Green card holders with foreign income - FAFSA rejects our 2022 Kazakhstan taxes as 'too high'

FAFSA is a MESS with international stuff! i had similar probs when I moved from Brazil. u need to file a foreign income worksheet with the financial aid office directly. FAFSA online isnt good at handling foreign taxes. skip the automatic IRS data retrieval and manually enter your income, but the school will need documentation later.

The issue isn't that your taxes are too high - it's that the FAFSA system isn't designed to handle foreign tax systems properly. You need to do the following: 1. Complete a Foreign Income Conversion Worksheet (available from most college financial aid offices) 2. Convert your income using the IRS yearly average exchange rate for 2022, not the current rate 3. Submit your FAFSA with manual income entry (skip the IRS Data Retrieval Tool) 4. Submit a special circumstances letter to each college's financial aid office explaining your situation Also, make sure you're only reporting income that would be taxable under US rules. Some types of income taxed in Kazakhstan might be exempt here.

The exact same thing happened to us when we moved from UK! We had to provide a ton of extra documentation and it was SO frustrating trying to get someone on the phone at Federal Student Aid who actually understood international tax situations. We ended up having to go directly to the school's financial aid office instead. They were much more helpful than trying to deal with the main FAFSA people.

This is a common issue for green card holders with foreign income. Here's what you should do: 1. Use the IRS foreign income conversion rate for 2022 (not current rates) 2. Enter your income manually on FAFSA rather than using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool 3. For the question about US taxes paid, enter 0 since you paid taxes in Kazakhstan 4. Complete your FAFSA this way, even if you get warnings 5. Immediately contact each school's financial aid office to explain your situation 6. Submit copies of your Kazakhstan tax documents with a written explanation The schools can make professional judgment adjustments to your SAI score once they understand your situation. This will require additional documentation, but it's routinely done for international situations.

Im soo confusedd by fafsa too!!! But doesnt it ask for 2023 taxes now for the 2025-26 FAFSA? I thought they changed it to use the prior year now instead of 2 years back??

I had to deal with this exact problem with my South Korean income back in 2023. I spent WEEKS trying to call FSA and couldn't get through. Finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to an actual FAFSA agent who helped me. They have a video that shows how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ The agent explained that the system flags foreign income as potentially incorrect when the tax percentage doesn't match typical US rates. You need to speak with an actual FAFSA specialist who can note your account and guide you through the correct procedure for reporting foreign income.

wait but why is it asking for 2022 taxes for you? isnt the 2025-26 FAFSA using 2023 tax info now? i thought they changed it with the new system?

the whole system is broken!!! my cousin is from vietnam and they made him resubmit his application 4 TIMES because of foreign income issues. its like they dont even want international students to get aid!!!!

Just a thought - have you had your 2022 income reassessed using US tax rules? Sometimes foreign income that was taxable in your home country wouldn't be taxable here, or would be taxed differently. Might be worth consulting with a tax professional who specializes in international situations.

Update from my earlier comment: I just remembered that most schools have a specific form for reporting foreign income. It's usually called something like "Foreign Income Information Form" or "International Income Worksheet." Check the financial aid section of each college website - you'll likely need to fill this out in addition to the FAFSA.