FAFSA stuck at 'Information being verified by SSA' for our whole family - normal wait time?

Thank you! That's reassuring to hear. I'm just nervous because my son's name is hyphenated on his birth certificate but not on his SS card. I hope that doesn't cause issues. Did you have to do anything to move the process along or just wait?

Yup!! It's ridiculous! And I can't even get through to anyone on the phone to ask questions. Been on hold for hours multiple times.

Thank you for the detailed response! I just double-checked and realized my son's hyphenated last name might be the issue since his SS card doesn't have the hyphen. Should I call FSA to fix this or will it eventually resolve on its own?

Unfortunately, you'll likely need to contact FSA to resolve the name discrepancy. The system is looking for an exact match with SSA records. If you submitted with a hyphen that doesn't exist on the SS card, it will probably remain stuck in verification until corrected.

17 days! That's way longer than I expected. I'll definitely contact the school tomorrow. Did you do anything special to get it resolved or did it just clear up on its own eventually?

Nope, just had to wait it out. Super frustrating. They don't give you any progress updates either - it just suddenly changed status one day.

I've been trying to call FSA for THREE DAYS and can't get through!!! Either busy signals or disconnects after waiting for hours. This is absolutely ridiculous! 😡

I had the same problem trying to reach them! I found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me actually get through to a FAFSA agent without the wait. They've got a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ. Saved me hours of frustration when we had an SSA verification issue with my daughter's application. The agent was able to tell me exactly what was wrong and how to fix it.

Thank you for the detailed information! Based on everyone's comments, it sounds like I should contact FSA about the hyphen issue rather than just waiting. And I'll definitely reach out to the school's financial aid office to let them know about the situation.

Good tip! I've been checking obsessively anyway because I'm so worried about meeting that deadline. Fingers crossed it resolves soon!

A MONTH?? omg now im really panicking. we cant afford college without financial aid and if we miss the deadline because of this stupid verification thing im gonna lose my mind!!

If you've been waiting that long, there's likely a specific issue with your application. The standard verification shouldn't take a month unless there's a data mismatch. You might want to check if names, DOBs, or SSNs were entered differently than they appear on Social Security records.

That's brilliant! I'm going to do that right away. Thank you for the suggestion!

The SSA verification has always been part of the FAFSA process, but it was mostly invisible to applicants in previous years because it happened immediately during submission. With the new FAFSA Simplification Act implementation, they've changed how verification works, which is why it's now a visible separate step that takes longer. It's essentially the same check, just implemented differently in the new system.

You're definitely not alone! I'm new here but going through the same nightmare. My family has been stuck for 6 days now and I'm getting really anxious about our deadlines too. The hyphen thing seems to be a huge issue - I'm wondering if we should try to get our Social Security cards updated to match our birth certificates, or if it's easier to just correct the FAFSA? Has anyone tried both approaches? Also, does anyone know if there are certain times of day when it's easier to get through to FSA on the phone? I feel like I'm calling at all the wrong times!

Welcome to the club nobody wants to be in! 😅 From what I've read here and experienced myself, it's definitely easier to correct the FAFSA rather than trying to update Social Security cards (that would take months). The FAFSA correction should theoretically be faster once you can actually reach someone at FSA. As for phone timing - I've heard early morning (like 8-9 AM EST) tends to be slightly better, but honestly the wait times are brutal no matter when you call. Some people have had luck with the callback feature instead of staying on hold, though it can take hours or even days to get the callback. @Sean O'Donnell mentioned a good strategy - definitely send your submission confirmation to the schools ASAP. Most financial aid offices are being really understanding this year since they know the new system is causing these delays for everyone. At least document that you submitted on time! Hang in there - sounds like most people do eventually get through this, it's just a matter of patience (which is hard when deadlines are looming!).

Welcome to the club nobody wants to be in! 😅 I've been dealing with this for over a week now. From what I've gathered reading through all these comments, it's definitely easier to correct the FAFSA rather than trying to update Social Security cards (that would take even longer!). For calling FSA, I've had slightly better luck calling right when they open at 8am EST, but honestly the wait times are still brutal. Someone mentioned that Claimyr service earlier - might be worth looking into if you're really desperate to get through. The good news is that most schools seem to understand this is happening to everyone this year. I'd definitely recommend reaching out to your schools' financial aid offices with your submission confirmation like others have suggested. At least then you're covered if the verification takes longer than expected! Hang in there - we'll all get through this eventually! 🤞

Welcome to the club, Zoe! 😅 From what I've been reading here and my own research, it's definitely easier to correct the FAFSA rather than update Social Security cards (that process can take weeks or months). The FAFSA correction should theoretically be faster once you can actually reach someone at FSA. As for phone timing - I've had the best luck calling FSA right when they open at 8am EST. Still took forever but at least I didn't get the busy signal. Avoid calling mid-morning or afternoon - that's when it's absolutely impossible to get through. Also saw someone mention that Claimyr service earlier which might be worth looking into if you're really stuck. Hang in there - sounds like most people eventually get through this verification process, it's just painfully slow this year!

Welcome to the FAFSA nightmare club! 😅 From what I've seen in this thread, it's definitely easier to correct the FAFSA rather than updating Social Security cards (that would take months). The hyphen issue is super common this year. For calling FSA, I've heard early morning (like 8-9 AM EST) or late afternoon sometimes work better, but honestly the wait times are brutal no matter when you call. Someone mentioned that Claimyr service earlier - might be worth looking into if you're really stuck. Also, definitely take @Diego Chavez s'advice about screenshotting your submission confirmation and sending it to your schools. That way you re'covered even if the verification drags on. We re'all in this together! 🤞

Hi Zoe! Welcome to the community - sorry you're dealing with this stress too! From what I've read here, it's definitely easier to correct the FAFSA rather than updating Social Security cards (that process can take weeks/months). For phone calls to FSA, I've heard early morning (like 8-9am ET) tends to be slightly better, but honestly the wait times are brutal no matter when you call. Someone mentioned a service called Claimyr earlier that might help get through faster. Also, make sure you have your FSA ID and all your info ready before calling since you don't want to waste time once you finally get through! The most important thing right now is contacting your schools' financial aid offices with your submission confirmation to protect your priority deadline status. Hang in there - sounds like most people eventually get through this, it just takes way longer than it should! 😤

Welcome to the club none of us wanted to join! 😅 For the hyphen issue, I'd definitely recommend correcting the FAFSA rather than trying to update Social Security cards - that would take even longer! From what I've read, you just need to make sure the FAFSA matches exactly what's on the SS card, not the other way around. As for calling FSA, I've had better luck early in the morning (like 8-9 AM EST) or later in the evening. Avoid midday completely! Also, someone mentioned that Claimyr service earlier - might be worth checking out if you keep getting disconnected. Hang in there - sounds like most people are getting through eventually, even if it takes longer than we'd like!

Welcome to the FAFSA nightmare club! 😅 For the hyphen issue, it's definitely easier to correct the FAFSA rather than updating Social Security cards (that process takes forever). From what I've read in other forums, early morning calls to FSA (like 8-9 AM EST) tend to have slightly better success rates, but honestly it's still a gamble. One thing that helped me was having all my documents ready before calling - confirmation numbers, exact names as they appear on SS cards vs. birth certificates, etc. That way if you do get through, you can get everything sorted in one call. The waiting is brutal but at least most schools are being understanding this year!

Welcome to the club nobody wants to be in! 😅 For the hyphen issue, definitely don't try to update your Social Security cards - that takes months and won't help with current FAFSA deadlines. It's much faster to correct the FAFSA to match what's actually on the SS cards (without hyphens). As for calling FSA, I've had the best luck calling right when they open at 8am EST. Still took 2+ hours on hold but at least I got through. Also try calling on Tuesdays/Wednesdays - Mondays and Fridays seem impossible. @Sean O'Donnell had a great point about contacting schools directly with submission confirmation. Most financial aid offices are super understanding this year since they know the FAFSA system is a disaster. Good luck to both of you!

Welcome to the club, unfortunately! 😅 From what I've read here and experienced myself, it's definitely easier to correct the FAFSA rather than getting Social Security cards updated (that process can take weeks/months). For phone calls to FSA, I've heard early morning (like right when they open at 8am EST) or late afternoon sometimes work better, but honestly the wait times are brutal no matter when you call. Someone mentioned that Claimyr service earlier - might be worth checking out if you're really stuck. And yes, definitely contact your schools' financial aid offices with your submission confirmation! Most are being really understanding about these delays this year.

Welcome to the club nobody wants to be in! 😅 From what I've read here and experienced myself, it's definitely easier to correct the FAFSA rather than trying to update Social Security cards (that would take weeks/months). The FAFSA correction should match exactly what's on the SS card, not the birth certificate. As for phone timing - I've had the best luck calling FSA right when they open at 8am EST, but even then it's still a long wait. Some people have mentioned that service @Sean O'Brien mentioned (Claimyr) to help get through faster. I'm considering trying it myself since I've wasted so many hours on hold already. Hang in there - from everyone's posts it sounds like most schools are being understanding about these delays this year!

Welcome to the club, unfortunately! 😅 For the hyphen issue, I'd definitely recommend correcting the FAFSA rather than trying to update Social Security cards - that would take way longer and you'd miss all your deadlines. From what I've read, FSA can make corrections on their end once you explain the discrepancy. As for calling times, I've had the best luck calling FSA right when they open at 8am EST on weekdays. Still took forever to get through, but it was better than calling later in the day. Also, @Sean O'Brien mentioned that Claimyr service earlier - might be worth looking into if you keep getting stuck on hold. Don't panic about the 6-day wait yet - sounds like 7-10 days is pretty normal based on everyone's experiences here. Just make sure to contact your schools' financial aid offices with your confirmation info like @Diego Chavez suggested!

Hey Zoe! Welcome to the club nobody wants to be in 😅 From what I've read online, it's usually much easier to correct the FAFSA than to get Social Security cards updated - that process can take weeks or even months. For phone times, I've had the best luck calling FSA right when they open at 8am EST, but even then it's still a long wait. Some people have mentioned that mid-week (Tuesday-Thursday) mornings tend to be slightly less busy than Mondays or Fridays. Also, @Sean O'Brien mentioned that Claimyr service earlier in this thread - might be worth checking out if you keep getting stuck in phone limbo like the rest of us!

Welcome to the club nobody wants to be in! 😅 From what I've read here and experienced myself, it's definitely easier to correct the FAFSA than to update Social Security cards (that can take weeks or months). For phone timing, I've had slightly better luck calling FSA right when they open at 8am EST - still long waits but at least I don't get busy signals. Also, that Claimyr service @Sean O'Brien mentioned earlier actually worked for me too - saved me from another 3-hour hold session. The agent was able to see exactly what name field was causing the mismatch and walked me through the correction process. Hang in there - this new system is brutal but we'll get through it!