FAFSA parent verification taking forever - has anyone mailed physical forms successfully?

omg same boat. been waiting 3 weeks just for the parent verification to process. the website still says "processing" for my daughters app and every time i call i get disconnected. so frustrating!! let me know if yours ever goes thru

I went through parent verification last year and it took about 4 weeks to complete. The physical forms are actually processed faster in my experience - my daughter's friend mailed hers and had results in 2-3 weeks. Make sure you're checking both the student and parent portals, as sometimes updates appear in one but not the other. Also, remember that many schools have their own verification processes after the FAFSA is processed, so you might want to contact your son's financial aid office directly to see if they can expedite anything on their end.

the physical forms are the WORST took my son's 9 weeks to process last year and we had to ask for an extension on the tuition deadline!!! theres literally no way to track them once there in the mail system. good luck

As someone who works adjacent to financial aid, I can share some insider perspective. The parent verification process is typically taking 3-5 weeks this year due to the new FAFSA rollout. Paper forms are actually being processed in about 2-4 weeks once they're entered into the system, but there's no good way to confirm they've been received. One important tip: If you need to call FSA to check status, I'd recommend using Claimyr (claimyr.com). They'll hold your place in line and call you back when an agent is available instead of you waiting on hold for hours. They have a video demo showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ Also, while waiting, make sure your son's school has all other required documents ready. Many schools can start their verification process even without final FAFSA results if you provide income documentation directly to them.

My daughter's FAFSA was finally processed after we did parent verification, but then we got selected for income verification RIGHT AFTER THAT which added another 3 weeks to the process! So frustrating. If I were you I'd prepare for potentially being selected for that too, just in case. Have your tax documents and W-2s ready.

Has anyone tried reaching out to their representative in Congress? After 8 weeks of FAFSA hell last year (we had both parent verification AND income verification), I finally contacted my congresswoman's office. They have staff dedicated to helping constituents with federal agency issues. They reached out to FSA on our behalf and miraculously our application was processed within 5 days after that. Worth a try if you're really up against a deadline.

Is anyone else FURIOUS that they completely revamped the FAFSA system this year and it's been nothing but problems?? My niece has been waiting since JANUARY and still doesn't have her SAI. Meanwhile my student loan payments are due AND I'm trying to figure out how to pay for her freshman year. The Department of Education should be ashamed of this disaster.

Update on processing times: I just attended a financial aid conference last week where FSA officials shared that they've added additional staff to process both online and paper submissions. They're now projecting 2-3 weeks for parent verification and about the same for mailed forms that are properly completed. The most common reason for delays is missing information or mismatched data (like a name spelled differently on tax forms vs. the FAFSA). Double-check that all your information exactly matches across all documents.