Desinflorida

Finally heard from the SSA office that immigration have approved or matched my SSN application and I should have it in 2 weeks time which will be 9 weeks after arrival despite waiting for 10 days after arrival into the country on my L1 visa. A painful wait but pleasing there is light at the end of the tunnel. Going to be applying for a Virgin Atlantic credit card to rack up flying club miles as soon as poss. Had one of these inthe UK but MNBA (part of Bank of America) will not permit transfers to USA and the fact that it is an AMEX card through them doesnt cut any intercontinental transfer ice!
Not sure what advice I can give over applying for an SSN number. The SSA office claimed immigration have 30 days to respond to the request but they are not permitted to chase them until 30 days are up.

HarryTheSpider

Hi Des,

Glad to hear finally there's light at the end of the tunnel!

What, if anything, has NOT having your SSN stopped you from doing, and how did you get round this, if at all? I'm sure your recent experience and insights will be appreciated by many others, not just me.

Cheers

Harry

Desinflorida

Hi Harry, Hope your plans are taking shape. In short lack of SSN means credit is very hard. It was impossible for me to find a car loan for example which didnt have credit card sized apr and a USD1000+ application fee. Being unable to use my Wells Fargo checking account for direct debits, being unable to shop around for credit cards (ok so lack of credit history is tough here too), being unable to open a bank account where one pleases. Even having filled in an on-line order for a dell lap top to be thwarted at the last point due to no SSN (solved by phoning the order through!). If your company is inexperienced at sending expats far and wide consider lobbying for an interest free loan to give you working capital to get underway, this was invaluable for us. I have also not told my UK credit card providers I have moved to the US, just warned them i am away on business as I didnt want to be without emergency funds! Good luck.

HarryTheSpider

Hi Des,

Thanks for those useful extra insights. I'll be doing the same as you with my UK credit cards!

Did you also make use of the AIG service too? I can't recall from your other threads.

Our plans are coming along - once we finish our hols here in baking hot Turkey, it's time to renew passports (less than 12 months left) and then off to the US Embassy with the docs that came from the lawyer just before the start of our hols. It's amazing how many things there are to think about with this moving countries business!

Cheers

Harry

lansbury

Surprised you had problems with that. MNBA took over the UK United Airlines credit cards after I moved to the US and transferred me to their card and posted it to the USA no problems at all.. Those are Amex cards as well.

Desinflorida

You may well be right. Sometimes you get through to a call centre where you ask an irregular question (ie transfer to the States) and if they dont know they take the line of least resistance ie say, sorry, no. I will call them and find out this week as I remember being surprised I couldn't. But the Virgin Atlantic Amex stateside has more miles per spend and tier points too, I am a virgin Atlantic frequent flier but can never quite get to gold, with the tier points offered I may make it.
Harry - yes, I did the AIG/Chartis Expat service and have now used them for HSBC credit card, renters insurance and insurance for 2 cars. They are really very good and I wouldnt want to do this without them to be honest. Customer service is first class too. Sign up sooner rather than later as you can apply for the credit card before leaving for the US. Best wishes, Des

Hubcaps

There's a couple of other things you can't get without a SSN:
A card for Target
HD cable with Comcast

Husband's SSN was issued on Tuesday (he applied on July 23rd) so the first thing he did...got a car loan and went and bought a Mustang.

Desinflorida

Lansbury,
You were right. I called MBNA today and they transferred my address on my Virgin Atlantic Amex card to the USA with no issues at all. Thanks for the nudge on this.