F-1 Visa expired - Unable to repay private student loan. What to do?
I would contact your loan servicing company explain the situation and see if you can renegotiate terms. They may be able to drop the interest rate or lengthen the schedule to reduce the payment amount. I wouldn't default on the loan as that would likely hinder coming to/working in the US in the future. Not knowing your financial situation or country, could you attempt to obtain financing in your own country in order to pay off the US based loan? I would at least attempt to make some sort of payment while you attempt renegotiation, refinancing or pursue a job in the US, even if it technically puts or keeps you in default of the loan. Making any payment at least shows the willingness to pay back the loan, and you're not intentionally defaulting on your obligation. As an international student, the tuition is sky high. Typically, most students take loans for Education and start paying it back once they get a job. If you have exhausted your OPT period and have not got H1B, your options are either to go for further education(Hint: Phd), you can hope to cover living expense by part-time on campus job. This will give you additional time to look for a job and try for H1B again!
"This model would work fine under a couple of assumptions: that market interest rates never change, and that the borrower will surely make all the payments as agreed.  But neither of those assumptions are realistic. Suppose Alice loans $1,000,000 to Bob at 4% under the terms you describe.  Bob chooses to make interest-only payments of $40,000 per year. Some time later, prevailing interest rates go up to 10%.  Now Alice would really like Bob to repay the entire principal as quickly as possible, because that money could be earning her $100,000 per year instead of only $40,000, but under the contract she has no way to force Bob to do so.  And Bob has no incentive to repay any of the principal, because he can earn more interest on it than he has to pay to Alice.  So Alice is not going to be very happy about this. You might say, but at least Alice is only losing ""potential"" money; she's still turning a profit of $10,000 per year, since her bank only charges her 3% interest.  Ah, but you're assuming that Alice can get a bank loan with a rate of 3% fixed forever.  The bank doesn't want to make such a loan either, for exactly the same reasons. So in practice, any loan like this would be expected to have a variable interest rate. There's a flip side, too.  Suppose instead that market rates drop to 1%.  Now Alice would like Bob to repay the principal as slowly as possible, because she's earning 4% on that money, which is better than any other options available to her.  But Bob now has every incentive to repay it as fast as he can - or even to refinance by taking out another loan at, say, 2%, and using the proceeds to repay the entire principal to Alice.  (This risk still applies with most traditional loans, since the borrower usually always has the right to pay early, but some loans include a ""prepayment penalty"" in such cases to help compensate the lender.) Thus, when Bob has all the power to decide when to pay, Alice is sure to lose no matter which way interest rates move.  A loan with a fixed term helps insulate Alice against this risk.  She may be able to make a guess about the likelihood of interest rates going up to 10% in the next 15 or 30 years, and increase Bob's fixed rate to account for this; that's much easier than trying to account for the possibility of interest rates going up to 10% ever.  (And if she does have to try to account for this, she's probably going to have to set the interest rate extremely high; so Bob might accept a fixed term of repayment in exchange for a more reasonable rate.) Even if we suppose that Alice has done the best possible credit check and that Bob is a perfectly trustworthy fellow who would never dream of defaulting on his loan, catastrophes do happen.  Maybe Bob is robbed of all his money by an evil accountant, or has a mid-life crisis and spends it all on opera tickets.  Whatever, Bob is now bankrupt and Alice is never going to get her principal back, nor any further interest payments either.  Even if the loan is secured by some collateral, there's still a risk since the collateral might lose value.  Alice has some chance of estimating the risk of this happening in the next 15 or 30 years, and can set the interest rate to compensate for it.  But it is harder for her to estimate the risk of this happening ever, and if she tries, she'll have to set the rate so high that Bob might prefer a fixed term and a lower rate. (There's a side issue as to what happens if Bob dies with the loan still outstanding.  If it's an unsecured loan, typically Alice can try to collect the principal from Bob's estate, but if there isn't enough, too bad for Alice; she can't force Bob's heirs to continue making payments.  If it's a secured loan, Alice may be able to have Bob's heirs continue paying or else she seizes the collateral; but she still has the risk of the collateral losing value.)" "The purpose of taking a ""secured loan"" is to build credit. This might be done by someone who had a bad stain on their credit history such as a bankruptcy or foreclosure, or possibly by someone just out of school (presumably with few or no student loans),and no credit history. Not everyone needs to, or should do this, however. The advantage for a borrower is that s/he gets to create a record of repaying a loan that will partly mitigate the bad credit history. The advantage for the bank is that it is ""no risk,"" because the savings account is the security for the loan. That would make it willing to ""lend"" to a bad credit risk." I mean, yeah, that is true. Your point is a valid concern and I do think it could potentially reduce the number of EU students studying in the U.K. It is something the British need to keep an eye on over the next decade.  But think about it ... to go to the US to study as a European, you need a student visa as well and our influx of foreign students coming to study in America continues to grow. You need a student visa to go pretty much anywhere in the world besides the 28 EU countries.   I think the main factor is having a strong university network as a nation and the U.K. definitely has that. They had it before the EU was even created. As long as the U.K. has that strong education foundation, people will continue to study there. Not to mention, students go for the added benefit of improving their English skills.  https://www.google.com/amp/www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/11/12/record-number-of-international-students-studying-in-u-s/%3famp=1 "You're in good shape as long as your income stays. Your only variable-rate debt now is your private student loan.  I think you'd be wise to pay that down first, and you sense that already. Worst-case, in the event of a bankruptcy, student loans usually cannot be discharged, so that isn't a way out. Once that loan is gone, apply what you were paying to your other student loan to knock that out. You might investigate refinancing your home (to another 30-year fixed).  You may be able to shave a half-percent off if your credit is stellar.  Given the size of the mortgage, this could be several thousand out of pocket, so consider that when figuring out potential payback time. Consider using any ""free time"" to starting up a side business (I'm assuming you both have day jobs but that may not be a correct assumption).  Start with what you know well.  You and your wife are experts in something, and have passion about something.  Go with that.  Use the extra income from that to either pay down your debts faster, or just reinvest in the business so that you can offset the income on your taxes. Again, you're in good shape.  Just do what you can to protect and grow your income streams." I'm pessimistic about most things, so: They can't REPO the degree and the knowledge, but they can sure REPO the CAR, so pay off the car. My suggestion would be to pay off the vehicle, because no matter what the future holds (good or bad) you will need a vehicle to get around. Although, I recently found out from the comment below that student loans are a recourse debt that won't be forgiven. Not even with bankruptcy. Most collection agencies will take pennies in the dollar for debt, but not with student loans. Your first step should be to visit with the financial aid office of the university that you are considering attending, perhaps even before filling out the FAFSA. You may be eligible for grants, scholarships, and subsidized loans, as well as unsubsidized loans. You should pursue the first two options first, and then when you know how much remains to be financed, we can evaluate which of your investments you might liquidate if further financing is needed. There are a range of views on debt on this board. I take a very cautious approach to going in to debt. I worked full-time and took night classes to finish my degree without debt, but depending on your program that might not be an option. It seems that you also have a healthy relationship with debt considering the shape of your savings and finances as outlined above. Apart from the above information about how much money could be obtained and at what interest rates, the other missing information is your current salary, and your expected salary range after completing the program. With all of that information I could make specific recommendations, but at this point, my only recommendation is to avoid liquidating any retirement accounts in your effort to invest in yourself if at all possible. "Is there any way through this? Yes, but you're not going to like it. If your friend has guaranteed the loans, then it's your friend's obligation to pay them when the brother-in-law is not cooperating. That's what it means to guarantee a loan.  (Obligatory: ""Before lending your friends or family money, ask yourself which you need more."")" "The interest rate is determined by your 401(k) provider and your plan document.  Of course you may be able to influence this, depending on your relationship with the provider.  I'm very certain that prime+1% is not the only rate that is possible.  However, your provider is constrained by IRC 4975(d), which states that the loan must be made ""at a reasonable rate of interest.""   The definition of ""reasonable rate of interest"" would probably need to go to court and I do not know if it has.  The IRS probably has internal guidelines that determine who gets thrown to the dogs but they would not make those public because it takes away their discretion.  Because of the threat of getting pounded by the IRS, I think you will have a hard time getting a provider to allow super high or super low interest rate loans. Note: I am not a lawyer."