If you are a US Citizen, Legal Permanent Resident, refugee or have asylee status, you are eligible to apply for federal and state financial aid. This is true even if your parents are undocumented. However, having undocumented parents means that you have to file the FAFSA and TAP applications a little bit differently. You must still file both forms online. But, remember the following as you file these two essential financial aid forms:
FAFSA
- Enter all zeros (000-00-0000) on the FAFSA for your parents’ social security numbers
-If your parents file tax returns each year by using taxpayer ID numbers (ITIN), you can report their income information from their 1040 form like any other student. ITIN always start with 9 and are formatted like a SSN.
-You will not be able to use the IRS Data Retrieval tool to verify your parents’ income. You will instead need to supply your college financial aid offices with a tax transcript for verification of family income:
https://www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript
-If your parents work but did not file a return, report their income in the questions regarding their wages, and not as Adjusted Gross Income. However, if your parents work but do not file tax returns, it will be extremely difficult for you to satisfy colleges’ requests to verify your family income. This could delay and even completely block the aid process. If at all possible, your parents should start filing a return. Parents can file a W7 to get a tax payer ID number (ITIN).
-Only you can obtain an FSA ID, not your parents. When submitting your FAFSA, enter your FSA ID and select “agree” for your parents, but leave the FSA ID spaces blank. Select the “print a signature page” option for your parents. Have a parent sign it and then submit it by mail.
TAP
-On the TAP application enter either your parents ITIN numbers for their social security numbers, or, you may also choose to leave them blank and indicate on the drop -down box that your parent/parents do not have a SSN.
-Several weeks after you file your online TAP application, HESC may send you an email with a form where the parents will provide their address, indicate that they do not have a SSN and provide a signature. If so, the student must return the form to HESC for processing. This can be uploaded to the HESC site.
Contact your assigned college counselor if you need assistance or have questions!
