How to check your NSFAS status

Your NSFAS status shows where your application is and whether NSFAS needs anything from you. Only you can check it, on myNSFAS or in the official NSFAS app. Nobody needs to check it for you, and nobody can speed it up for a fee.

How to check your status

1. Open myNSFAS or the NSFAS app. Check that the address is my.nsfas.org.za before you type anything.
2. Log in. Your ID number is your username.
3. Open the application tracker.
4. Read the status and any message or request below it.
5. Keep your application reference number somewhere safe.

What the statuses mean

NSFAS’s application page explains the main stages like this. The wording in your own account can be slightly different, so always read the message that comes with your status.

When NSFAS asks for documents

You have 30 days from the date NSFAS notifies you to answer a request for more information. NSFAS has warned that applications still incomplete after that aren’t processed further and are treated as unsuccessful.

Every applicant needs the signed NSFAS consent form. Other forms depend on your situation, and myNSFAS lists only the documents that apply to you. Upload only what it asks for.

Upload a document that passes the first time

NSFAS gives these rules for its forms and copies:

• Print the form, fill it in by hand in capital letters with black ink, and sign it. Electronic or pasted signatures are rejected.
• Don’t use correction fluid. Everyone who signed must initial a correction.
• Photograph or scan the whole page, in good light, with every corner showing.
• Upload a form with more than one page as one file, and a medical report together with the disability annexure.
• Use PDF or JPEG files of up to 20 MB each.
• Upload each document in its own slot on myNSFAS, then check that the status of that document changes before you leave the page.

NSFAS says the most common reasons a document is sent back are a cut-off corner, a blurry or dark photo, a missing signature, pencil or coloured ink, an old version of a form, one page missing, and names or ID numbers that don’t match the ID document.

When your details don’t match Home Affairs

NSFAS checks your name, surname and ID number against the Home Affairs database. If the parents or guardians you declared don’t match Home Affairs records and you are 34 or younger, myNSFAS may ask for the NSFAS declaration form, and copies of their IDs if their details differ.

If you can’t log in or need help

Contact NSFAS on 0800 067 327 or by email at info@nsfas.org.za. Never share your myNSFAS password or a one-time PIN, even with someone helping you.

Stay safe

• Checking your status is free. Don’t pay anyone to check, upload a form or “release” your funding.
• Use only myNSFAS and the official NSFAS app. NSFAS warns about fake social media accounts.
• Log out of myNSFAS after every session, especially on a shared phone or computer.
• Report fraud to NSFAS at speakup@nsfas.org.za.