FAFSA parent identity verification failed with SSA - website error preventing application completion

OMG YES!! Dealing with this EXACT same thing right now with my son's application! Been stuck since February 3rd and nobody at FSA can give me a straight answer. So frustrating because my son needs his aid package to decide between schools and deposits are due soon. The whole new FAFSA rollout has been a complete disaster.

yep happened to me too. the new system is trash. been paying taxes for 30 years and somehow they cant verify i exist lol

I work in a college financial aid office, and we've seen dozens of cases like this. The SSA verification issue is a known bug in the new FAFSA system. Here's what I can tell you: 1. This is affecting many parents, especially those who've had name changes or address changes in recent years 2. Unfortunately, there is no manual override currently available 3. The Department of Education has acknowledged the issue but hasn't provided a timeline for fixing it 4. Some families have found success by trying again during off-peak hours (very early morning) 5. Make sure your name is entered EXACTLY as it appears on your Social Security card I'd recommend contacting your student's college financial aid offices directly. Many schools are creating provisional aid packages for affected students so they don't miss important decision deadlines.

I had this exact same issue and was about to lose my mind after being on hold with FSA for hours multiple times. I finally got through to someone helpful by using Claimyr (claimyr.com). They have this service that basically holds your place in line and calls you when an agent is available. Saved me literally hours of hold time. There's a demo video that shows how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ The FSA agent I finally spoke with said they're escalating these SSA verification issues to a specialized team. They can't fix it on the spot, but once escalated it gets resolved within 7-10 business days. You need to specifically ask for this escalation though - the first-level agents often don't mention this option.

Yes, it did get resolved about 8 business days after escalation. The weird thing is they never contacted me to tell me. I just checked the application one day and suddenly the parent verification was complete. Make sure you're checking your application status every couple of days.

This new FAFSA is the WORST. My daughter gave up and is joining the military instead because we couldn't get her aid sorted in time. The education department should be ASHAMED of this disaster!!!!

I had the same issue but with my own info (I'm an independent student). What eventually worked was logging in through the mobile app instead of the website. For some reason the verification went through on the app when it kept failing on desktop. Might be worth trying!

Has anyone tried calling the Social Security Administration directly? Maybe they can verify something on their end? This whole system is so broken.

Just wanted to share that I resolved a similar issue by ensuring all the parent information exactly matched what's on file with the IRS. In my case, I had moved recently, and even though I updated my address with SSA, the FAFSA system was still looking at old information. Try entering your information exactly as it appears on your most recent tax return - this worked for me after weeks of frustration.

u kno whats crazy? my neighbor said they only had this problem with the english version of the site. they switched to spanish (even tho they barely speak it) and somehow it worked???? might be worth a try lol

UPDATE FOR EVERYONE: The Department of Education just announced they're implementing a temporary bypass for the SSA verification issues. Starting next week, parents who've been unable to pass verification will receive an email with instructions for an alternate verification process. Check your email regularly and also the email associated with your student's FAFSA. Schools have also been instructed to process aid packages with estimated SAI numbers for affected students, so reach out to your financial aid offices if you haven't already.

Thank you SO much Sean for that update! I've been checking this thread obsessively for any good news. I'll definitely reach out to my daughter's financial aid offices first thing Monday morning to see about getting a provisional aid package set up. It's such a relief to know the Department of Education is finally addressing this mess with a workaround. I was starting to panic that we'd miss all the decision deadlines because of their broken system. Will keep everyone posted on how the alternate verification process goes once I get that email!

I'm having the exact same issue! Been stuck on the parent SSA verification for over a month now and it's driving me crazy. My son is a senior and we're running out of time to compare financial aid offers. I've tried calling multiple times but the wait times are insane and when I finally get through, they just tell me to wait for the technical team to fix it. I'm definitely going to try the mobile app suggestion and see if I can get escalated to that specialized team. Thanks everyone for sharing - at least now I know I'm not going crazy and this is a widespread problem. Will try the Claimyr service too since I can't afford to spend entire days on hold anymore!