farhan

i am looking for info on how to establish credit history for my wife so she can get a credit card etc. what has worked for others? any quick tips will be very helpfull

NC Penguin

There have been many threads on this subject in the USA forum of BE. Please search in that forum.

Ray

[http://groups.msn.com/UKUSAExPats/allaboutcredit.msnw

Hawkslayer

When we married on 03/03/03, Kathy created a bank acount with Robin's
Federal Credit Union and paid a couple of thousand into it from the wedding
presents. When I came over on a K-3 and got my EAD and Social Security
number after a few weeks, we put my name on the account and made it a joint
account. Since then we have paid a bit of money into the account every week

After a few weeks, I visited the bank, talked with the manager and
explained that we were thinking of taking out a mortgage and telling her how
difficult is is for we Brits to create a credit history and rating. I asked
her if she would issue me with a credit card. She said that she couldn't do
this without some kind of a credit history. I explained that when I came
over I retained my accounts with LloydsTSB and asked the manager if copies
of the statements from my Select account and credit card would suffice, I
then showed her the most recent statements, which I receive via air-mail.
She copied these and agreed to create a new bank account for me and issue a
card on that account, which arrived two weeks later.

After the card was issued, we made every single purchase on that card and
religiously paid it up at the end of the month. Every morning's mail now
brings offers of other cards, and with Robin's I have been moved up the line
to a Platinum card. All this in just over a year. So if you're having
problems, It may be worth your while to try this.

Alfie..



"farhan" <member7688@british_expats.com> wrote in message
news:[email protected] m...
    > i am looking for info on how to establish credit history for my wife so
    > she can get a credit card etc. what has worked for others? any quick
    > tips will be very helpfull
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

Wolfie

Assuming you have good credit, simply have her added to your credit card
account(s). The credit activity is then reported in BOTH names! My wife and
daughter have benefited from this. My wife arrived in US in 1999, and by
2001 had a better FICO score than me! She (and my 19 year old) now get
offers all the time for super low rate cards and loans. She didn't even have
to open an individual account , although she has since done that.

Hope this helps!

Best wishes.
"farhan" <member7688@british_expats.com> wrote in message
news:[email protected] m...
    > i am looking for info on how to establish credit history for my wife so
    > she can get a credit card etc. what has worked for others? any quick
    > tips will be very helpfull
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com


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Noorah101

Hi,

It's not necessarily always the case that simply adding your alien spouse's name to your existing credit card will show up on the alien spouse's credit report. Sometimes it does, sometimes not. I added my alien husband's name to a few of my credit cards, but all of them said that this would NOT affect his own credit rating. It remains to be seen when we run a credit report in his name next year.

The one and only way we have found to do it, so far, is to get my alien husband his own secured credit card. This means that he puts up the money for it, the bank keeps it in a separate account, and issues a card with the dollar limit of what he's put up. After 6 months to a year of good payment history, the bank says they can unsecure it (put the money back in his regular bank account), and up his credit limit. Our next step is to perhaps get him a gas charge card, or department store charge card. Those are pretty easy to open once you have a major credit card.

Now that he has a credit card, though, we've moved his cell phone to his own account (not under my name anymore). That will hopefully also show for something on his credit history.

Best Wishes!
Rene

fatbrit

Rene,

Call the issuers up and ask them to change him from an additional card holder to a joint account user on your cards. Those issuers that can do it (i.e. not all!) will mail you a seperate form to complete and sign. In this case, he will
certainly get an entry on the credit report. And as an added bonus, he's now jointly liable for the accounts, too!!!

Jason

your wife just needs to get a job. Once they have evidence of
employment/regular income they'll sign her up for a credit card on the
spot. (at least HSBC did with me after repeatedly turning me down (I'm
a Brit and came in on a K1 visa. As soon as I got my EAD and started
work they couldn't sign me up quick enough). The credit limit will only
be small to start off with - but stick some items on there and just pay
a little off each month. Don't pay the full balance all in one go -
they won't make any money off you if you do that and your credit rating
will be poor as a result. (as insane as that sounds - it's true)

sibsie

Didn't work for me and I have an income which is paid into my US bank account every month. I started my credit ladder with a BOSE credit card. Got a kick arse stereo too!

fatbrit

Absolute and utter crap.

Ray

What he said ... but I am very polite...

sibsie

That'll be the Anger Management Classes.

AdobePinon

Hehe! I'll go with that. Jason forgets that they make plenty off of the transaction before it even shows up on your bill. Of course they don't want you to pay off your balance every month, but they can easily fix that by giving you more credit....

Pulaski

Me too!

The banks want evidence that you have the means and the intention to pay your bills. I have always paid every credit bill in full since I came to the US, and after considerably less than the three years and month I have now been here, I had credit card and loan offers coming out of my ears! .... Two or three a week!

To get a credit history you should:-
(i) get a job
(ii) pay your bills on time (get your name added to the utility bills in your house), and ....
(iii) have patience. (it'll only likely take 3-6 months before you can get credit cards and loans, .... then stand by for the tidal wave of junk mail!)