Paper FAFSA Offers Workaround for Students With Undocumented, Noncitizen Parents

• Students with a parent who doesn't have a Social Security number currently cannot complete the FAFSA.
• There is no timeline for a potential fix to this technical issue.
• Submitting a FAFSA form through the mail may provide a workaround for many students.
• It also ensures they can still qualify for state and institutional financial aid.

Students whose parents are either undocumented or not U.S. citizens currently cannot submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) online, but one workaround exists.

While not widely utilized, prospective and current college students have always been able to submit the FAFSA form through the mail.

MorraLee Keller, senior director of strategic programming at the National College Attainment Network (NCAN), told BestColleges that submitting a paper FAFSA may not solve all problems for students unable to access the form online. Still, it helps them get their foot in the door.

"At this point, because [Federal Student Aid] sort of continues to not provide a resolution timeline, one [solution] for students would be to submit the form on paper," Keller said.

Currently, there are two issues barring students with at least one parent without a Social Security number from submitting their FAFSA online:

• Many parents cannot create a Federal Student Aid (FSA) ID to contribute to their child's form.
• Those who can create an ID are presented with an error message once they attempt to contribute online.

FSA says it is trying to address both of these technical issues, but the paper FAFSA provides a workaround.

Parents do not need to create an FSA ID if their child submits the FAFSA through the mail.

Mailing in a physical FAFSA addresses one major concern for students with noncitizen parents: deadlines. Many state and institutional financial aid programs require students to submit their FAFSA by a certain date, and some award aid on a first-come, first-served basis.

Submitting a paper FAFSA means students can get ahead of those deadlines.

Keller said that FSA notes the date it receives the FAFSA in the mail as the date received, not the date FSA opens and processes the application. That means even if the identity verification process for the noncitizen parent takes an extended period, students can still qualify for state and institutional aid programs if they submit their application soon.

It's unclear what the verification process will be for parents whose child submits the FAFSA through the mail, she added.

"I don't know if that means your odds [of getting verified] are any better," Keller said, "but they don't have as many data elements that they can match, so it's possible."

Keller added that submitting a paper FAFSA doesn't prevent students from accessing the form online later. Suppose the Department of Education and FSA fix the technical issues preventing students from submitting the form online, but a student already mailed in their form. In that case, they can still submit the form again online.

FSA will treat the paper form as a duplicate, in this scenario, and process the online application instead, she said.

There is currently no timeline for a solution to the FAFSA problems plaguing students of mixed-status families. Technical issues have marred the application process for many students, not just those of mixed-status families. FSA says it is trying to resolve all problems as quickly as possible.

"I know it's bumpy right now," Keller said, "but hang in there."