PEACHSTER

I have a few credit cards & was just wondering if my husband(K1) can get one in his name thru mine?

culverabbie

im not sure of the immigration rammifications - or if there even are any (as i was on an F1 visa not a K1) but if you're married then your husband can definately get credit cards in his name through yours...my husband has a card through my name so i dont know why it cant go the other way

as usual - if im missing something here, please let me know but i should think that you'd be fine getting him a credit card

abbie

Just Jenney

That depends on the credit card company.

I was able to add Mark to my USAA credit card account, first as an authorized user, then as a joint cardholder.

However, I work for another credit card company (not USAA) and since Oct 2003 my company no longer allows joint cardholders to be added to existing accounts. One can only be added as an authorized user.

I've mentioned this before on other threads, but since we're talking about credit cards, this is a good place to repeat myself:

If you add someone as a joint cardholder to your account, that means your account history automatically becomes their account history. A joint cardholder is also equally liable financially for the account. Assuming that you have a great history on that account, this is a good way to help your spouse establish credit history.

An authorized user does NOT have any financial liability on the account. The credit card company can report the account to the authorized user's credit report. The credit report will reflect that the person is an authorized user, by listing an "A" to the left of the account as it's listed on the report. However, because an authorized user has no financial liability for the account, it does NOT help build credit.

Mark and I have discovered this all first-hand. About six months ago, I added him to my account as an authorized user. After a few months I realized that as such he wasn't building up a credit history; it just meant he could charge to the account. So I requested his status be changed to that of a joint cardholder. That was about 3 months ago. Two days ago we just checked Mark's credit score, and his is now higher than mine (over 750)! So he was able to piggyback off my good credit to establish good credit of his own.

He hasn't yet applied for credit in his name, but probably in the next few months he will. At the rate he's going so far, he shouldn't have any difficulties getting a card.

Also, I know that Mark has received offers from MBNA in the past, but the fine print states that you have to be a PR or USC in order to apply. On the flip side, my employer doesn't have any limitations on citizenship requirements for applicants, so long as they have an SSN or ITIN. So always be sure to read the fine print.

~ Jenney

culverabbie

wow jenney - thanks! i forgot to mention that my hubby also has a USAA account and my credit card was also USAA - i dont know if that makes a difference! what branch of the service?
abbie

Just Jenney

I got my USAA membership through my father, who was a career Army officer.

~ Jenney

culverabbie

ahhhhhh very nice! happy early memorial day then!

abbie

meauxna

FWIW this ws our experience as well. DAH's FICO is very good, based on my previous history. We've just applied for a re-fi on the house and he will be a co-borrower now, improving his FICO even more. Mortagage broker does recommend that from a credit score perspective, we should apply for a new credit card w/DAH as primary borrower, just to flesh things out. S'ok, I'm ready to trade in the airline mileage card for a better reward scheme. (http://www.cardweb.com/cardlearn/faq...owtoshopcc.amp)

For all: when adding your new alien to US accounts, be sure to do what Jenney pointed out and do everything possible to make them "co" or "joint" account holders (this goes for auto insurance, utilities etc) asap, rather than just 'named' on the account(s). All the more reason for K1s to get that social security number within the first 2 weeks here; it just makes life so much easier.