Student Loans: UK to USA

[britgirl87 0]

Hi all!

I was just wondering, does anybody here still owe for UK student loans as they move to the USA? And if so how are you planning to deal with that/do you have any insight to share?

I am a recent graduate and this is one thing that seems hard to prepare for as I plan the move! The guidelines are very brief on the websites and it's a bit nerve-wracking contacting the government about this, in case I say something wrong and they start stalking me before my time!!

Thanks!

[wellywench 0]

Lol! I just posted a question about SLC too! There's a form on their website called Overseas Income Assessment which asks about your income and you can change your address on there too. The threshold from USA is the equivalent of £15,000 so as long as you earn under that then you don't need to repay.

Hope that helps!

[Mal and Meg 12]

Phone them up and just explain your moving to the US and you wont have a job for a while and they will defer it for you and then they will just tell you once you get a job to contact them and arrange how you will play it. They suggest once or twice a year payments! they will send you a form to fill out also!

[britgirl87 0]

Haha what a coincidence!

Ok - my one worry about the online form for those of us moving abroad, was that it asks about a third party beneficiary whilst I'm unemployed? Could they possibly claim off of my future spouse if I remain unemployed for some time, do you think?

[Mal and Meg 12]

i cant remember the form but i just said that i was taking savings with me showing my travelex receipts!your student loans are your responsibility and no one elses

[JoannaV 173]

No they can't claim from your spouse. Personally, I checked the "other" box and wrote housewife. That seemed fine. I didn't think the unemployed/in receipt of third party support applied exactly, because my spouse is not some random third party, you know? His money IS my money. But don't worry, they won't get you to repay unless YOU are earning money. The whole point of a degree is to increase your earning power anyway, so makes sense they don't make you pay unless you are actually benefiting from your degree.

You will need to include a letter from your fiance/spouse saying they support you. Personally I like this option better than trying to show my savings or something, for one thing it gives them less information about me and my finances :-)

I would definitely make sure you change your address with them in every way possible. They were still sending mail to my parents' house after I had changed my address.

[jingo 38]

Maybe the planets are aligned for financial worry season because this has been on my mind all day...

I am also a recent graduate and am wondering about the student loan repayments. Mine are yet to begin.

Does anybody know if its a better idea to actively try and get a job that will pay just under the GBP 15,000 annual rate while adjusting to a new country? Once I move I plan to wait around for my fiance to finish uni before we move to a bigger city for work so I think it'll be a while until I have a settled enough job to start repayments.

Is it true they'd be fine with once/twice a year repayments?? Are they generally quite understanding with this kind of thing?

[ZedbraGuy 6]

The student loan repayment rate for the USA is lower than in the UK, because of the lower cost of living. As far as I know (I'll know better next week when I sort this out) you fill out a form which says what you'll be earning and they tell you what payments you need to make.

[Mal and Meg 12]

Its once your earning 12000 pounds/$18500 (based on todays rate roughly) you start repaying and its a much higher amount also

[jingo 38]

Its 15,000 GBP

[Mal and Meg 12]

its 15000 uk pounds if you live in the uk!they deem the cost of living to be less in the us

[Mal and Meg 12]

sorry i stand corrected the amount has changed to 15000 so roughly $23500 then you pay 9% of the amount over this!Im quit pleased as when i contacted them in January they told me it was the equivalent of 12000/$18500

[jingo 38]

There is a link here: http://www.studentloanrepayment.co.uk/portal/page?_pageid=93,3867143&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL# which states the amount threshold for every country.

For USA its still the equivalent to 15,000 pounds so I guess they figure the cost of living is the same.