ccalgreen

Does anyone have any definitive answers as to whether a new immigrant can obtain credit facilities after arriving in the U.S.?

There are a number of things I will have to purchase on credit as soon as I arrive, while I won't have any income for the first 3 or 4 weeks, e.g. a car for my new job.

I have never been in unauthorized debt in my life (the only debt I have taken on is an overdraft facility on my student current account, which I primarily took out because it was interest free money I could invest in high earning savings accounts). I pay all my credit card debts in full by direct debit every month - I effectively use it as a debit card, but because I get 1% cashback I use the credit card to earn money. Will all of this count for nothing when I emigrate?

I've opened a new credit account with Nationwide, because they now don't charge any commission on foreign currency purchases, nor do they have a handling fee on cash advances. Until I get an American credit card, I'm most likely to be using this, but I'm worried that it might be a bit chicken-and-egg because the credit reports will be back in the U.K.!

Cheers

CLEM

FlightRisk

The answer is that it will be very difficult. You will be a non-entity here which is almost worse than bad credit. In order to have credit, you must have a Social Security number and an address that you have been at long enough to get into the system. If they can't find you or find no information in your record, you are automatically denied for almost all credit. In addition, you say you will have no job, so how will you show income to prove you are capable of making payments? Would you give you credit if you were a US business?

You really have to have money, period. You can either finance your own stay until you can work, or you can use the money to get a secured credit card which gives you credit and establishes you in the system based on you paying for it. In other words, if you give them $1000, then they let you borrow against that as collateral, it's a good way develop a credit record and show that you can make payments.

Also, while you would probably never be able to get a traditional credit card, with a job, you might be able to get a credit card for a particular store, they are not as strict. Many people get a Sears card or a card from Firestone tires or someone like that.

-fr

Rete

Definite answers? You will get a host of definite answers here. Some will tell you open an Amex credit in your country, use it and then try to have it converted an US Amex card. Someone else will definitely tell you the way to go is Bank of America. That BOA will check your foreign credit report and base your credit line on that report. For me, I would not touch BOA with my proverbial 10 footer. Others will tell you that definitely, Citibank is the way to go. And then again others will definitely tell you to get a secured credit card and start over. But then others will say that the only definite way to go is to add your name to your spouse's cards and get a jump start on a rating that way.

As for purchasing a new car asa you arrive, hey it can be done but unless you have a job and a credit rating to base a loan on, you might be stuck with using your spouse's rating and taking a loan out jointly.

Rete

Just Jenney

Rete's answer is a good one -- you will hear a variety of opinions on this subject. If you do a search, you'll find other similar discussions like this on the NG.

My personal opinion is that the quickest way to start building a credit history here is to be an authorized user on your wife's credit card. Not sure about other credit card companies, but the one I work for (Capital One) doesn't require an authorized user to have a SSN, nor do you have to be a USC or PR. While an authorized user isn't financial liable for the account, it DOES show up on their credit report. (Of course, if your wife has bad credit, this wouldn't be a good solution for you!)

My company has a UK division, but I'm not sure if Capital One US recognizes the credit records of Capital One UK cardholders. I'll have to look into that and report back, as that may be an option for some of you.

It's very possible that you'll have to start small -- opening up credit cards with small credit lines and then building up from there. Of course, to apply for a credit card you usually need a SSN -- at Capital One, they won't even activate the cards unless your SSN can be verified. So that's something you'll need as well...

Anyway, there ARE no "definitive answers" on this issue, unfortunately. You're coming here with essentially a clean slate -- which can be either a good thing or a bad thing. Unless you can find a financial company willing to recognize your UK credit record, you pretty much have to start over from scratch.

~ Jenney

Dekka's Angel

In my line of work, I've seen a lot of people get credit they truthfully should never have qualified for. Rete's answer is the closest to correct- it depends. On what you're trying to do, whether the debt is secured or unsecured, even the region of the country (or your city - redlining still exists!).

There is no definite answer to your question, IME.

L D Jones

Jenney & Mark wrote:
    >
    > Originally posted by ccalgreen
    > > Does anyone have any definitive answers as to whether a new immigrant
    > > can obtain credit facilities after arriving in the U.S.?
    > >
    >
    > Rete's answer is a good one -- you will hear a variety of opinions on
    > this subject. If you do a search, you'll find other similar discussions
    > like this on the NG.
    >
    > My personal opinion is that the quickest way to start building a credit
    > history here is to be an authorized user on your wife's credit card. Not

I agree. My wife is from the UK and we did this and then tried to
determine if this "really" starts a credit history for the immigrant
spouse (we had more than one answer to the question). We obtained copies
of credit reports using both our SSNs and it seems to have worked. My
wife now appears to have some sort of history (or a start) based on
having a second credit card linked to my account. The card company
didn't need her SSN (she didn't have one at the time) to provide a card.
Of course, the SSN has to be provided to the card company eventually.

My wife was also able to obtain a department store card but we don't
know if they actually did a credit check. She was turned down for a
standard credit card but was able to get the department store card. We
are considering a card from a local gas station chain but have not
applied

As someone else noted having no credit at all is worse than having bad
credit; one is almost a "non-person" in many respects

Andy Platt

"ccalgreen" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Does anyone have any definitive answers as to whether a new immigrant
    > can obtain credit facilities after arriving in the U.S.?

I don't really have much more to add to the advice you've already been
given. I just want to say that what really really pissed me off about this
was that if I had come here as a student earning nothing I would have been
able to get a credit card. Instead I came here as an H-1B making a very good
salary and I couldn't get one. That is just stupid!!!

Still, five years later and I've got excellent credit here. I started out
with a car loan that my girlfriend (now my wife) co-signed on and that got
the ball ralling to credit cards and then our mortgage.

Andy.

--
I'm not really here - it's just your warped imagination.

ccalgreen

Thanks Rete. Any reason you feel so strongly about BOA? I only mention that because it's a coincidence that that is Kate's bank already (she did have an HSBC account, which might have helped since it's a British bank, but they didn't have any branches near where she moved to). That means it will probably be the first place I'll get an account too.
I guess that's the irony of the system because I've been earning for longer than my fiancee, I'll be taking over a fair amount of capital to tide me over (and also feeding accounts from outstanding long term investment sources in the U.K. such as ISAs), and when I start my new job a few weeks after arriving, I'll be earning a significant amount more than her!

ccalgreen

Well, if nothing else, thanks for sharing a good piece of news - I guess I might just have to feed all my money into my fiancee's account!

ccalgreen

I guess I'll have to try that one out. It's odd because I think she mainly uses her card for debit rather than credit at the moment - does that make any difference to her credit rating? I don't think there's any finance provider in the U.K. that has one card that operates as both a debit AND a credit card.

ccalgreen

Hmm, that sounds like an interesting option. Do you know of any companies that specialise in this? Say if I brought $7500 over with me, would that be enough to get me a card with, say $1000 limit?

ccalgreen

Thanks Jenney. I already did a google search on the topic, and there were a hell of a lot of opinions. I was kind of hoping against hope that there might be a set of hard and fast rules for this kind of thing!
That would be very kind of you if you could find that out. Capital One have been pursuing a vigorous marketing campaign here in the U.K. in recent times. I'm looking to get my SSN within the 3 weeks I'm here before I start my new job (because they will need it too, right?)

Rete

Negative experiences of both my adult children with BOA. Both have experienced poor service, inflexibility in institution policy, incorrect credit and debits in checking account maintenance, hidden charges, etc.

Rete

Ron

I don't know for sure about $7,500, but if you deposit $500 for a secured
card you get a $500 credit limit. I'd think if they won't give you a credit
limit equal or close to your security they are ripping you off.



"ccalgreen" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Originally posted by FlightRisk
    > >
    > > You really have to have money, period. You can either finance your
    > > own stay until you can work, or you can use the money to get a secured
    > > credit card which gives you credit and establishes you in the system
    > > based on you paying for it. In other words, if you give them $1000,
    > > then they let you borrow against that as collateral, it's a good way
    > > develop a credit record and show that you can make payments.
    > >
    > > -fr
    > Hmm, that sounds like an interesting option. Do you know of any
    > companies that specialise in this? Say if I brought $7500 over with me,
    > would that be enough to get me a card with, say $1000 limit?
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

meauxna

Butting in...
I highly recommend that everyone look at a site: www.clarkhoward.com for useful advise on such topics. Clark is a consumer advocate and has great tips on credit and secured cards etc. If it's on his site, it's a straight-up deal.