[IrishUSAHK]

Hi all!

My first post here, but I have been reading for quite some time. My wife and I will be moving to Hong Kong at the end of August. She is HK born, and will be working there when we move. I, however, am leaving the field of IT, and have decided to pursue a Juris Doctor degree in law. I have been accepted into my programme, but I am having trouble finding student loans. Does anyone have any suggestions? I have been waiting for a response from a few places here in the US, but not having much luck. Thanks so much in advance!

[hermoine]

If you are doing the JD course at City or Chinese University, you can apply for SFAA "Non means tested loan". A pretty simple procedure and the current annual interest rate is around 7.5% I think. You start repaying over 30 years after you graduate . Your uni's student finance office has all the forms and stuff and will definately give you some pointers, and also save you the time and trouble of going to the SFAA office yourself.

[IrishUSAHK]

Thanks Hermoine

Just to clarify, do I need HK RoA to apply for this loan? My wife will be obtaining her HKID (and has RoA) when we arrive in HK, as she hasn't needed it until now. Thanks so much for the info though, I have been starting to sweat bullets over this a bit. Does the SFAA loan take long to process?

[EUChinese]

Originally Posted by hermoine

If you are doing the JD course at City or Chinese University, you can apply for SFAA "Non means tested loan". A pretty simple procedure and the current annual interest rate is around 7.5% I think. You start repaying over 30 years after you graduate . Your uni's student finance office has all the forms and stuff and will definately give you some pointers, and also save you the time and trouble of going to the SFAA office yourself.

7.5% annual interest ? rip off....higher than most of bank loans.....

[hermoine]

"Applicants should have the right of abode in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ('Hong Kong') or the right to land in Hong Kong or are permitted to stay in Hong Kong without restriction or have resided or have had their home in Hong Kong continuously for three complete years immediately prior to the commencement of the programme/course. This does not cover students studying in Hong Kong holding student visas"
Full details can be found at the SFAA Website