> but getting back into the US could be sticky to say the least
Really? They're not going to allow you back into the USA, or arrest you at the border for defaulting on a loan? That doesn't sound very credible at all. Any evidence to back that up?
Well, it depends on how far you go in the attempt to get out from under this debt. Remember that student loans in default can be funded by automatic garnishment of income tax refunds, and if you are abroad and haven't kept your income tax reporting up to scratch then you might be exposing yourself to charges of tax evasion. An extreme scenario I agree (albeit less so for non-citizens), but at the very least your credit will be hosed and re-establishing a financial life in the US would hard.
Defaulting on student loans is a civil debt. Filing fraudulent tax returns is a crime. I have never heard of someone being extradited or having their passport cancelled for defaulting on a civil debt (probably because governments have no direct interest in civil debts per se)
But student loan debt is almost entirely held by the federal government now. Does this mean it's still civil debt? I'm inclined to think that it isn't.
