UPDATE! As of Friday, October 28 at 2:45pm ET, the Department of Education's online application form is now available for Americans abroad, thanks to Democrats Abroad! (Read more about our advocacy on this issue here)
If for any reason you are STILL getting an error message when trying to access the form, please try these troubleshooting steps:
- Check back later or another day. The website has been overwhelmed with over 22 million people having applied in the first week the application form went live so give it some time then check again later.
- Click here to follow steps to use a VPN to get around the geo-blocking of the website. If you find that this fix resolves the issue, be sure to then report your application form error message using this quick form: https://demsabroad.typeform.com/to/DGPna1tS
Here are some additional tips for submitting your online application form as an American abroad:
- You may see an error message at the top of the application form saying that debit discharge is paused, but the application form is still open. As a result of a court order from a group of Republicans, Federal Student Aid is temporarily blocked from processing debt discharges. Application forms are still open, so you are encouraged to apply. Applications will be processed as soon as possible. The news on this is changing quickly right now, so we recommend you periodically check back for updates.
- Filling in the form looks like it requires a U.S. phone number, but it doesn’t. Here’s the advice received from the U.S. Department of Education as of Tuesday, Nov 1 at 6pm ET: If you only have a foreign phone number, you can enter 555-555-5555 in the phone number field in the Debt Relief Application. This will not affect the processing of your form, which will occur through your email address. We understand not everyone will feel comfortable doing this, in which case you can use a family or friend's U.S. phone number or set up a virtual U.S. phone number. Some free and paid options to set up a U.S. phone number outside the U.S. are available by clicking on this link.
| Thanks to the Biden-Harris administration, the federal student loan relief is one of the most recent examples of Democrats delivering real, material improvement to the lives of the American people, including Americans abroad. If you've not yet sent your absentee ballot back to the U.S. for the November 8th election, please do so ASAP. Overseas mail delivery is slow, please opt for email ballot if your state allows. For more info on how to return your ballot click here. |
Last updated: Tuesday, November 1, 2022 at 11:21pm