<p>I filed my first FAFSA about two weeks ago and it stated that they could not confirm my us citizenship and that my mom's records do not match up. My mom went to the SSA and resolved the issue with them. She had a name change her SS and apparently the SSA did not know this? She showed them my passport and they said everythign was fine. My parents got their tax returns forms back for this year so i went to FAFSA and updated it with the new numbers and thought that the citizenship issue would be cleared up. Apparently it did not and my SAR still states that the SSA cannot confirm I am a citizen. I called FAFSA customer service and the rep basically told me that she cannot do anything and that I would have to show my passport to every school. Is this the only solution? How is there no communication between the two agencies!</p>
<p>I just dealt with this the other day–the student did not know if she was a permanent resident (with a “A” number) or a citizen (which the FAFSA and SSA computers can confirm). Yes, I believe you will need to show a copy of your passport to each school–they will ask you for it, or whatever they want as proof. I think your SAR will have the EFC something like 0*C (the little star is only if you are selected for verification, and the “C” is for proof of citizenship. That’s what hers looked like. Only the schools that accept you will be working on financial aid packages, and only those schools will need that proof. But if you have a bunch of schools with 31 March reply dates—best to just send off a copy to all of them, I think. You don’t want it delayed and the money is no longer in the pot for you. They have practically all other information on you anyway!</p>
<p>There is not really communication between the agencies as far as I have ever known–their computers have their data, and they spit out decisions on the data they have.</p>
<p>First, your mom’s issue … many women forget to change their name with the Social Security Agency. Changing it at work & on your driver’s license won’t change it with SSA. Take if from me … I found out after 17 years of marriage that I had neglected to inform the SSA of the change! It was easy to fix, as your mom found out.</p>
<p>As for YOUR citizenship, you were told by SSA that all is well? Did they JUST update their database? It might take some time to for the update to process & link up. What you need to do in meantime is get a copy of your passport to the schools, as radiimom said. That is a necessity … without it, there is a flag on your file & aid cannot be awarded. We won’t even offer the aid until the flag is resolved (meaning, the student has to provide the necessary documentation first).</p>
<p>When your FAFSA is processed, it goes through a series of checks with government databases (Homeland Security, Social Security Administration, Selective Service, National Student Loan Data Service). These databases simply check the information the student provides against a database … they don’t provide any resolution.</p>
<p>I did scan my passport and send a copy today but my FAFSA was processed and EFC was spit out it just says that the SSA couldnt confrim it. There is no *C. Hopefully a copy will be enough for my schools cause it would be a drag to visit everyone with my passport. THanks for the help! Just a little frustrated.</p>
<p>We have lots of students with your issue where I work. Due to the way our financial aid software is set up, every single time a change is made to their FAFSA by them or by us, the flag pops up & backs off all their grants. The info has to be reviewed & the flag removed each time. I always warn students about this so that if their grants back off, they can call & let us know … otherwise, they’ll owe a balance until the next time we monitor citizenship flag reports.</p>