Going overseas for 6 months or more (184 or more consecutive days)
What you need to know
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Find out more... |
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You may be entitled to a repayment holiday for up to three years.
This depends on how long you have been away and whether you are up to date with your repayments.
You're not eligible for an interest free student loan
As you'll be away for 184 or more consecutive days (about 6 months) interest will be applied to your account from the day after you leave, and won't be written off.
However, you may be eligible for an exemption. |
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You can make repayments from overseas
If you have a student loan repayment due while you're overseas, you can pay it before you leave or make a repayment from overseas. |
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If you earn money while overseas
If you are an overseas based borrower, your student loan won't be affected by any income you earn overseas. |
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If you're the recipient of a bonded scholarship
Contact StudyLink on 0800 88 99 00 to check whether your scholarship bonding period will be affected. |
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What you need to do before you go
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Tell me how... |
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Register for an Online Services account
Stay in touch with us and your account while you're away.
To register, all you need is your IRD number and current postal address. Once you've registered we'll send you your password and confirmation of your user ID within 7 to 10 working days. |
Register online for the:
- Look at Account Information service, and
- Send and Receive Mail service.
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Tell us you're going overseas and give us a contact address
We'll forward your notices and statements to your New Zealand or overseas contact address. |
- Send us an email through the Send and Receive Mail service you registered for in step 1, or
- call us on 0800 377 778
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Nominate a person to act on your behalf
This is useful if you won't have a fixed address. The nominated person will be able to:
- check your loan balance
- enquire about interest charges
- make payments or queries on your behalf.
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- Complete the Nominate (elect) someone to act on your behalf (IR597) form, or
- Call us on:
- 0800 377 778 (NZ)
- 64 4 978 0761 (overseas)
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What happens next
- You need to tell us when you return to New Zealand or if you're going to stay overseas for a longer amount of time.
- If you usually file an Individual tax return (IR3), for example, if you're self-employed, earn rental income or earn income while overseas, you still need to file your IR3 after the end of the tax year (31 March), even if you're away during that time. The return must be filed by 7 July.
Next steps
Date published: 18 Apr 2007
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