Hi Everyone!
Hope you're all doing well and I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I have finally made the move to Europe and have contacted the US Dept. of Education to inquire about the IBR repayment program. On the financial side of things it looks as if it good go well for me, however, they refuse to give me a bank account here in Europe where I can make the payments too. Unfortunately - this is going to be a big problem! To wire transfer 100 USD's to a bank in the US costs about 60 EUROS - meaning my monthly payment will be double what it should be - just because I have to transfer the funds to a bank account in the US!
Any thoughts about this or does anyone know if this is true - the US Dept. of Education does not even have a bank account here in Europe??
Best regards,
Probabilities
I did NOT expect the US Dept of Education to be THIS backwards. I wrote them explaining that I am living and working in Europe and do not intend on returning to the United States and asked them how I can start repaying my student loans from here (I'm no longer an American Citizen - its a family thing, no relation to the loans).
I was given the following response - 10 times in total, no matter how often I wrote and explained it to them.
"The following options are available to you in order to make payments.
You can mail out a payment by check or money order to:
U.S Dept of Education
P.O. BOX 530260
Atlanta, GA 30353-0260
•There is no such thing as "checks" in the country I live in - there are no money orders either! These two things do not exist here - I spoke with 4 different banks!
To make your payment electronically, follow these simple instructions:
1. Visit our web site at www.dl.ed.gov
2. Choose the "Make an Online Payment" link on our Homepage. Please follow the detailed instructions.
Please note that we will accept payments from a checking or savings account drawn OFF A US BANK AND IN US FUNDS. We do not accept debit or credit card payments at this time.
•I do not have a US bank account and therefore I cannot pay you from one
You may also make payments through Western Union Quick Collect with a credit card.
When making your payment via Western Union, please follow these guidelines:
1. Please use the blue form.
2. On the "Pay To" line, please write U.S. Department of Education.
3. For the "Code City", please enter DLSCCOLL.
4. On the line for the "State", please use XX.
5. For the "Sender's Account Number", you will need to provide your Social Security Number.
6. You must then contact our Loan Counseling Department at 315-738-6652. This department needs to track the payment
•I called Western Union - this service is not available in the Country I live in!
what is going on with these guys? Seems they want to do everything possible to PREVENT me from paying my student loans back! Does ANYONE have any suggestions out there??! And yes - before you even ask - I did call them, 10 times. I couldn't even get through.