FAFSA won't accept international parent address - stuck in submission process

Don't panic! I went through this exact situation with my parents who live in Argentina. The international address issue is a common problem with the FAFSA system. Here's what you need to do:\n\n1. Don't use your old US address - that could create verification issues later\n2. For the country field, make sure Mexico is selected first before entering other address details\n3. Leave the \

Thank you so much for these tips! I tried the 00000 zip code trick and the system finally accepted it! Now I'm trying to figure out if I should help my parents create FSA IDs or just do the paper signature option. How long did the paper signature take for your family? I'm worried about missing deadlines.

the same thing happend to my cousins family last yr when they moved to costa rica. they just used a relatives US address for the fasfa. nobody ever checked and he got his aid no problem

This is risky advice. If your brother gets selected for verification (which about 30% of FAFSA filers do), using a false address could cause major problems. Your brother could lose all aid and potentially face penalties for providing false information on a federal form. Better to solve the international address issue properly.

OMG THE FAFSA SYSTEM IS COMPLETE TRASH!!!! I had the EXACT SAME PROBLEM with my dad who lives in Canada now. I spent FIVE HOURS on hold with the Federal Student Aid hotline trying to get help. When I finally got through, they just told me to \

If you're still having trouble getting through to someone at Federal Student Aid, I recently discovered a service called Claimyr that really helped me. Instead of waiting on hold forever, they call and wait in the queue for you, then call you when an agent is ready. Saved me hours of frustration. Their website is claimyr.com and they have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ\n\nI used it last week when I needed to speak to someone about my verification issues and got through in about 45 minutes instead of the 3+ hours I was facing on my own.

Financial aid advisor here. The FAFSA system does have limitations with international addresses. Here are the official solutions:\n\n1. For electronic signatures: Parents living abroad CAN create FSA IDs regardless of their location. They'll need their SSN if they have one. If they don't have SSNs, they cannot create FSA IDs and must use the signature page option.\n\n2. For the signature page: Print it from the FAFSA confirmation page, have parents sign it, and mail it to the address on the form. This typically adds 5-7 business days to processing time.\n\n3. For address formatting: Select \

This is really helpful information! My parents do have SSNs since they lived and worked in the US for 25 years before retiring. I'm going to help them create FSA IDs today. One more question - do they need to report their Mexican bank accounts on the FAFSA or just their US accounts? They still have both.

my parents live in canada and we had this exact problem!!! what worked for us was using the paper signature option. just print out the signature page and mail it to your parents, then they sign it and mail it back to the address on the form. took about 2 weeks total with mail time to canada and back but it worked fine

The real issue here is that the FAFSA system was never designed with international families in mind, which is ridiculous considering how global our world is now. I've been helping students with FAFSA for 15 years, and this problem has never been properly addressed by Federal Student Aid.\n\nOne workaround I've seen some families use successfully: If your parents still have a US bank account or financial presence, you can sometimes use the address associated with that account. But as others have pointed out, you need to be careful about verification.\n\nThe paper signature method is your safest bet, but given your timeline concerns, I'd suggest also reaching out directly to the financial aid offices at the schools your brother is applying to. Many schools have internal processes to deal with these FAFSA delays and can note your account so scholarship deadlines aren't affected. They might be able to use estimated information while waiting for the official SAI calculation.

That's a great idea about contacting the schools directly! I didn't think about that. I'll email Portland CC's financial aid office today and explain the situation. Hopefully they're more helpful by email than they were on the phone!

why not just have ur parents make a fsa id? thats what my mom did when she was in the philippines for 6 months. she just made an account using her phone and signed electronically. way easier than paper forms.

We tried that first but when creating the FSA ID it also asks for an address and kept rejecting the Mexican address. But someone above mentioned they need to select

UPDATE: I got it working! For anyone with international parent issues on FAFSA, here's what finally worked:\n\n1. Had my parents create FSA IDs first (separately from the FAFSA process)\n2. When creating the FSA ID, selected \

Great news! And thanks for posting your solution - this will help others with the same problem. One more tip: make sure your parents keep their FSA ID credentials somewhere safe. They'll need them again next year for the renewal FAFSA and many people forget their login info between applications.

As someone who just went through this nightmare with my parents who moved to the Philippines, I feel your pain! The FAFSA international address system is absolutely broken. Here's what I learned after weeks of frustration: The key is doing the FSA ID creation BEFORE starting the FAFSA. When your parents create their FSA IDs, they need to: 1. Select "Foreign Country" in the address section (not trying to force it into US format) 2. Enter their Mexican address exactly as it appears on official documents 3. Use "00000" for the zip code field (this is the standard workaround) Once they have working FSA IDs, the FAFSA signature process becomes much smoother. Also, definitely contact your brother's school's financial aid office directly - many schools are understanding about FAFSA delays caused by international address issues and can work with preliminary information while you sort this out. Don't give up! The system is frustrating but there are ways to make it work without compromising your brother's aid eligibility.