building credit history before moving ?
Jul 10th 2019, 10:42 am
#1
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Apr 2019
Location: Oxfordshire - SoCal
Posts: 48
building credit history before moving ?
Is it possible to build a credit history for US while still in UK? ie opening a credit card with one of the American banks? If so which one? Citi bank? Bank of America?
If anyone could share their successful experience it would be much appreciated.
If anyone could share their successful experience it would be much appreciated.
Jul 10th 2019, 11:30 am
#2
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Aug 2013
Location: Athens GA
Posts: 2,134
Re: building credit history before moving ?
The simple answer is no. You will not be able to open a credit card account until you are resident; even then it can be a challenge when you are newly arrived. One exception is American Express. If you get a credit card in the UK they will transfer your UK record to the US and issue a credit card here. It has to be open in the UK for several (not sure how many) months. This does not affect your US credit score. AE simply transfers your record internally to them.
Jul 10th 2019, 1:03 pm
#3
Often not so civil...
Joined: Apr 2010
Location: The Boonies, GA
Posts: 9,561
Re: building credit history before moving ?
As above, without an SSN or an ITIN then even if you could get a credit card (which you can't) they would have no way of reporting it. You likely won't be able to generate a 'credit score' until 6 months after you have gotten your first credit line. This is one of the main challenges of being a new expat in any country.
One of our members, Fatbrit (RIP), wrote this very helpful guide in 2013. Little has changed since then.
One of our members, Fatbrit (RIP), wrote this very helpful guide in 2013. Little has changed since then.
Sep 12th 2019, 6:47 pm
#4
Forum Regular
Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 52
Re: building credit history before moving ?
I two days ago received my US issued Capital One unsecured credit card. I am married to a US citizen and we both live permanently in the UK (well for another 2 years anyway), i obtained an ITIN number and we use our family’s address in the US as our US mailing address. So yes it is possible.
Sep 12th 2019, 9:46 pm
#5
Just Joined
Joined: Aug 2016
Posts: 27
Re: building credit history before moving ?
In addition to the American Express transferal already mentioned, I came across CreditStacks, https://www.creditstacks.com, while looking into the same thing myself a few months ago, and is something I will certainly be applying for when we get through the visa process.
Sep 12th 2019, 10:17 pm
#6
Austin. TX.
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 5,930
Re: building credit history before moving ?
creditstacks is a product that is recommended a lot to my clients moving to the USA. It's great because you can apply for it before you arrive and generally, get a $5k limit and it's unsecured. Last thing I heard was that they are also approving cards for the spouses which is useful for them since spouses can have a hard time getting credit history going.
The only problem I am hearing is that it can be difficult to get your SSN applied to it. So, you might want to wait until you get that ( 2weeks ish after arrival).
B of America and Wells Fargo are also issuing credit cards to new arrivals before ssn arrives and may also offer cards to the spouse. If your employer is a multi-national one then there is a good chance that BofA will approve $10k of credit limit. Useful when you arrive and need to buy a lot of stuff but still attempt to stay within 30% of limit.
The only problem I am hearing is that it can be difficult to get your SSN applied to it. So, you might want to wait until you get that ( 2weeks ish after arrival).
B of America and Wells Fargo are also issuing credit cards to new arrivals before ssn arrives and may also offer cards to the spouse. If your employer is a multi-national one then there is a good chance that BofA will approve $10k of credit limit. Useful when you arrive and need to buy a lot of stuff but still attempt to stay within 30% of limit.
Sep 13th 2019, 2:46 am
#7
Just Joined
Joined: Aug 2019
Location: South Carolina
Posts: 9
Re: building credit history before moving ?
We knew we would have no credit rating in the US so we opened a bank account with HSBC in the UK as soon as we knew we would be moving, which meant we could then open a HSBC account in the US (before we moved) and were issued with US credit cards. They were sent to our UK address. They were invaluable when we got here as it meant we had no problem paying for purchases for our new home. We have kept our UK account too as it means we can transfer money between the UK and US accounts without incurring costs (and at a reasonable exchange rate - well the best it can be at this moment in time! Would certainly recommend HSBC.
