Nottinghill

Do you know how long it takes to be left off the hook?
When we came here earlier on in the year and were trying to rent an apartment or get one of the at&t cell phones ( two year plan) they did a credit check on us. Every time someone run a check it would fail of course because we were not in the US long enough and there was no history. Do you know when you can apply for an US credit card for example without any embarrassment at the bank branch?

ian-mstm

Credit checks are usually based on your SSN... if you have one for any length of time, you will have a credit history - however bleak. If you don't have a SSN, you might never have a US credit history.

Ian

Nottinghill

Thanks for your quick reply.How long after you get your SSN can you expect to go to someplace and get approved like for example at&t?

Kali-forniarrr

Best thing to do is to get a secured credit card. That is pay a sum of money to a bank to hold as a deposit. Pay the credit card off monthly. This will establish your credit history. You'll get your deposit back with interest after a set period, maybe 6 or 12 months. The amount you put down can be as little or much as you like.

In no time at all you can have as many credit cards as the rest of this country...

Ray

Take a read here
http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Fatbri...it_and_Finance

Longy

Just to make it clear you don't get history by simply being here. I know its a catch 22, but you have to use credit to get credit.

Read the link provided by Ray, but to get started the Secured credit card is the way to go. Some people get lucky in getting a card beforehand, but quite often they have to pay a lot of fees.

Giantaxe

Indeed, and you don't get one by merely having a social security number as suggested earlier. You really do typically have to borrow in some form to get a report made to a credit bureau. Lot's of good advice in the link Ray posted.

BritishGuy36

Wow that was a great read....nice one Fatbrit (if you are reading). Sounds like a real nightmare.....not looking forward to negotiating my way through the credit system.

dbj1000

Once you do start building credit, remember that rejections like you've already experienced will further damage your score. You can't afford to apply and be rejected for credit.

For phones, you're unlikely to get a contract when you first arrive. Check out cheap pay-as-you-go phones instead (e.g. GoPhone or Virgin Mobile). They're not a great deal, and the phones are often aimed at pimply teens, but they don't require a credit check.

BritishGuy36

Yeah I was planning on PAYG phones for the first year or so anyway.

dbj1000

That'll teach me to watch who I quote! I wasn't talking you you!

The OP seems to have been trying to get an AT&T cellphone with no credit history, for some reason.

BritishGuy36

Haha.....bit early there is it?

Longy

You have been around here for a while, I'm really surprised you haven't seen this before. Do you have an Amex as this is one way to get started before getting here? It's a shame if you never realised this before.

BritishGuy36

I don't have an Amex card, no.

I did contemplate it but didn't bother in the end. Seems I should have done, at least I could have got a kick-start. I'll probably be over there in 4-6 weeks, so too late now.

I plan to do the secured credit card thing, whilst leaving some dosh in my Barclays account here to draw on when I am close to 50% on the card.

My UK card issuer says I will need to close the account when I leave for good as they don't like you living abroad with a UK CC account. So I'm just not gonna tell them for a few months after I move and just keep paying the bills by online banking. I'm sure they will figure it out when I have been buying stuff over here for a few months anyway, I suppose they might even block the card.

One thing fatbrit says which worries me: If it's best not to use your card for online purchases, what else do you use to buy stuff on the interweb? I don't want to be restricted to Best Buy and Circuit City for my technology purchases!

Longy

Are you not transferring the money over? Why would you need to draw on your Barclays account?

A lot of credit card companies don't like you leaving the UK. I just never told them and left my address as my parents house. I only use them when I go back to the UK. If you use it a lot in the US they will probably eventually realise you are not in the UK anymore.

I think he is talking about the secured credit card. Basically as he said don't see it as a credit card - its just something you have to do to get credit. I wouldn't even go above 30% on it, but to be honest it probably won't make a big difference to your score you get after about 6 months.

Actually just read it again - he seems to mention it to relation to a subscription. Personally if its something you want to subscribe to for the forseeable future this isn't a bad thing - a lot of people who are building credit do this as a way of using the credit card monthly without having the temptation of spending big money on it - they just put the card in a drawer and let the subscription do its work. Although these are probably people who have had credit card issues in the past.