Student Loan Scheme Amendment Bill

17  New sections 106 to 108A and heading substituted

• Sections 106 to 108 and the heading above section 107 are repealed and the following sections and heading substituted:

  “106 Meaning of repayment holiday

  • In this subpart, repayment holiday means a period during which a borrower’s overseas-based repayment obligation is reduced to zero.

  “Repayment holiday from overseas-based repayment obligations

  “107 Borrowers who intend to be overseas-based may apply for repayment holidays

  • “(1) A borrower may, by notifying the Commissioner, apply to the Commissioner for a repayment holiday if he or she intends to be overseas-based.

    “(2) The application may be made from New Zealand or from overseas, but no application may be made by an overseas-based borrower.

  “107A Contact person to be nominated

  • “(1) At the time of making an application under section 107, the borrower must nominate, as the borrower's contact person, an individual who resides in New Zealand.

    “(3) The borrower nominates a contact person by notifying the Commissioner of an individual who is willing to act as the borrower's contact person and by specifying the following details in that notification:

    • “(a) the name of the individual:

    • “(b) a New Zealand postal address for the individual:

    • “(c) an electronic address for the individual (if the individual has one):

    • “(d) a New Zealand telephone number for the individual (if the individual has one):

    • “(e) any further information specified in regulations.

  “107B Grant of repayment holiday

  • “(1) The Commissioner may grant a repayment holiday to a borrower who applies under section 107 if satisfied that the borrower—

    • “(a) has not reached the borrower's limit; and

    • “(b) has complied with section 107A.

    “(2) A borrower who is granted a repayment holiday becomes entitled to that repayment holiday on the day on which the borrower becomes overseas-based.

    “(3) For the purposes of this subpart, a borrower reaches the borrower's limit if—

    • “(a) the borrower has had 1 or more repayment holidays, granted under this Act, for a period of 365 days or for periods that total 365 days; or

    • “(b) the borrower has had 1 or more repayment holidays under Part 3 of the Student Loan Scheme Act 1992 for a period of 3 years or for periods that total 3 years; or

    • “(c) the borrower has had—

      • “(i) 1 or more repayment holidays under Part 3 of the Student Loan Scheme Act 1992 for a period of less than 3 years or for periods that total less than 3 years; and

      • “(ii) 1 or more repayment holidays, granted under this Act, for a period that equals, or for periods that in total equal, the lesser of—

        • “(A) 365 days; and

        • “(B) the remainder of the period of the repayment holiday to which the borrower would have been entitled under Part 3 of the Student Loan Scheme Act 1992 if that Act had not been repealed; or

    • “(d) the borrower has had his or her repayment holiday under Part 3 of the Student Loan Scheme Act 1992 continued under section 108A(2) for the maximum period prescribed for that continuation.

  “108 Duration of repayment holiday

  • “(1) Despite section 107B(2), for the purpose of determining the duration of a repayment holiday, the repayment holiday of a borrower who has become entitled to it under that subsection is deemed to have commenced on the first day of the period of the borrower's physical absence from New Zealand, being the period that resulted in the borrower becoming overseas-based.

    “(2) The repayment holiday of a borrower who has become entitled to it under section 107B(2) ends on the earlier of—

    • “(a) the day that the borrower reaches the borrower's limit; and

    • “(b) the day on which the borrower ceases to be overseas-based.

    “(3) A borrower's repayment obligation must be calculated in accordance with sections 110 and 111 if the borrower is, at any time, overseas-based after his or her repayment holiday has ended.

  “108A Borrowers who have had, or are having, repayment holidays under Student Loan Scheme Act 1992

  • “(1) A New Zealand-based borrower who has had 1 or more repayment holidays under Part 3 of the Student Loan Scheme Act 1992, but who has not reached the borrower's limit (within the meaning of section 107B(3)), must apply under section 107 if he or she wishes to have a repayment holiday under this Act.

    “(2) An overseas-based borrower who, as at 31 March 2012, has a repayment holiday under Part 3 of the Student Loan Scheme Act 1992 that, but for the repeal of that Act, would have continued under that Act continues to have a repayment holiday under this Act, but for no longer than the lesser of—

    • “(a) 365 days; and

    • “(b) the remainder of the period of the repayment holiday to which the borrower would have been entitled under Part 3 of the Student Loan Scheme Act 1992 if that Act had not been repealed.

    “(3) The repayment obligation of a borrower to whom subsection (2) applies must be calculated in accordance with sections 110 and 111 if the borrower is, at any time, overseas-based after his or her repayment holiday has ended in accordance with that subsection.”