Zelincho

I'm in the US, and I don't have SSN. Can I apply for a credit card with ITIN, which i
got from IRS. I know it is 9 digiths same as SSN but it starts with Number 9. Don't
tell me that nonresidents cannot get credit card. Everybody have. I would realy
appreciate if you know the answer. All replies are welcome

Joachim Feise

Zelincho wrote:
    > I'm in the US, and I don't have SSN. Can I apply for a credit card with ITIN, which
    > i got from IRS. I know it is 9 digiths same as SSN but it starts with Number 9.

You can of course apply, but it is unlikely that you would get one. Remember,
creditcard companies are private companies, and if they deem you a risk they will not
give you a creditcard, or at best a secured one.

    > Don't tell me that nonresidents cannot get credit card. Everybody have.

Yes, but they usually all have an SSN.

Lgh

"Joachim Feise" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
    > Zelincho wrote:
    > > I'm in the US, and I don't have SSN. Can I apply for a credit card with
ITIN,
    > > which i got from IRS. I know it is 9 digiths same as SSN but it starts
with
    > > Number 9.
    >
    > You can of course apply, but it is unlikely that you would get one. Remember,
    > creditcard companies are private companies, and if they deem you a risk they will
    > not give you a creditcard, or at best a secured one.
    >

Actually, you can get a credit card witn an ITIN, I know because I have. It is a
fairly long process, I am an H4 holder, the easiest one to get, and start a credit
history, is a gas company card, I started with Texaco, it was easy to get, they only
gave me like 200 dlls to start with, and can only be used for their own brand, so the
risk is minimal to them, AFTER that, it took around 18 months to be able to get a
VISA, it only had $300.00 limit, but with good management (pay EVERY SINGLE month on
time, preferably the balance and not just the minimum), within 6 months they raised
it to 3,500, which is all I need so I will not aply for other cards. Gas companies do
not have their own financial subsidiary, so they use a bank or finance company, if
you use it correctly, you will get card offers from the same company.

Guillermo Hernandez

Adevanilton

Adevanilton

idiotnonsavant

It took me six months with an SSN. In the end it was down to the guy who called me, he effectively had to decide if he thought I was a good risk. My first was with MBNA, when he was sounding doubtfull I aksed if having a UK MBNA card (Which five years later and unused in that time still has a higher limit than all my US cards together) would make any difference. He said "but of course!" and gave me $7k subject to him checking out the UK records. I transfered my AMEX card from the UK, it says I've been a member since 1990 though I only got the US one in 1998. I apllied to MBNA when I originally arrived but the girl who I talked to said "we don't give cards to non-citizens".

The whole credit card and banking thing was about the least positive experience, even compared to being treated like garbage when I was getting my social security number.

dbark

Hi,

This is a thread from the marriage-based forum, which I thought you might like to look at.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/t114386.html

Good luck,

Debbie

Chris Parker

    > I apllied to MBNA when I originally arrived but the girl who I talked to
    > said "we don't give cards to non-citizens".

They didn't dare put that in writing, you'll notice. It is an
outright violation of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) to adopt
a policy like that (national origin discrimination in extending
credit).

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/ecoa.htm

That said, they can consider your income and the amount of time you
are allowed to remain in the U.S. (in terms of time to repay the debt
to be incurred) when making their decision about extending you credit.
Usually, a co-borrower with an SSN is how you'll get around these
kinds of problems.


CP

James Donovan

"Chris Parker" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

    > Usually, a co-borrower with an SSN is how you'll get around these
    > kinds of problems.


Or a secured card... I know people who got their SSN practically yesterday,
applied for secured cards and got them. Once you have your secured card for
a while you can get unsecured cards quite easily.

Alextoromantia

You can also get a tax payer ID number from the IRS which works as a SS.
number.

Kamal R. Prasad

it is possible to get a credit-card (both secured and otherwise)
without a social security no. credit cards are not issued by/with the
consent of -the govt. in practice, without a social security no. you
wont have a credit file with a credit monitoring agency and many cos.
would be unwilling to risk giving u an unsecured credit card but large
ones (like Amex) would be willing to take the risk.
regards
-kamal



[email protected] (Alextoromantia) wrote in message news:...
    > You can also get a tax payer ID number from the IRS which works as a SS.
    > number.