FAFSA parent without SSN invitation error - checked 'no SSN' but system says 'SSN in use'
I'm a college counselor helping a student with a specific FAFSA issue and I'm completely stuck. The student has parents who aren't married and both need to contribute info. Neither parent has an SSN. We successfully created FSA IDs for both parents and got them verified. We were able to invite the father to contribute to the FAFSA with no problem, but every time we try to invite the mother, we get an error saying "SSN is in use" - even though we've checked the box indicating she doesn't have an SSN! We've compared all the information on her FSA ID account with what we're entering in the invitation about 5 times, and everything matches perfectly (name, DOB, email, etc.). Anyone encountered this specific error before or know how to resolve it? The student's priority deadlines are coming up soon and I'm really worried this technical glitch will cost them financial aid opportunities.
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Luca Greco
I had this exact issue last week with a student! It's a weird glitch in the system when dealing with contributors without SSNs. What fixed it for us was having the mother log in to her FSA ID account and double-check that the "No SSN" checkbox is selected there. Even though you created the account that way, sometimes it doesn't save properly. Then have her log out completely, wait about 30 minutes (the system needs time to update), and then try sending the invitation again. Make sure when you're sending the invitation, you're using the EXACT same name format as on her FSA ID (including middle names/initials if any).
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Zara Malik
•Thank you so much for the suggestion! I'll have her log in and verify the checkbox is selected. We've been so frustrated because every piece of information seems to match perfectly. I didn't think about waiting after making changes - I was just trying over and over. I'll try the 30-minute waiting period and see if that helps. Fingers crossed this works!
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Nia Thompson
omg the exact same thing happened with my cousin!!! the FAFSA site is SOOO buggy this year, like they did not test it at ALL before releasing it. we kept getting that stupid SSN message even tho we checked no SSN like 100 times. so annoying!!!
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Mateo Rodriguez
•Same. The new FAFSA is a complete disaster. My daughter is still waiting on her SAI calculation after almost 3 weeks. The whole thing is a mess.
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Aisha Hussain
Have you tried using completely different browsers? Sometimes the FAFSA site caches information incorrectly and switching from Chrome to Firefox (or vice versa) can help. Also, are you using any special characters in the name fields? I've seen hyphens or apostrophes cause this exact problem. The other thing to check is whether someone else might have accidentally used her information to create a different FSA ID - maybe check if she can recover a password using her email to see if multiple accounts come up.
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Zara Malik
•We haven't tried different browsers yet - that's a good idea! Her name doesn't have any special characters, but I'll definitely check about the multiple accounts possibility. That's something I hadn't considered. Thanks for the suggestions!
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GalacticGladiator
I work in a financial aid office and we're seeing this issue frequently with the 2025-2026 FAFSA. There are actually two workarounds we've found: 1. Try entering a completely different email address for the mother when sending the invitation (one that's NOT associated with her FSA ID). Then once she gets the invitation, she can still log in with her actual FSA ID credentials. 2. If that doesn't work, try having the student temporarily remove the mother as a contributor, save the application, then go back in and add her again from scratch. Also, make sure you're entering her name EXACTLY as it appears on her official ID, not her FSA ID. Sometimes there are slight variations that cause the system to get confused.
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Zara Malik
•Thank you for these specific workarounds! I'm going to try the email address switch first - that's an interesting approach I wouldn't have thought of. If that doesn't work, we'll try removing and re-adding her. It's so frustrating that these technical glitches make an already stressful process even more difficult.
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Ethan Brown
I spent 3 HOURS on hold trying to get help with this exact problem. When I finally got through to FSA, they told me it was a known issue with their system and that they're "working on it." But they did tell me to try entering the parent information using all CAPS for the name fields. Apparently their system sometimes has case-sensitivity issues when matching records. Worth a try? Let us know if anything works!
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Yuki Yamamoto
•If you need to reach the FSA support again, I'd recommend using Claimyr (claimyr.com). I was dealing with a similar FAFSA technical issue and was facing hours of hold time. Claimyr got me connected to an agent in about 15 minutes instead of the 3+ hours I was facing. They have a video demo that shows how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ Definitely worth it for urgent FAFSA issues when you can't afford to be on hold all day.
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Ethan Brown
•Thanks for the tip! I'll definitely check out that service next time. I literally had to put my phone on speaker and just let it sit there on hold while I worked on other things. So frustrating!
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Carmen Ruiz
my brother had this problem too!!! we fixed it by deleting cookies and trying on a diferent computer. sometimes the FAFSA website just acts weird with no SSN parents. try logging out of EVERYTHING and clear all browser history/cookies and try again maybe??
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Mateo Rodriguez
Did you try contacting the Federal Student Aid Information Center directly? They should be able to fix this on their end. I know the wait times are ridiculous, but this seems like something only they can resolve if it's a system error.
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Zara Malik
•We actually did try calling them once but gave up after being on hold for over an hour. I think I'll try some of these technical solutions first, and if none of them work, we'll have to bite the bullet and wait on hold again. Thanks for the suggestion though!
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Luca Greco
Hey, just checking back - did any of these solutions work for you? I'm curious because we're still seeing this issue pop up with other families at our center.
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Zara Malik
•Yes! We got it to work finally! It was actually a combination of things. First, we had the mother double-check her FSA ID settings to confirm the "No SSN" box was checked. Then we completely logged out, cleared browser cache/cookies, and waited about an hour. When we tried again, we used ALL CAPS for her name as someone suggested. That finally worked! The invitation went through and she was able to contribute her information. Thanks everyone for all your help - this forum saved us!
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