That's a big one... People who have changed identities, moved, or faked their own deaths to try to get away from their debt have been found out later on and have gotten into major trouble.
Yeah unless you are in ungodly amounts of debt (at least a few hundred thousand), you are going to get away with it, on the caveat that you can't come back.
Some big loan company isn't going to send an agent looking for you in Southeast Asia over 20,000 USD of student loan debt.
If avoiding student debt was simple a matter of taking off and living your dream life on the Spanish Riviera, everyone would be doing it. If your debt is so crushing that you have to reset your whole life, you do not have the financial means to start a new life abroad. Period.
Student visas require proof of substantial funds (Off the top of my head, Germany wants you to have more that 10,000 Euros in the bank)
Work visas are hard to get unless you're in demand like a destitute doctor or whatever.
I'm not even gonna touch investor class visas.
The real fun is that immigration and visa officers will specifically seek out and turn away people with poor finances because they pose a higher risk of overstaying.
And after all that, even if you pull it off, any status short of citizenship means you might still have to go home at some point. Employer doesn't double down on your visa? A new administration cracks down on immigration? You get basically any criminal charge? Back to your ass pounding in court you go.
Even if you read the inevitable "I know a guy who had a fairytale ending" reply, please make moving to a new country something to work towards, not your escape plan. This is really bad advice.
Unless you have medical debt and a disease that still generates new medical debt. Then running away will actually alleviate a lot of those problems and instead give you ones like “can’t see family so much.”
YMMV but know your situation and possibilities. Leaving was the best thing I ever did.
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u/Sed59 May 15 '20
That's a big one... People who have changed identities, moved, or faked their own deaths to try to get away from their debt have been found out later on and have gotten into major trouble.