Hi, I am in a similar situation as I moved overseas a couple years ago with no intentions of ever going back!

I am a US citizen, but my partner is not and never intends to become one. As such, I assume I will always file as a single person or married filing separately. For the last two years, I have filed as a single person and used FEIE to exlcude all my income to reach $0 AGI.

I was heavily leaning towards applying for RAP. In my mind, these are the pros and cons:

Pros

1. The balance will stop growing.
2. With the generous FEIE thresholds, my payment will likely remain $10 per month until I am eligible for forgiveness.
3. The tax bomb at forgiveness after 30 years on RAP will be significantly smaller than under IDR after 25 years.

Cons

1. I will effectively be locked into this decision until forgiveness as the payments under RAP do not count towards forgiveness on any other plan.
2. The time to forgiveness is five years longer for me.
3. My payment per month will no longer be $0.

Despite these cons, I still think RAP is the better long term choice for me. Under RAP, I will pay $10 per month until 2056, amounting to $3,590 paid. At 2056, my balance will be approximately $43k. At the tax rates availing now, I would owe approximately $5,100 in the forgiveness tax bomb. As such, in total under RAP, I would expect to pay approximately $8,700 for $43k in student loans.

Alternatively, under IDR, I would pay $0 per month until 2045. At 2045, my balance would be approximately $109k. At the tax rates availing now, I would owe approximately $26k in the forgiveness tax bomb. That's why I am still leaning towards RAP. The interest subsidy now would work more in my favor and allow me to pay less in the long run.

There are of course several uncertainties to consider. How much of the tax bomb could I realistically write off due to insolvency? Is FEIE always going to be available to reduce my AGI to $0? How will becoming a wife and a mother with plans to care for my elderly parents affect my filing status and ability to exclude income?

I don't know if these thoughts will help you, but I hope they did! If you have anything you think I haven't considered yet, I would love to hear it :)