Can't reach FAFSA? Claimyr connects you to a live FAFSA agent in minutes.
Claimyr is a pay-as-you-go service. We do not charge a recurring subscription.
Using Claimyr will:
- Connect you to a human agent at the FAFSA
- Skip the long phone menu
- Call the correct department
- Redial until on hold
- Forward a call to your phone with reduced hold time
- Give you free callbacks if the FAFSA drops your call
If I could give 10 stars I would
If I could give 10 stars I would If I could give 10 stars I would Such an amazing service so needed during the times when EDD almost never picks up Claimyr gets me on the phone with EDD every time without fail faster. A much needed service without Claimyr I would have never received the payment I needed to support me during my postpartum recovery. Thank you so much Claimyr!
Really made a difference
Really made a difference, save me time and energy from going to a local office for making the call.
Worth not wasting your time calling for hours.
Was a bit nervous or untrusting at first, but my calls went thru. First time the wait was a bit long but their customer chat line on their page was helpful and put me at ease that I would receive my call. Today my call dropped because of EDD and Claimyr heard my concern on the same chat and another call was made within the hour.
An incredibly helpful service
An incredibly helpful service! Got me connected to a CA EDD agent without major hassle (outside of EDD's agents dropping calls – which Claimyr has free protection for). If you need to file a new claim and can't do it online, pay the $ to Claimyr to get the process started. Absolutely worth it!
Consistent,frustration free, quality Service.
Used this service a couple times now. Before I'd call 200 times in less than a weak frustrated as can be. But using claimyr with a couple hours of waiting i was on the line with an representative or on hold. Dropped a couple times but each reconnected not long after and was mission accomplished, thanks to Claimyr.
IT WORKS!! Not a scam!
I tried for weeks to get thru to EDD PFL program with no luck. I gave this a try thinking it may be a scam. OMG! It worked and They got thru within an hour and my claim is going to finally get paid!! I upgraded to the $60 call. Best $60 spent!
Ask the community...
- DO post questions about your issues.
- DO answer questions and support each other.
- DO post tips & tricks to help folks.
- DO NOT post call problems here - there is a support tab at the top for that :)
Join the conversation
Join the conversation
This is incredible information! As a parent of a sophomore with an IEP for autism spectrum disorder, I had no idea this funding existed. We've been dreading the college financing conversation because even with good grades, I knew we'd struggle with whatever the FAFSA expects us to pay. A couple questions for those who've been through this process: 1. Do they require the student to be actively receiving special education services senior year, or is having had an IEP/504 in the past sufficient? 2. How detailed do the career plans need to be? My son is interested in computer science but hasn't narrowed down a specific focus yet. I'm definitely calling our state's VR office first thing Monday morning. Thank you Jean Claude for sharing this - you might have just changed our family's entire college trajectory!
Welcome to the community! This is such valuable information that Jean Claude shared. From what I've seen in this thread, it sounds like having had an IEP/504 in the past is usually sufficient - you don't necessarily need active services senior year, but definitely bring all your documentation. For the career planning part, computer science is actually a great field for VR funding since there's such a clear path to employment! Even if your son hasn't picked a specific focus yet, the general CS degree path should work fine. Make sure to start the process early though - several people mentioned it can take months for approval. Good luck with your call on Monday!
This is absolutely life-changing information! I'm a parent of a high school senior with ADHD who has a 504 plan, and honestly I've been losing sleep over college costs. Our FAFSA came back with an SAI of $21,000 which feels impossible given our actual financial situation. I had never even heard of vocational rehabilitation funding before reading this post. I'm definitely calling our state's VR office tomorrow morning to get the ball rolling, though I'm worried we might be starting too late since my daughter is already a senior. For those who've gone through this process - is there any chance they can still approve funding that starts in fall semester if we apply now, or are we looking at having to defer for a year? The timing aspect has me really stressed since most college deposits are due soon. Either way, thank you SO much Jean Claude for sharing this. You've given so many families hope when we really needed it most! 🙏
Don't panic about the timing! I was in a similar situation last year with my son who's now a college freshman. We applied to VR services in January of his senior year and they were still able to get funding approved for fall semester - it was tight, but doable. The key is to get your application in ASAP and be really responsive to any requests for additional documentation. Some states have emergency processing for students who are graduating soon. Also, many colleges will work with you on deposit deadlines if you explain you're waiting on VR funding approval - they want students to succeed! Call first thing tomorrow and explain your timeline - they deal with this situation more often than you'd think. You've got this! 💪
Join the conversation
Just went through this exact situation last month! My advice would be to document everything showing you provide the majority of her living expenses - bank statements, receipts for school supplies, medical bills you pay, etc. Even though your ex claims her on taxes, having proof that you're the one actually supporting her day-to-day will really help when you file that special circumstances appeal with the colleges. Also, make sure to apply this to EVERY school she's considering - don't assume they'll all have the same response to your appeal. Some schools are way more flexible with divorced parent situations than others.
This is really smart advice! I never thought about keeping documentation like that. I definitely pay for most of her day-to-day stuff - clothes, school activities, medical appointments, etc. I'll start gathering receipts and bank statements now. Good point about applying to every school too - I was wondering if the appeal process would be different at different colleges. Did you find some schools were more understanding than others about divorced parent situations?
As someone who just went through this nightmare with my daughter's FAFSA, I feel your pain! The key thing is getting your ex on board early because once you start the application, you can't really move forward without his cooperation. I'd suggest having a conversation with him about timelines - the FAFSA opens October 1st for the following school year, and some deadlines are really early (like February for state aid in some states). Also, make sure he understands that even though he claims her on taxes, if you're the one who will actually be paying for college, you should gather documentation now showing your financial support. This will be crucial if you need to appeal the aid decision later. The whole system is frustrating, but it's definitely doable once you know the steps!
This is such great advice about getting the ex on board early! I'm definitely going to have that conversation with him this week. You're absolutely right about the timing - I had no idea some state deadlines were as early as February. Question though - when you say gather documentation showing my financial support, do you mean like keeping receipts for everything I pay for her, or more like bank statements showing regular transfers? I want to make sure I'm collecting the right kind of proof in case we need to appeal later.
Join the conversation
That retirement withdrawal situation is frustrating when it affects your Pell Grant eligibility. Unfortunately, the FAFSA does count retirement distributions as income, even when used for debt payoff rather than education expenses. Your best approach is definitely to request a Professional Judgment review from your school's financial aid office. Prepare documentation showing: - The retirement withdrawal amount - Proof it went directly to debt payments - A letter explaining this was a one-time circumstance that doesn't reflect your family's typical financial situation When you meet with the financial aid administrator, be clear that this withdrawal artificially inflated your family's income for FAFSA purposes and doesn't represent ongoing financial capacity. Some schools are more flexible with Professional Judgment than others, but this is exactly the kind of situation it's designed for. You might also want to check if your school has emergency grants or other institutional aid that could help fill the gap if the Professional Judgment review doesn't fully restore your Pell eligibility.
@brianna rodriguez I d'also suggest gathering any documentation that shows the debt burden was preventing your family from contributing to your education in the first place. For example, if high monthly debt payments were eating up most of your father s'income, collect old credit card statements or loan documents that demonstrate this. You want to paint a clear picture that the retirement withdrawals were essentially robbing "Peter to pay Paul rather" than creating new disposable income. Also consider asking your school s'financial aid office if they can do a forward-looking assessment - since the debt is now paid down, your family s'actual ability to contribute to education costs may have improved, which could help your case for future aid years.
@brianna rodriguez One more thing to consider - if your father is still working and plans to stop making retirement withdrawals once the debt is fully paid off, make sure to emphasize the temporary nature of this situation in your appeal. Even though it s'happened multiple years, if there s'a clear endpoint like (debt "will be fully paid by X date ,")that strengthens your case that this isn t'permanent income but rather a specific debt elimination strategy. You might also want to calculate and present what your family s'normal "income" would be without these withdrawals to show the financial aid office what your typical eligibility should look like. Some schools are more willing to work with families when they can see a clear timeline for when the unusual financial circumstances will end.
Join the conversation
Quick update to my earlier advice - check if Twin A's SAI calculation has been processed yet. If it has, the correction option should be available now. If it's been more than 5 business days with no calculation, that's when you should definitely call FSA directly, as there might be additional verification flags on the account due to the SSN discrepancy.
It's been 7 business days now and still showing as processing. I'll try calling tomorrow morning. Thank you for checking back in!
Did you ever get this fixed?? I'm dealing with something similar now and pulling my hair out!
Yes! Finally resolved it yesterday. I used the Claimyr service someone mentioned above to get through to FSA without the 2+ hour wait. The agent put notes on both accounts and manually cleared the SSN flag. Twin A's application is now being reprocessed with the correct info, and Twin B was able to create her account today. The agent said to expect another 5-7 days for both to fully process, but at least we're moving forward now!
StarStrider
I'm so glad you were able to get through to someone at FSA and get confirmation about what happened! This gives me hope that they're actually tracking these issues and working to fix them. I'm in a similar situation - completed my FAFSA in early November and just found out last week that my school never received it. Like you, all my information was still saved but it showed as incomplete. I'm planning to call FSA tomorrow armed with this information about the backup systems. Did they give you any timeline for when they might restore the original submissions, or should we all just proceed with our resubmissions as the primary application?
0 coins
Amina Diop
•I'm dealing with this same exact issue! Submitted in October, found out this month my school never got it. When I called FSA yesterday, the rep told me they don't have a specific timeline for restoring the backup submissions - she said it could be weeks or months. Her advice was definitely to proceed with the resubmission as the primary application and keep that confirmation number safe. She also mentioned that they're prioritizing getting current submissions processed properly rather than going back to fix the old ones. So frustrating that we have to go through all this uncertainty, but at least we know we're not alone in this mess!
0 coins
Malik Thomas
Wow, reading through all of this makes me feel so much better knowing I'm not going crazy! I submitted my daughter's FAFSA in late October and just discovered yesterday that her college has no record of it. When I logged back into the portal, everything was there but marked as "in progress" instead of submitted. It's such a relief to see that FSA is acknowledging this as a known issue and that they're supposedly working to restore applications from backups. I'm definitely going to follow everyone's advice here - taking screenshots of my new confirmation, calling the financial aid offices directly, and documenting everything. Has anyone heard if there's a master list somewhere of all the schools that are being flexible with deadlines this year? It would be helpful to know which colleges are actually accommodating these technical issues versus just saying "too bad, you missed the deadline.
0 coins