Parent signature missing on FAFSA but nothing showing in my account - deadline approaching!

Yep, same thing happened with my son's FAFSA last month. The system is BUGGY since they updated everything for the 2025-2026 cycle. Here's what worked for us: have your daughter log in first, then go to the 'Application Status' page (not the main dashboard). There should be a section called 'Action Required' where she can find a button to 'Send Parent Invitation' or something similar. She'll need to enter your email again - make sure it EXACTLY matches the one on your FSA ID. After she sends that, wait about 30 minutes, then check your email (including spam folder) for a fresh invitation link. That link should take you directly to the signature page, bypassing the normal dashboard.

This is a known issue with the new FAFSA system. Beyond what the previous commenter suggested, there are a few other troubleshooting steps I recommend: 1. Both you and your daughter should clear browser cache and cookies completely 2. Both should log out of studentaid.gov completely 3. Wait 15 minutes (the system needs time to reset) 4. Have your daughter log in first, go to the incomplete application 5. She needs to verify that your contributor information (email, legal name, SSN) is 100% accurate 6. Send a new invitation to you 7. You should wait at least 2 hours before attempting to login with your FSA ID Also important - check if you already have multiple FSA IDs associated with your email or SSN. Many parents accidentally create multiple accounts when troubleshooting, which makes the system even more confused.

Lol why is FAFSA so broken?? They had like 10 months to fix these issues from last year and still nothing works right. My cousin works in a financial aid office and said HALF their students are having these exact problems. What a joke.

I had to deal with this exact problem when trying to sign my son's FAFSA last week. After trying everything else, what finally worked was calling the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-433-3243. Took forever to get through to someone (was on hold for 1 hour 45 minutes), but the agent was able to see that there was a bug in the system where my contribution section was completed but not properly linked to my FSA ID. However, I got tired of waiting on hold and tried using Claimyr (claimyr.com) after seeing it recommended on another forum. It actually worked - they held my place in line and called me back when an agent was available. Saved me from listening to that terrible hold music for hours. They have a demo video here if you want to see how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ Once I got through to an agent, they fixed the linking issue on their end, and I was able to sign within 10 minutes. With your deadline approaching, I'd call ASAP.

Just wanted to chime in - this seems to happen especially with accounts where the parent and student have similar names or shared an email at some point during the FSA ID creation process. The new FAFSA system gets confused about which account is which. If none of the browser/cache clearing solutions work, your daughter should try viewing the incomplete application and checking the 'Contributor Information' section. Sometimes the system has incorrect parent information there (wrong email, etc.) that's causing the invitation to go to the wrong place or not link correctly to your account. Also! Important! The priority deadline isn't a hard cutoff for FAFSA itself - contact your daughter's financial aid office ASAP and explain the technical issues. Most schools will grant exceptions for documented system problems, especially with this year's problematic FAFSA rollout. Many schools have created special extension processes specifically because of all the FAFSA technical issues.

UPDATE: We got it working!! Thanks everyone for your help. What finally worked was a combination of things: 1. My daughter called her school's financial aid office who said they're giving extensions because so many people are having FAFSA issues 2. We cleared our browsers and used different devices (I used my phone, she used her laptop) 3. She sent a new invitation to me after double checking my info 4. The new email had a direct link that took me straight to the signature page SOLVED! If anyone else has this problem, try all these steps combined!

Great to see this got resolved! For anyone else dealing with similar FAFSA parent signature issues, I'd add one more tip that helped us last year: if you're still stuck after trying all these browser/device solutions, check if your parent FSA ID was created using a different variation of your name than what your daughter entered as the "contributor name" on her application. Even small differences like "Robert" vs "Bob" or including/excluding middle initials can cause the system to not recognize the connection. The FSA system is very literal about name matching. If that's the case, your daughter can edit the contributor information in her incomplete application to match your FSA ID exactly, then resend the invitation. Also seconding what others said about contacting financial aid offices - they're being super understanding about these technical issues this year!