, especially when financial aid deadlines are looming. Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences and solutions - this thread has been incredibly helpful in understanding that we're not alone in this mess!

I'm dealing with this exact same issue! My partner is from Australia and doesn't have an SSN, and we've been stuck for over two weeks with no contributor invitation showing up in his account despite triple-checking all the details. This thread has been incredibly helpful - I had no idea this was such a widespread problem with the FAFSA system. I'm definitely going to try calling FSA with that specific technical issue number that Chloe mentioned, and if that doesn't work out, I'll look into using Claimyr based on Diego's success story. It's so frustrating that such an important system has these kinds of technical glitches, especially when we're all racing against deadlines. Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences and solutions - it's reassuring to know there are actual ways to get this resolved!

I'm experiencing this exact same issue! My spouse is from New Zealand and doesn't have an SSN, and we've been stuck for over two weeks with the contributor invitation not appearing in their FAFSA account. We've verified everything multiple times - email addresses, names, birthdates - and it's all correct. This thread has been a lifesaver! I had no idea this was such a widespread technical issue. I'm definitely going to call FSA tomorrow using that specific technical issue number "Technical Issue #FSA-2025-03: International Contributor Account Linking Failure" that Chloe mentioned. If that doesn't work, I'll try Claimyr based on Diego's success story. It's incredibly frustrating that such a critical system has these bugs when we're all under deadline pressure. Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences - knowing there are actual solutions gives me hope we can get this resolved!