Parent section stuck in 'draft' mode when adding spouse info in FAFSA - system error keeps blocking me

omg yes!!! this exact thing happened to me last week. the parent section kept staying in draft mode no matter what i did. super frustrating. i couldn't get past it for days.

This is actually a known issue with the new StudentAid.gov system when there's a non-SSN parent spouse situation. The system can't properly validate the contributor information. The most reliable workaround is to: 1. Return to the contributor section 2. Manually save each page using the 'Save' button (not 'Continue') 3. Log out completely 4. Wait at least 30 minutes (system needs time to process) 5. Log back in and try again If that doesn't work, there's an alternative approach where you complete the form without adding the spouse, then submit a correction after submission. That's not ideal for SAI calculation accuracy, but it beats missing your deadline. Did any of the FSA representatives mention the SSN validation issue specifically?

lol thats the FAFSA system for ya. always some glitch or another. last year my brothers application got stuck for weeks because of some random verification thing and he nearly lost his pell grant. these systems never work right

I HAD THIS EXACT PROBLEM AND IT WAS DRIVING ME INSANE!!!!! I spent literally HOURS trying to fix it and got nowhere with the regular support channels. Finally got desperate and tried Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get connected to an actual FAFSA agent who could help - they have this service where they wait on hold for you and then call when an agent is ready. The agent was able to manually override something on their end to fix the draft mode issue. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ Not gonna lie, I was skeptical at first but after three days of getting nowhere, it was totally worth it to actually speak to someone who knew what they were doing!

Have you tried using a completely different browser? Sometimes the FAFSA site has weird compatibility issues. I had problems with Chrome but when I switched to Firefox everything worked fine. Also, make sure you're not using any browser extensions that might be interfering with the site functionality.

hi there, just wanted to share that i work at a financial aid office and we've been seeing this issue a LOT with the new fafsa. basically the system doesn't always properly validate parent relationships when there's a spouse situation. the manual save method mentioned above sometimes works. if it doesn't, you can actually call and request them to remove the current parent contributor completely, then add them back fresh which often resolves it. might be worth trying if nothing else works!

UPDATE: The manual save method worked!!! I went back through each parent contributor page, manually hit save (not continue) on each one, logged out, waited about 45 minutes, and when I logged back in I was able to add the spouse info without the error message! Thank you all SO MUCH for your help. This was driving me completely insane for days.