FAFSA signature verification issue - daughter signed but system says she didn't?
Just spent 3 hours trying to figure out what went wrong with our FAFSA submission! My daughter completed her section last week, got the confirmation email showing she signed successfully. I waited until yesterday to complete the parent contribution section (had to gather some tax docs), submitted everything, and thought we were done. Now we got an email saying my daughter's signature is missing and no SAI calculation can be processed? The email says "student signature incomplete" but she definitely signed - we have the confirmation! Has anyone else dealt with this signature verification glitch? Any idea how to fix without starting the whole application over?
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AstroAce
This happened to us too! It's a timing issue in the system. When there's more than a 3-day gap between student and parent signatures, sometimes the system fails to recognize the first signature. You don't need to start over completely, but you do need to have your daughter log back in and re-sign. Go to the "Sign & Submit" section, and she'll need to re-verify her identity and re-sign. The good news is that all your information is still saved - just the signature needs to be redone.
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Omar Zaki
•Thank you!! That makes some sense but is so frustrating. Will she need to re-verify with her driver's license and all that identity verification again? The first time took forever with the photo uploads.
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Chloe Martin
ur lucky u even got an email lol. my fafsa has been stuck on "processing" for 2 weeks with no updates at all. no emails nothing. just waiting......
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Omar Zaki
•Oh no, that sounds even worse! Have you tried calling them? I'm afraid we'll get stuck in that limbo too after we fix this signature thing.
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Diego Rojas
the same EXACT thing happened with my son!!! the system is so BROKEN this year with the new FAFSA. we ended up having to have him sign AGAIN and then we had to wait another 10 days for processing!!! someone needs to fix this system!!!
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Anastasia Sokolov
•The whole simplified FAFSA system has been anything but simplified. I work in a college financial aid office, and we're seeing this signature issue constantly this application cycle. It's definitely a known bug in their system, especially when there's a time gap between student and parent actions. The FSA team is supposedly working on it, but no fix yet.
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Sean O'Donnell
I had the same problem last month and found that it wasn't actually the signature but a verification issue. Even though your daughter signed, there might be a verification flag on her identity that didn't process correctly. When she logs back in, check if there's a yellow warning icon anywhere on the dashboard - it might indicate what specific verification failed.
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Omar Zaki
•That's interesting - I just texted her and she says there IS a yellow icon on her dashboard that we never noticed before. It says something about "identity verification incomplete" even though she uploaded her driver's license. Do we need to call someone about this?
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Zara Ahmed
If you need to speak with a Federal Student Aid agent directly about this signature verification issue, I'd recommend using Claimyr (claimyr.com). I was stuck in a similar situation and spent days trying to get through on the regular FSA phone line. Claimyr connected me to an agent in about 15 minutes who fixed our signature verification problem right away. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ The agent explained that the signature issue is happening because of a synchronization problem between the student and parent submissions, especially when they're not done close together. They can override it on their end pretty easily.
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Omar Zaki
•Thank you for this tip! I'll check it out if we can't resolve it through the portal. Did they need any special information from you when you called?
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Zara Ahmed
•Just the standard verification stuff - my daughter's FSA ID, my FSA ID, and the confirmation number from our submission. They could see both signature attempts in their system and fixed the flag that was preventing them from syncing. Took about 5 minutes once I actually got through to someone.
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StarStrider
my cousin works in financial aid office and says this is happening to everyone!!! the fafsa system this year is a complete mess, they rushed out a half-baked system and now students r paying the price. just wait til u try to actually get your SAI score......that's a whole other nightmare
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AstroAce
•While there are definitely issues with the new system, not everyone is having problems. About 70% of applications are processing normally. The signature issue mostly affects applications where there's a time gap between student and parent submissions. Let's not scare people unnecessarily - many students are getting their SAI calculations within the expected timeframe.
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Anastasia Sokolov
Financial aid officer here. This is a known issue with the 2025-2026 FAFSA. When the student and parent sections are completed more than 72 hours apart, the system sometimes fails to properly link the signatures. Here's what to do: 1. Have your daughter log in to her studentaid.gov account 2. Go to the FAFSA application and navigate to the Sign & Submit section 3. She'll need to re-sign (the information is all still there) 4. Then you should receive a new confirmation email within 24-48 hours 5. The SAI calculation typically follows 3-5 business days after that If you continue having issues, you can request a signature override, but you'll need to speak directly with an FSA agent for that. Be aware that call volumes are extremely high right now.
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Omar Zaki
•Thank you so much for these specific steps! We'll try this tonight. Do you know if this will delay her application processing significantly? Her school priority deadline is coming up in 3 weeks.
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Anastasia Sokolov
•Most schools are aware of the FAFSA issues this year and are being flexible with those priority deadlines. However, I would recommend having your daughter contact her school's financial aid office directly to notify them of the issue. They can often place a note in her file that the FAFSA is in process but experiencing technical delays. This way her application won't be penalized for missing the deadline if processing takes longer than expected.
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Sean O'Donnell
Update: Fixed our issue! We had my daughter log back in, and there was indeed a yellow warning icon on her dashboard about incomplete signature. She had to go through the FSA ID verification again (using her driver's license) and then re-sign. The system immediately sent a new confirmation email saying both signatures were received! Now we're waiting for the SAI calculation. Thanks everyone for your help!
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AstroAce
•Fantastic! Glad it worked out. Just for others who might find this thread - the SAI calculation is taking about 5-7 business days right now, so don't worry if you don't see it immediately after getting the confirmation.
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