Changes to your loan while you’re overseas
Your student loan obligations change when you’re away from New Zealand for more than 6 months.
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Interest will be added to your loan.
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We recommend you make small regular payments (weekly, fortnightly or monthly) to help stay on track.
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You will need to manage your own repayments.
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Repayment amounts will be based on your loan balance, not what you earn.
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Repayments will be due 31 March and 30 September each year.
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Late payment interest will be applied if you miss one of your repayments.
If you travel overseas often
If you travel overseas often, and are away for more than 5 months in a 6-month period, you may still be classed as ‘overseas-based’.
Use the ‘Calculate your interest status calculator’ in myIR to check if or when your student loan status will change.
Before you leave
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Make sure you understand how much you need to pay each year.
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Register for myIR so you can keep track of your loan.
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Apply for a Temporary repayment suspension (TRS). Interest will still be added while you are on a TRS.
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Set up a nominated person who can contact us on your behalf.
Register for a personal myIR account
While you’re away
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Use myIR to stay on top of your payments. We recommend you set up regular weekly or monthly payments, as this makes it easier to stay on track.
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Make payments from overseas by credit card or debit card, setting up a direct debit in myIR or money transfer.
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Use the ‘student loan repayment calculator’ to see how fast you can pay off your loan.
If you need help
- If you find yourself in a difficult situation and are unable to make your student loan payments, we have a number of options available to help make things easier.
- Send us a message in myIR and we’ll get back to you with the next steps.
- See below for other ways to contact us from overseas.