ID Verification Timeline & Student Loan Forbearance Offset Questions

The ID verification process is like being stuck in quicksand - the harder you try to rush it, the longer it seems to take. I verified my identity in early February and didn't see my refund until mid-April. About 9 weeks total. The IRS says 9 weeks is their "standard" processing time after verification, but I've seen everything from 2 weeks to 4 months in reality. As for the student loan question, yes, it's happening despite the forbearance. The Department of Education is supposed to be like a guard dog protecting your loans during forbearance, but sometimes they forget to tell the Treasury Department to call off the offset. It's a communication breakdown between agencies.

I went through the ID verification nightmare last year. Took me 11 weeks after verifying to get my refund. The worst part was calling the IRS - spent 3 days trying to get through, always disconnected after waiting 2+ hours. Finally used Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) and got connected to an IRS agent in about 25 minutes. They confirmed my verification was processed but my return was in the "error resolution" queue for some minor issue they could fix right then. Refund came 8 days later. For your student loan question - my cousin had her refund offset despite forbearance. She had to file a dispute with both Dept of Education and Treasury to get it back.

I appreciate everyone sharing their experiences. After researching both issues further, I've compiled some additional data points: • For identity verification: I'm seeing an average of approximately 6-8 weeks for refund delivery after verification, though there are certainly some outliers in both directions • Regarding student loan offsets: It appears there might be a distinction between administrative forbearance (COVID-related) vs. other types of forbearance agreements I'll update this thread if I find any definitive patterns that might help others navigate these situations.

The identity verification delay is ridiculous compared to how banks handle verification issues. My bank can verify my identity in minutes for a large wire transfer, but the IRS takes months for a simple tax refund. After my verification, I was completely in the dark about what was happening with my return. I stumbled across taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) which helped me understand my transcript and what was actually going on. It showed me exactly what the hold codes meant and gave me a much clearer timeline than the generic "up to 9 weeks" the IRS kept telling me. For the student loan question - yes, I've seen several cases where forbearance wasn't properly recorded in the Treasury Offset Program database, resulting in improper offsets.

Regarding your student loan offset question, I'm curious if you've checked whether the loans in question were federal Direct Loans or FFEL Program loans? The forbearance protections sometimes apply differently based on loan type and servicer. Have you also verified if the offset was processed before or after the current Administrative Forbearance period began? The Treasury Offset Program (TOP) sometimes has a processing lag that can affect the timing of these transactions.

After completing ID verification on February 7th, I received my refund on March 12th (33 days). According to Internal Revenue Manual section 21.5.6.4.7, the normal processing timeframe after identity verification is 9 weeks, but many returns are processed faster. For those experiencing student loan offsets despite forbearance, you have rights under the Treasury Offset Program (31 CFR Part 285). If your loans were in an eligible forbearance status, you can request a refund by contacting both your loan servicer AND the Treasury Offset Program directly at 1-800-304-3107. The Department of Education issued guidance that loans in COVID-related administrative forbearance should not be subject to offset, but implementation has been inconsistent.

I had my identity verified back in January. Took exactly 6 weeks and 2 days to get my refund after verification. Did you have to verify in person or online? The online process seems to go faster from what I've seen. About the student loan situation - my refund was offset despite my loans being in forbearance. I called my loan servicer and they admitted it was a mistake on their end. They hadn't properly updated my status in the Treasury Offset Program database. Did you receive a notice before filing that your refund might be offset? You should get a notice at least 65 days before they can take your refund.