adele

If you have a student loan through the Student Loans Company (the government's special scheme for students) then surely this doesn't count against the proof of funds? (I was under the old scheme as I was at Uni 2000 - 2003)

Say you have a £10,000 student loan from them, and savings of £6000 (above the $10,168 minimum requirement) then would the CHC reject you?

I know it's a debt but loans from the SLC are different to an ordinary bank loan as you only repay them based on what you earn - an 'income contingent' loan.

http://www.studentfinancedirect.co.u..._schema=PORTAL

Whilst working in the UK this is deducted from your pay once over a certain threshold at a certain %. When you move overseas you notify the SLC and arrange make the appropriate amount of repayments based on what you earn. But if you have no job or a low income then you wouldn't be making repayments.

With the above figures (all documented and explained) would the CHC be likely to reject despite the type of loan it is?

andrewrb143

Do you even have to tell CHC you have a student loan?

Zoe Bell

I had student loans when we applied. It was never questioned, I don't believe it was taken into account at all. The direct debit to them was clearly listed on the bank statements we had to provide for the application. Mine were old style ones (1994-1999) where by they took a set amount by direct debit each month. I really don't think they were concerned at all

adele

I admit I did think about that, but would it not be deliberately withholding information? It's not a 'normal' loan so I hope that they would see that it wasn't 'encumbering' my savings...

I think I need to be honest, I'll send in a copy of my latest loan statement and printouts from the internet showing the terms and the facts that it's income contingent etc.

Does anyone under the 1999 - 2006 loan type have any experience of this?

Thanks everyone :-)

andrewrb143

I know a few people who have come to Canada and just forgotten about their student loan. Never had any problems or questions and not declared it at any point, (not me of course, i came on spousal sponsorship with only a clean set of clothes and a half eaten yam to my name).

I've never seen a proof of funds form. Does it have a section to list debts/loans etc??

adele

Those of you who have been sending in proof of funds updates in response to 90day letters - have you been enclosing the proof of financial worth statement form? It doesn't actually ask for or direct you to it on the 90 day letter, I only stumbled on it. Any thoughts? The exact wording on the 90 day letter is:

"Evidence of sufficient settlement funds: You must submit proof of savings property ownership documents along with a statement of the outstanding mortgage & official valuation as well as proof of any other assets. Proof of funds must include debts or other financial obligations. Clearly state the exact amount in Canadian dollars"

(I think they couldn't find the comma on the keyboard )

For the exchange rate I assume you just look on the Travelex website for the rate on the day you do it, hard to be any more exact than that when you're dealing with different currencies surely!

MarkG

I didn't, I just sent in bank statements. Of course I didn't have any debts beyond a few hundred pounds on my credit cards, so it wasn't a big deal either way.

I often wondered whether or not you were supposed to include information about debts; I would have done if there'd been a lot to pay off. Either way, they never asked and I could have told them anything when I landed because they never asked for any proof there either (but presumably compared the number to what I had at the 90 day update stage).

Zoe Bell

we sent in a copy of our savings account statement. A copy of our mortgage statement and an estate agents valuation of our property. WE didn't mention other debts, we paid them off with proceeds of house and still had way more than the minimum required funds. I really wouldn't even mention debts.

adele

I won't be able to do that though - I have moved all the money I have into my current account, it's around £6500, hovers obviously with pay/expenditure, but I don't own any property or a car so have no capital to pay the student loan off with.

MarkG

As you say, student loans are handled differently so I wouldn't imagine it would be a problem; are they even officially considered 'debts', since you don't have to pay if you're not working?

adele

I'm only paying back about £2 a week of it at the moment, so it's not really encumbering me too much anyway ;-)

Hopefully if I provide relevant info and supporting docs to that effect then they'll see that and my proof of funds will be sufficient. Fingers crossed! Thanks for all your thoughts :-)

MarkG

Maybe see if you can get a letter from the SLC people to say you don't have to pay it off before leaving England, unlike other debts; but I'm sure they've had plenty of people applying to emigrate who do have these loans so should understand the requirements.

adele

On the website it says that if you are moving abroad you just need to notify them so that they can calculate & make arrangements to collect the repayments from you via bank transfer or other method rather than PAYE as in the UK. So I'll send printouts of the relevant webpages explaining that it's an income contingent loan and that it can be repaid if you move abroad.

Surrey Expat

A loan is a loan, it is a debt unless it is canceled by the lender. Net worth is assets (what you have) - liabilities (what you owe) £6000 asset - £10000 debt =-£4000 net worth. From what you say, if you work you repay, that reduces the debt as well as disposable funds to you. How much you repay £2 or £200 only counts to reducing principal and interest, the value of the liability is what is owing at the date of declaration.

Be clear in what you need to do, not supplying all the relevant information or falsifying information can result in an invalid visa. From what I hear, people have had PR & citizenship revoked by giving false or misleading information when applying for immigration. However it is deemed in the UK, get it in writing, CIC may not interpret it the same way. It could be worth seeking a professional opinion.

It may well depend on what repayment agreement you have for your loan when moving overseas, also, if you have a job offer and an income on landing, this should help service the debt as well as support yourself.

I always feel it is unwise to walk away from commitments, you never know when it will come back and bite you.

adele

It's not walking away from the debt, not at all. Like I said in an earlier post it is all clearly laid out on their website (copies of which I will send in to CHC) - if you move abroad you notify the SLC and arrangements are made for you to repay from abroad (as opposed to in the UK when it's PAYE through payslip). The equivalent threshold is the same for those living in Canada and the repayment is 9% of income above that threshold. It's perfectly legitimate, I'm not trying to run away from the debt, I'm just hoping that CHC won't count it against me for the purpose of proof of funds as it IS different to other types of loans because it's 'income contingent'. I don't have any credit card debt, personal or bank loans or a mortgage.

There are many people who have these government student loans through the SLC who will never repay the full amount because they won't earn enough. In that case the debt is written off upon retirement at 65. That's the system, it's not about running away from anything.