I’ve tried doing research but it hasn’t helped, so I guess I’ll post here. My mother is an illegal immigrant, so she doesn’t have a SSN. However, she does file taxes (the 1040A form, to be exact) using her ITIN. Some sources say to indicate it on the FAFSA and fill in zeroes for the SSN section, while others say to just mark it as Foreign Tax Return. However, this is not a foreign tax form she’s filling out every year, but no one ever says WHERE I should indicate her ITIN on the FAFSA. And it won’t let me continue unless I either mark it as a foreign tax return or I enter a SSN, but neither applies in my case (or my mom’s case). What do I do?
You cannot put her ITIN on the FAFSA. You need to enter 000-00-0000 where it asks for a SSN for your mother. Then you put her income on the appropriate lines.
Your mother cannot use the online instructions to get a PIN to sign the FAFSA. She needs to print out the paper form for that, complete the form, sign it, and mail it in. She will get her PIN in the mail shortly.
You also have the option of completing the FAFSA on paper with both of your signatures instead of filing electronically. That might work better for you. https://fafsa.ed.gov/options.htm