Permanent resident and credit rating

S

shinbet

Registered Users (C)
Hi
I've been a permanent resident for about 5 months now.
I recently tried to apply for a credit card, but everywhere I go, I get turned down, for having no credit rating, including the bank I have been banking at and paying my bills.
I have a good credit rating in The U.K where I originate from, but I'm having no luck over here.

Does anyone know if any credit card companies can do something like a "paperchase" where they track your credit rating all the way to your original country?

Thanks so much for any help
 
Probably, you can try getting a secured credit card with a deposit of $1000 (your credit limit will be $1000) and it may get converted to regular after a while soon after you establish a credit history.

I did the above at Bankone (now Chase) while I came to United States and had no credit history. They converted my card to regular about 10-12 months soon after establishing the account.

Hope this helps.
 
my bank (bank of america) offerred me a secured card.
I just didnt have the patience to start from the bottom of the ladder again.
I'm really looking for a bank who'll make some calls overseas to see i have a good credit rating.
I'll probably open a secured card, because then I'll be in the same place in 10-12 months too!
 
shinbet:

Welcome to America :D

You cannot leverage your credit rating of your home country, however
good/bad it is.

Your problem is not peculiar but a prevalent one among all immigrants/non-immigrants who show up to this country for the first time.

Just like maheshcr suggested, getting a secured card is the best option you have, before wasting any more time on letting the credit card companies do
a "paperchase", which they WILL NOT do.

The next best option is to get financed for a car. For this, you will need to have a full-time job. If the automotive finance company decides that they can take risk on you, you may probably get a car loan and after a few months - by paying the car loan amt without default of course - you can build up your credit history and start applying for credit cards.

Good luck
howdy_howdy
//
 
you have to find a US banking institution that has a presence in your previous country of residence. For example American Express or MBNA.

AmEx and MBNA will grant you a credit card based on your non-US credit history, but you must ask them to do the cross border check. Many employees within AmEx and MBNA do not know that this is possible so you may have to call a number of times until you find someone that does.
 
I don't know about the paperchase thing but Capital One has a platinum credit card for people with limited credit history. Check out the link below.
http://www.capitalone.com/creditcards/compare.php?linkid=WWW_Z_Z_01_CCOMP_H2_04_T_CCOMP&cred=lch
Limited Credit History
At a minimum all of these statements are true for you. Please note these are minimum requirements
1)I have had my own credit card for less than three years or never had one
2)I have a limited credit history, for example I am a student, or new to the country, or a young person working for a living, or I have been an authorized user on someone else's credit card
3)I have a valid credit score that can be found at one of the major credit reporting companies.
(In some cases, a valid credit report is sufficient to be eligible for a credit card.)
 
Thanks for all the replies.
Maybe this was an oversight, but I heard that if i add my name to my wife's account, which I have, and she is a US citizen, A credit card that bears my name does not improve my credit rating, as its her account.

Is this true?
What if it's a joint account?
 
I had my wife added to my account about 3 years back and her credit is good as mine. I would suggest checking directly with the customer service.
 
shinbet said:
Thanks for all the replies.
Maybe this was an oversight, but I heard that if i add my name to my wife's account, which I have, and she is a US citizen, A credit card that bears my name does not improve my credit rating, as its her account.

Is this true?
What if it's a joint account?
Click to expand...

Usually, adding yourself to your spouse's account will establish your credit rating, as they take your SSN as part of the application. I know that is the case with myself and my wife. The way I solved the initial lack of credit problem was to ask Amex in the UK (where I lived for 10 years) to transfer my Amex card to a USA Amex account. This was back in 1993 when I moved to the States. They did so, and quickly. I was therefore able to immediately start establishing a credit history, and I got a card for my wife, so she could too. If you still have any UK credit cards, see if any of them can be transferred to their US equivalent.
 
My husband and I first came as F1 students.
My husband applied for the"Blue for Students" Amex card. He got approved, and started to build a credit history.
When we became LPR ( DV ), I wanted to have a credit history too, so I applied but got turned down each time because I had no credit history ( paying your utilities doesn't help ). So, my husband added my name to his credit card, and now I also have a credit history.
You should definitely try this option.
 
Credit cards

as somebody mentioned its easy to get the credit cad without credit history with Capital One and also American Express.

If you have a job and your are a LPR, then they give it to you. Offcourse ur limit will be very less to begin with, say few hundred dollars. But in a yr or so they will increase if you pay bills ontime and have no problems on your credit record.

when I came to this country as a student, I got couple cards immedialtely w/o any credit history.
 
Not sure if you found help yet, you could approach a credit union like: DCU(www.dcu.org) or USAFCU(usafcu.org) and open a savings account with them with min deposit $10 and they also give you a credit card account. That's how I got mine.
 
The cell phone option

Believe me I feel ur pain. One is stuck without credit in this country.

Making timely payments on your cell phone plan is also another great way to build credit.
If u have no credit history, all cell phone companies will require a security deposit of anywhere between $250 (with cingular) $400 with verizon etc.
You are guaranteed to be approved once u can put this deposit down.
Then,

after about 6 months to 1year (depending on the company), you get the deposit back.

N.B I made a deposit of $400 with verizon recently, it will stay on my account as insurance for 6mths. If at any time during these 6 months, I miss one months payment/am late - the 6 month period will start over. So what this does is force you to pay on time. After 6mths of paying seamlessly you get your deposit back, in full sometimes with small interest.

Look into this - because I"m sure you'll need a cell phone anyway.
So you can do two things to build your credit.

NEVER BE LATE. EVER. EVER. Be paranoid.
Stuff stays on your report for 7 years.

And just educate yourself on credit. Just read read and read. Some things you would just never imagine - if your from another country.

As per what others already suggested:

The secured credit card B. of America option only requires a $300 deposit. I believe that is probably the lowest deposit that ull find for a C. Card account.

When I was a student capital one allowed me a credit card for $300 but i had to pay an annual fee of like $50.

FINALLY: you can keep bumping up your credit score.
Example:
you put a $300 deposit on a secured credit card. Wait a few months and then add another 200 to that deposit (if you can spare it). This will increase your credit limit to $500 and that will add points to your credit score.

The reason for this is that: the credit bureaux don't know that your card is secured, they just know that its a credit card. And the way credit scores work is - everytime you get an increase in your credit line, remove a debt, among many other things, your score grows.
So if YOU add more money to this deposit - it will look good. They'll think B. of America or whoever, increased your credit limit, when you were the one that did it on your own.

SOrry this was so long. I dont want to see anyone else as stuck without credit for as long as i was.
 
This "increasing limit improves your score" theory is not always true.

Sometimes having too much credit at your disposal is considered a negative factor.
(Reason being that it could let you get into a debt trap - I think its a bogus reason anyway :rolleyes:)
 
When one of my brothers came up as a student, I added him to one of my cards. About a year later, his credit report showed his history on my card, and he was able to get his own unsecured card. So get added to at least one of your wife's credit cards.
 
I was shocked too when I moved here from Canada with regards to credit history. I had an excellent score (with the same 3 credit unions) in Canada but I had to start from scratch here in the US. My wife added me to her 5 CCs and we jointly bought a car and leased another in my first three months here. Within a year I was in the 780s and was able to acquire a mortgage on my own (got a better rate since I work for a bank).
 
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