FAFSA parent portal won't let my son accept invitation - stuck in a loop

I had this exact issue last month. The problem is actually with how the invitation links work - they're tied to the specific FSA ID that was originally invited. When you created a new FSA ID for your son, that broke the connection. Here's what finally worked for us: 1. Log into YOUR parent portal 2. Delete the current contributor invitation for your son 3. Wait about 30 minutes (important!) 4. Send a fresh invitation to the SAME email connected to his new FSA ID 5. Have him use a completely different browser (not just incognito mode) to accept The system gets confused when multiple FSA IDs are associated with the same student, especially if they're connected to the same email address. Let me know if this works!

same thing hapnd to me. i had to call fafsa n wait 2 hrs just to fix it. stupid system keeps breaking all the time.

This is a known issue with the current FAFSA system when multiple FSA IDs get created for the same student. A couple of technical points that might help: - Each student needs only ONE FSA ID that should be used for all financial aid purposes - The invitation system ties to both the email AND the FSA ID - Creating multiple accounts flags the system's security protocols In addition to trying the steps already suggested, make sure your son is using the email associated with his NEW FSA ID consistently. Also, double-check that the birthdate and SSN match exactly on both the invitation you're sending and his FSA ID account. If you're still having issues, you need to contact FSA directly to have them clear the duplicate accounts from the system.

Have u tried doing it on a computer instead of phone? Sometimes the FAFSA site acts weird on mobile. Also make sure ur using Chrome not Safari, my daughter's kept crashing on Safari but worked on Chrome.

When this happened to us, we discovered our son was accidentally using his school email for one FSA ID and his personal email for the other. The invitation was going to his school email but he was logging in with the FSA ID tied to his personal email. Double-check all the email addresses involved. The new FAFSA system is SO much more sensitive to these little mismatches than the old form was. We finally got it sorted, but it took creating a spreadsheet to keep track of which email went with which FSA ID and which portal! Ridiculous.

this whole fafsa thing is a MESS!!! my kid got the invitation but then the system kept saying her birthday was wrong even tho it wasnt!!!! we had to send in her birth certificate and wait THREE WEEKS for them to fix it. missed all the priority deadlines. try calling right when they open at 8am eastern time. thats when i finally got thru.

Update: I finally made some progress! Took a combination of solutions from this thread. First, I confirmed my son was using different emails for his FSA IDs (school email for first one, personal for second). Then I: 1. Deleted the pending invitation from my parent portal 2. Waited an hour 3. Created a new invitation using his personal email (the one with the working FSA ID) 4. Had him accept using Chrome incognito mode on my computer (not his) Somehow that worked! Now we're on to the next hurdle - his income verification section is showing an error about his 2023 tax info not matching IRS records, even though he didn't file taxes in 2023. This system is driving me CRAZY.

Just wanted to add that I went through something similar and discovered part of my problem was that my contribution as a parent was showing as incomplete even though I had completed everything. Turns out there was a hidden section that only appeared after I clicked a specific sequence of buttons. Make sure you've gone through every single tab in your parent portal section and look for any yellow warnings or incomplete tags.

Wow, what a journey! I'm dealing with a similar nightmare right now - my daughter and I have been stuck for weeks with invitation issues. Reading through all these responses is both reassuring (we're not alone!) and terrifying (this system is truly broken). @Aisha Mahmood so glad you finally got the invitation part working! The email mismatch issue seems to be super common. I'm going to try your exact steps tonight. One thing I learned from calling the financial aid office at my daughter's school - they said to document EVERYTHING with screenshots and dates because if you miss deadlines due to system errors, they can sometimes work with you on appeals if you have proof you were trying to complete it on time. Might be worth doing for anyone still struggling. Also, has anyone had luck with the live chat feature on the FSA website? I've seen it pop up randomly but when I click it, it just says "currently unavailable.

This thread is so helpful! I'm a parent dealing with similar FAFSA issues and it's reassuring to know these problems are widespread (though frustrating that the system is this broken). One additional tip I learned from my college's financial aid office: if you're still having trouble after trying all these solutions, reach out directly to the financial aid offices at your son's schools. Many of them are aware of these technical issues and some have been extending their priority deadlines or working with families on a case-by-case basis when there's documented proof of system errors. Also, I've found that sometimes the FAFSA system works better during off-peak hours - like early morning (5-7 AM) or late evening (after 10 PM). The servers seem less overloaded then. Worth trying if you're still stuck! Good luck to everyone navigating this mess. The fact that we have to become tech support specialists just to apply for financial aid is absolutely ridiculous.