Loan Reviews

I am looking to immigrate to the UK from the US. What happens to my personal loans and finances?

I am looking to immigrate to the UK from the USA within the next year to pursue some career opportunities over there. I currently have a mountain of student loans, credit cards, car loans etc. here in the US. What happens when I make that move? Will I still be able to continue paying my loans here in the US without any problems? What potential financial issues might come up if I choose to make this career move?

Public Comments

1. Nothing will keep you from meeting your obligations. Foreign checks (or EFT payments) are easily cashed at any bank - it just takes longer to process given exchange rates, etc. You cannot leave your debts behind as if they do not exist, however. They'll find you.
2. Your career move will not erase your obligations.
3. Check which ones get written off after 7 years, I know someone in the UK who managed to get all their debt written off by going to Siberia for 7 years but Russian and East European immigration and visa control are much more relaxed than the UK. Unless you have blood ties here you would need to sneak in here on a tourist visa and over stay, you can work cash in hand and get away w. this for years but it isn't easy and you could be forced to leave at any time. If you get caught they do give you the chance to go peaceably before they deport you (unlike the US) if that's any help. Paying for anything (if that's what you really want to know) is never a problem from anywhere!
4. I'm in the process of immigrating to Canada and perhaps you will run into the same sorts of things I am. Keep your US bank account open because its so much easier to pay US bills with US banks. Also, it was slightly difficult to get a Canadian bank account here without being a permanent resident yet. Its a pain to have to wire transfer or mail deposits to the US account, but really easier for the bills. You can still use the ATM card overseas, but you get hit with ATM fees and international service fees which are 10% of each purchase, at least with Wachovia. Make sure all of your bills are on email notification and automatic billpay due to mail delays and the fact the US postal service does not offer international mail forwarding. You have to sign up with a private service which offers that, or have your mail sent to a relative willing to mail it all to you monthly. Also of note, even though Canada uses the same credit reporting agencies that the US does, such as Equifax and TransUnion, they don't have access to the US side of things so your credit is no good. I wasn't even allowed to co-sign a loan with my husband for our new car. Once my immigration is complete, I'll get a credit card and start rebuilding my credit all over again. On the subject of cars, I dont know about the UK but in parts of Canada they have mandatory provincial insurance like here in BC. They slap you with a base rate of $317 a month for car insurance. If you can prove you have at least 8 years of claim free coverage from your US company, they'll give you a 40% discount, so I was able to get mine down to $190, but do request that "Letter of Experience" and dont do anything stupid with tickets or accidents or you'll pay through the nose. I think that's about all the financial issues I can come up with from my own experiences. Last bit of advice is to request notarized copies of every piece of identification you have, and immigration status papers, then photocopy it and carry it with you everywhere.
5. I wish you well in your new career and new country the UK. There should be no problems in sending payments to your creditors by transferring them from bank to bank. There will be fees by choosing to do so this way. If you have a relative or someone you can truly trust to take care of this obligation then do so. If you will be sending your payments from the UK they will still need to be sent to another account in the States. You may possible find a bank in UK who will convert and send the payments directly to your creditors. I hope your career move will pay you well enough to settle those loans early as that interest can be enormous. Bon Voyage and have success. C.