So, the background: I came to the UK as a student, got married, and now live here with ILR. I'm about to submit my PhD thesis, at which point I will start looking for a job, but my US student loan deferment period runs out at the end of this month. I can apply for a deferment on the basis of being unemployed, but the documentation on the Sallie Mae website led me to believe that I would have to submit a completed tax return or information showing that I am receiving unemployment benefits.
I have been worried about this because I haven't filed taxes in the US since 2006 (I had virtually no income, so was therefore not required to), and since I'm not actually living in the US I can't apply for unemployment benefits (not to mention that I have been a full-time student all this time). And since I live in the UK but I'm not eligible for jobseeker's allowance, I thought I was going to have a big fight proving to Sallie Mae that I'm not employed and don't have any way to make any loan payments just yet.
Anyway, after an hour's worth of skype calls, here are two useful things that I have learned:
-- If you have not filed taxes because your income was below the threshold at which you are required to do so (a little over $3,000), you can ask the IRS for a "verification of non-filing account". This is basically a letter saying that you have not filed taxes but they have no information suggesting that you should have, so they have not audited you.
-- Although the Sallie Mae website is pretty short on information about an unemployment deferment, you can apparently submit a letter explaining why you are unemployed, and you do not have to be able to produce tax documents as proof. Maybe this is explained somewhere else, since it is actually an FFELP thing, but I didn't find it in my cursory search. So you can simply write and sign a note explaining your situation and attach it to the deferment application (you can even scan it and submit it online).
I thought I'd share in case it helps someone else!
