I’m a foreign student. Have been living in California for 3 years. I don’t have a SSN, and cannot apply for FAFSA without it. I applied for my SSN 8 months ago, and I’m waiting for it still. I was accepted to 4 schools in California, but I can’t get any financial aid without FAFSA. I have an ITIN, but unfortunately, it doesn’t help for FAFSA. What should I do?
Are you waiting for a status change? It doesn’t take 8 months to get a SSN, but it can take that and longer to get a status change.
Until you have the right status, you can’t file an FAFSA. There is nothing you can do but wait.
Thank you, I’ll check.
What visa status do you have? Why do you think you would get FFA? Are you at university now? What have you been doing in the last 3 yrs? When did you graduate from HS? When does your real visa expire?
I am a senior in high school, for the past 3 years, I’ve been at high school. My visa expired, but I have a permission to stay in the US.
I am waiting for a work permit which would allow me to get a SSN.
I’m waiting on a work permit which should give me a SSN. And for some reason, it’s taking an enormous amount of time.
A work permit doesn’t automatically make you qualified as a FAFSA applicant. Will you get a green card?
It is pending. And a work permit would definitely give me a Social Security Number which is necessary for FAFSA
Can’t you file our “dreamer” version in California that doesn’t require social security number?
Yes, a SSN is necessary to file the FAFSA, but having a SSN doesn’t automatically make you eligible for federal funds.If you are getting a green card you will become eligible.
@CopperlineX2, the OP might be eligible for state aid in California, but not federal aid.
You aren’t listening. Getting a SS number and a work permit…are NOT the same as getting permanent residence green card status. You need THAT to be eligible to get U.S. federally funded aid…and file a FAFSA.
Yes, as above, your assumptions about FFA are just that, assumptions. You should speak with your GC at your high school to see what options might be available in your state as federal isn’t going to help…
Your visa expired and you are now here illegally, or do you have advanced parole? What visa were you on and what are you applying for, do you know where you are in that procress (you are a minor so you are a dependent right?)
If you are under a parent applying for PR from their work visa, I am not sure dreamer status is going to help. Be prepared that there may well be no aid until you have PR. Just having a SSN means very little.
What visa is your working parent here on?
Alisa.
You need a GREEN CARD or citizenship AND a SSN in order to file FAFSA. Just getting the SSN will not be enough.
You likely will need to choose a school and request that you delay enrollment for a year, so that you’ll have a green card in time to file FAFSA and get aid.
Well, on FAFSA website it says that I should be either a citizen or eligible non-citizen to be eligible for FAFSA. And I am an eligible non-citizen since I am a permanent resident and have an Alien number. So I will be eligible for FAFSA as soon as I have a Social Security number. I was on L2 which means I am dependent on a worker, and I am here legally because I’m currently in the process of changing status (acquiring Green card).
No, I’m not eligible for that.
Well, on FAFSA website it says that I should be either a citizen or eligible non-citizen to be eligible for FAFSA. And I am an eligible non-citizen since I am a permanent resident and have an Alien number. So I will be eligible for FAFSA as soon as I have a Social Security number. I was on L2 which means I am dependent on a worker, and I am here legally because I’m currently in the process of changing status (acquiring Green card).
The SSN application does not take 8 months. It is your status change. There is nothing you can do until you complete the process. You can obtain our SSN shortly afterward. When you have your green card, you will be an eligible non-citizen.
You are not an eligible non-citizen. There is specific criteria for eligible non-citizens…and expired visa isn’t one of them. Pending application isn’t one of them.
You are simply someone who doesn’t yet have green card status, and you are waiting for it. Until you have THAT, I can’t see how you would be able to file a FAFSA.
@happymomof1 Do you know the criteria to be an eligible non-citizen? I thought it was for folks like political asylum, and things like that.
*Generally, you are an eligible noncitizen if you are one of the following:
•U.S. permanent resident, with a Permanent Resident Card (formerly known as an Alien Registration Receipt Card or "Green Card”)
•Conditional permanent resident (I-551C)
•Other eligible noncitizen with an Arrival-Departure Record (I-94) from the Department of Homeland Security showing any one of the following designations: “Refugee,” “Asylum Granted,” “Indefinite Parole,” “Humanitarian Parole,” or “Cuban-Haitian Entrant”
•A citizen of the Republic of Palau (PW), the Republic of the Marshall Islands (MH), or the Federated States of Micronesia (FM).
You can receive federal student aid if you are an eligible noncitizen. You must enter your eight or nine digit Alien Registration Number (ARN) on the FAFSA.*
https://fafsa.ed.gov/help/fotw15a.htm
@Alisa9818 which of the above categories describes your current situation that makes you FAFSA eligible?
Kids of parents on L1’s waiting on their green cards are common enough, it won’t be like you are a novel case. Ask your parents to log on to see the GC progress tracker. Have you done biometrics etc?