FAFSA parent signature delay - not receiving student submission after 24 hours
My daughter completed and signed her 2025-2026 FAFSA application yesterday, and she said she submitted it to me for my parent signature. It's been over 24 hours, and I still haven't received any email notification or seen anything in my studentaid.gov account to sign. Last year when she submitted her FAFSA, I got the email within like 20 minutes to add my signature. Is anyone else experiencing delays with parent signatures this year? I'm worried her application is stuck somewhere in the system and we'll miss priority deadlines. Should I tell her to try submitting it again, or would that cause duplicate applications?
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Andre Laurent
This happened to me two weeks ago with my son's application. The new FAFSA system has been having notification delays. Double check that she entered your email correctly - my son had accidentally mistyped mine. Also make sure she fully completed her portion (sometimes they think they submitted but actually missed the final confirmation page). You can call FSA directly to check on the status - the number is 1-800-433-3243.
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Carmen Diaz
•Thanks, I'll check with her about the email address. She's pretty sure she completed everything correctly, but I guess anything's possible. Did you end up getting your notification eventually, or did you have to take additional steps?
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Emily Jackson
ya the new system is totally different from last year! took like 3 days for my mom to get my fafsa to sign last month... super annoying but it did show up eventually
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Carmen Diaz
•3 days?! That's so frustrating. I'm worried because her school's priority deadline is coming up soon. Did you have to do anything special or it just randomly appeared after 3 days?
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Liam Mendez
Several things could be happening here: 1. There's a known delay with the new FAFSA system for parent signature notifications 2. She may not have fully completed the student portion (the confirmation screen can be confusing) 3. The email might have gone to your spam/junk folder 4. She might have entered an incorrect email for you 5. If you created a studentaid.gov account, try logging in directly - sometimes the notifications don't send but the signature request appears in your account I wouldn't recommend having her submit again yet as this could create complications. The system has been experiencing delays of 1-3 days for some users. If it's been more than 3 days, then consider having her log back in to verify the submission status.
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Carmen Diaz
•Thank you for the detailed explanation! I checked my spam folder already but will log directly into my studentaid.gov account tonight. I'll also verify with her that she completed all steps. Really hoping it shows up soon because her school's priority deadline is in two weeks and I'm getting nervous!
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Sophia Nguyen
The delay is happening to EVERYONE with the new FAFSA. My daughter submitted hers last week and I didn't get the email for TWO FULL DAYS. When I called the Federal Student Aid office, I waited for 2+ hours and then got disconnected. TWICE. The whole system is a mess this year with all their "improvements" that actually made everything worse. I finally got through on my third try and they confirmed there's a backlog in the system.
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Jacob Smithson
•I had the EXACT same experience trying to call about my son's FAFSA. Waited forever, got disconnected, repeat. I finally used Claimyr to get through to them (claimyr.com). They have this service that calls and waits on hold for you, then connects you when an agent is available. Saved me hours of frustration. Here's their video explaining how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ When I finally spoke with someone, they told me the parent notification emails are delayed 1-3 days in the new system. So annoying when we have deadlines!
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Isabella Brown
wait did she add u as the contributing parent correctly? my kid put their dad as contributor but i'm the one who does all the financial aid stuff, so i never got anything. had to have them change it.
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Carmen Diaz
•That's a good point! I'm definitely listed as the contributing parent on all her other financial aid forms, but I'll check with her to make sure she selected me correctly in the FAFSA system.
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Maya Patel
Does anyone know if there's a way to check if your kid actually submitted their part? My daughter SWORE she submitted last month but turns out she never clicked the final button. Kids these days lol
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Andre Laurent
•Yes! Have your daughter log back into studentaid.gov and look at the FAFSA status. It should say "Action Required: Contributor Signature Needed" if she correctly completed her portion and is waiting on you. If it says something else or shows as incomplete, she likely missed a step.
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Carmen Diaz
UPDATE: Just wanted to follow up in case anyone has the same issue. My daughter checked her submission status and it turns out she DID complete everything correctly. I finally got the email this morning - almost 48 hours after she submitted it! The subject line was different than last year which is why I might have missed it if it came earlier. Instead of "FAFSA Signature Required" it said "Action Required: 2025-2026 FAFSA form." Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions!
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Liam Mendez
•Thanks for the update! This is really helpful information. The new FAFSA system has changed many aspects of the notification process, including those email subject lines. I'm glad it finally came through for you. Make sure to submit your signature promptly as there can sometimes be additional processing delays after the parent signature is added as well.
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