So now that student loan repayments have started up again, I was looking into and am very interested in the new SAVE payment program.
Because I’m on an ALT salary and the yen is so weak, I think I would qualify to pay $0 a month. Normally I would be afraid of interest accruing, but the plan seems to promise that won’t be an issue, (although I noticed the websites a little vague on the finer details of how that works).
I’m just curious how other expats have been getting on trying to apply for the new program. If there are any specific pitfalls to be aware of or weird interactions or extra documentation I might need or stuff that we actually don’t qualify for, etc., really anything different in the process for people living abroad. I know that there’s often a lot of small things are are slightly different or difficult for us that aren’t apparent right away for these sorts of things.
So yeah, have you guys found it easy to sign up? Was there any weirdness with being an expat? Does the $0 a month, no interest accruing really too good to be true? What’s your outlook/impressions of where this line of legislation is going in the near-mid future? Any experiences or ideas you can share will be much appreciated. Thanks in advanced!!
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Have you filed taxes yet for the last year? If so, than your adjusted gross income should be $0 with the foreign earned income exclusion. Because you have an income of $0, your payment is also $0. The application is straightforward.
Yes. I’m also on a low ALT salary so I applied and was approved within a week. $0 until 12/24. It was fairly easy because when I was doing the form, I agreed to them/gave them permission to access my taxes/financial info I have submitted to the IRS. If you agree to that, you don’t need to provide anything else. If you disagree, then you have to provide documents to prove your low income. I believe you can apply for it every year so it’s nice not having to worry about it for a whole year.
What is this thing? I just arrived japan 04/2023 as a student “university” can I take a loan or is this for people who have been in japan for some time? How can I search this?
I applied and got immediate approval.
I was automatically moved to it from the PAYE plan. Yes, the payment is $0, and the interest is also $0 because the payment is $0.
I applied via Nelnet back in August and they’ve been “processing” my application since then. It’s infuriating and honestly seems like they’re intentionally not processing so my interest keeps going up.
Me and my wife applied. I got approved within a week or so, my wife’s got approved in about 2.
Yes, I applied using the US government site and was approved within a week or two. The auto-pull of IRS data didn’t work, so I had to input the information manually.
This is my first year as an ALT, so my previous return doesn’t reflect my new, much lower, salary, so I had to do a self-certification statement. I did submit mine late so I’ve only been waiting two weeks for it, still processing.