Hi Guys

So our application is moving forward now and I'm starting to think about closing some doors here in the UK and getting myself ready for the move. I have literally in the last few weeks finished University and have a huge student loan that I'm not going to be able to pay off before I move. I've not informed the Student Loans Company that I'm going yet, I don't intend to until I have the visa in hand and some set dates. I believe from looking at the website that you are pretty much in control of and responsible for sending them repayments.

I was just wondering how people have found repaying their student loans from the US? What kind of complications they have had if any? How alert the SLC are? etc ... etc ...

I hope this finds everyone well. Thanx.

Bex xxx

Glad you asked - I have to sort out the exact same thing

me too. Its my understanding that they work out a new means test based on new circumstances like the cost of living and exchange rate blah blah blah and then tell you how much they recon you should pay at what annual sum. but i cant remember where I got that from ( it was either a book or form sent through ages ago or maybe an old phone call with one of their peeps) I'm gunna contact them to sent information about how it works well before. noa2 just so i can plan.

I keep saying I am going to sort it out but tbh I am not paying it back right now because I don't earn enough and I will have time over there to research it - I just honestly haven't had the time with the move to look at yet another piece of bureaucratic BS!!! But will check it all out soon unless my lazy @$$ gets lucky and someone comes up trumps with some hot answers

I rang the SLC this week to let them know in advance that I was moving. She seemed to be under the impression that I would need to start paying back my loan once I'd passed an earnings threshold of £12,000, when in the US. This caused me to raise an eyebrow because I'm on the pre-1998 loan which, at present, requires me to be earning above £25,000 before I need to start payments. I'm hoping she was referring to the conditions of the post 1998 loan, which I think folk need to start paying back through their wage packet after £15,000?

Anyway, the upshot is, I need to fill out a form and mail it to them AFTER I've moved to the US, at which point they'll talk about repayments or deferment I guess.

Here's the pre-1998 page I was told to visit, which has the forms:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/EducationAndLe...e1998/DG_066238


Thankfully, I'm deferred to November, so have a bit of time to sort this after I move.


Stu

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/EducationAndLe...998/DG_10034872

post 1998 forms and instructions. sounds like you have to start the ball rolling before you leave for the USA.

EEP!!! Guess what I'm doing today then!!

that said though I downloaded the forms and instructions and they are a pile of @#* as per usual. instructions say nuthing but the arrows and ilustraitions and looking at the forms it looks like you need to know where you will be working already

I hate the slc sometimes. oh and 12 k is acurrate for the usa they have a list on the website as a guide

Yeah I saw that - I am going to phone them on Monday to find out what they want exactly and will post the results here.

Unless they tell me otherwise, I am going to say that I am not working and will provide Jeremy's I-134 as evidence of how I am going to support myself - I mean if it is good enough for the US government then...

0870 240 6298
repayments helpline

i called the wrong number this is apparently what im suposed to call.

he also mentioned i may have to get a defferment but i see on the site that post 1998 cant get a defferment. ugg stupid slc. plus the forms i downloaded are not the only forms i think they might send me something to fill in before i go.

just called that one directly after i get off the phone from other an they are closed

Stupid - I don't get it at all - I am sure that between us we can figure something out!!!

oh I am sure we will. the guy had a strong scotch accent and coupled with the phone i did struggle a little to undersytand what he was saying but i got that i need to up date my address contacts and that i might need to deffer even though i saw it state on web we couldnt do this ugg. oh well monday morn i'll have to cue up again. crap i cant find any statememnts from them either!

does anyone know if they take a husbands income into account with repayments like they do when they work out how much to loan you or is it just your expense? i hope it is just mine

I hope so too - I mean... oh the whole thing is stupid - why should he pay for something he had nothing to do with?! I am pretty certain it is personal income but... tbh as he isn't a UKC I don't see why they would even need to know his income or have any access to that info...

I'll call Monday too so maybe we can figure it all out!!! What a nightmare... more paperwork and BS!!

by the end of all this , if i never see another form or have to make another phone call it will be too soon. I cant belive its 12 k threshold I know on average americas cheaper than uk but most of the places i seen in cali (which ok isnt much but hey) certain aspects of living is equally expensive if not more. i.e. housing.

oh god i just worked out what 9 % of 12 k was i hope i got that wrong please tell me i got that wrong

It's like £100 a month or thereabouts ><

Ok - here is what I found out. I called completely the wrong number - the correct one is, as you mention above, 0870 240 6298 but the guy I spoke to was really helpful so I didn't have to call it anyway - he had a nice Yorkshire accent

Basically all we have to do is get a signed letter from our partners (USC) saying that on entering the USA they will be supporting us as we are unable to work until such a time that the US government allows us. On the form, we need to put our current UK address, along with the information that we are not working and have no income - sign, date, ad ART ID etc etc... On the second page, we need to put our new US address in the change of address form,

Once we are over there and get our EAD, then we need to contact them with another form stating our earnings etc so they can reassess.

In the meantime though, I was also informed that I can write a letter (UKC) to the SLC requesting that I have a nominee to speak on my behalf in this country. For that, I need to write a letter, sign and date it, and include the full name, date of birth, relationship to me, full address and a password for my nominee and then they can contact the SLC for me.

Hope this helps anyone anyway I didn't find anything out about deferment but I don't think that is possible - I think it is just deferred for as long as you aren't earning the required amount Which for the USA is, as above, £12k a year ><

I don't suppose anyone else has a pre-1998 loan they're taking with them? I'm pretty sure I need to fill out forms once I'm in the US and not before (and subject to a different deferment cut-off, by the sounds of it), but safety in numbers and all that.


Stu

No I don't Sorry - but it is worth calling them - I found them really helpful

I almost had kittens when I worked that out as reading the SLC website I assumed the same amount of repayment......though I realised that I interpreted it wrongly. On the website the actual wording is "So, you will repay 9% of your earnings over the repayment threshold." That means it works the exact same way as it does for those who are in the UK..... therefore if you earn the equvialent of £13,000 in dollars in the US, you only pay back 9% of the £1000. Currently in the UK Im a teacher and Im earning £20,000, but I only pay back 9% on £5000 (thats how much I am above the threshold of £15,000- I didnt realise the calculation until a workmate pointed it out today to me). Hope that makes sense......so you only pay back a percent of your earnings ABOVE the minimum earnings threshold, and not your total annual salary. I am now very much relieved

Oooh - yeah that sounds better although you'll prolly end up paying less back than the interest that gets put on!!! Stupid things ><

Heh I did yeah, they told me the stuff I posted earlier in the thread. I gotta be honest, it wasn't all that helpful


Stu

Ha ha. That is soooooo true. Ive resigned myself to the fact that Ill never pay off my student before I retire. That baby's going to be with me forever

It will only go with you for 25 years and then dissapears into thin air!! I was teaching my neice spells yesterday ... she wants to be a fairy... and we worked long and hard on making my student loan disappear. As far as I know its still there, growing at silly speed. I'm still putting off calling SLC, I work for a government linked organisation and the left hand never knows what the right hand is doing. I don't imagine I will get the same information out of anyone twice anway. If they can make it up as they go along I don't see why I can't too. My new plan is to pay back what I can when I can (preferably when the exchange rates are in my favour) and if they don't like it then they can come and find me.