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The "been there done that" thread: life in the US after DV

Britsimon said:
But no income in the USA. Wait until you have income.
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@Wingpin

I assume it's not a missing income. I remember being rejected twice for a missing credit file. It can take some time until your SSN is in the system. So I waited until Credit Karma was able to pull my report (approx 3-4 weeks). I was instantly approved later on when I applied (online) for a secured credit card.
If you can't wait I would go to a BofA or Capital One branch in person and explain your situation.
 
Yeah I'm surprised at capital one being the bank.... we started getting unsolicited card offers from them roughly a month after we arrived - but clearly they had our address from something (whatever it was, it wasn't other credit as we didn't have any at that stage). That's possibly wingpin's issue, if I understand correctly on a second read, you are not actually living in the US yet?
 
Wow I'm surprised too. Concerning the income, my bank had me input my income in the previous year, and made me understand how it includes savings, monetary gifts, even social benefits.
Assuming her credit profile wasnt found in the system, theyre supposed to ask for extra docs to verify identity.
Likely to be a mistake of some sort. @Wingpin Did you notice a hard pull on creditkarma?
 
I got a bank account in person and they copied my passport. I used my friend's address to have the debit card sent to me. There is one hard pull on CreditKarma, yes.
 
Wingpin said:
I got a bank account in person and they copied my passport. I used my friend's address to have the debit card sent to me. There is one hard pull on CreditKarma, yes.
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But you can't prove it's your own address obviously. Doesn't matter for a debit card, does for credit.
 
Quick update for anyone who might be interested, just completed the amex global transfer (UK to US) over the phone so am approved for a credit card. Should have just done this in the first place; just logically I was under the impressed a secured credit card is the basic first step. Silly me ;)
 
Wingpin said:
Quick update for anyone who might be interested, just completed the amex global transfer (UK to US) over the phone so am approved for a credit card. Should have just done this in the first place; just logically I was under the impressed a secured credit card is the basic first step. Silly me ;)
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Yup, for those countries where you can transfer Amex - it doesn't work for all of them - it should be the first thing you do.
 
Wingpin said:
Quick update for anyone who might be interested, just completed the amex global transfer (UK to US) over the phone so am approved for a credit card. Should have just done this in the first place; just logically I was under the impressed a secured credit card is the basic first step. Silly me ;)
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Hi @Wingpin would you mind sharing what details (or proof if any) they asked for?

Thanks
 
Hey Lottic, there's a list on the Global Transfer AMEX page for the details you should have ready for the application. Over the phone, I gave them:

- US address
- US phone number
- AMEX card number in UK
- SSN number
- Employment details (annual salary/income and company name) and total assets/liabilities. For example I told them what I have in total in checking and savings accounts and what investments I have etc etc.

What I didn't have to give them (though it was mentioned on the website as included in the information to have ready) is:
- US account
- Passport info

They asked 2-3 times to confirm they had permission to check my credit (non existent in US). Overall, it took maybe 20 minutes on the phone speaking to two reps. There was little wait time and they were very polite and prompt.
 
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Wingpin said:
Hey Lottic, there's a list on the Global Transfer AMEX page for the details you should have ready for the application. Over the phone, I gave them:

- US address
- US phone number
- AMEX card number in UK
- SSN number
- Employment details (annual salary/income and company name) and total assets/liabilities. For example I told them what I have in total in checking and savings accounts and what investments I have etc etc.

What I didn't have to give them (though it was mentioned on the website as included in the information to have ready) is:
- US account
- Passport info

They asked 2-3 times to confirm they had permission to check my credit (non existent in US). Overall, it took maybe 20 minutes on the phone speaking to two reps. There was little wait time and they were very polite and prompt.
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Thanks for your help @Wingpin

For employment details, did you provide US employment details or UK?

For the address, did it have to be a US residential address?

Cheers
 
@lottic Hi, my UK employment details were ok. Address had to be US residential/permanent one as far as I know, I don't think they'd send it overseas, and they wouldn't send it to a temp address that I'm at at the moment.
 
SusieQQQ said:
This was to replace the 14-year old child's card, correct? Yes, the old card is valid until you receive the new one. We've traveled twice out the country while waiting for the new one and had no problems. We also traveled a few times between when she turned 14 and when we realized :oops: we were supposed to get a new one with no questions being asked. So tbh I'm not sure how essential it really is.... but it's what you're supposed to do so we did it.
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Hi guys just updating you about my son who turned 14 last year( 11 month ago.). My son I-90 approved and card produced. We didn’t receive it yet but I received text message and online says it’s approved too. Thank you Jesus.
Thanks guys for your great advise in our immigration journey :)
God bless you all.
 
Sam2015 said:
Hi guys just updating you about my son who turned 14 last year( 11 month ago.). My son I-90 approved and card produced. We didn’t receive it yet but I received text message and online says it’s approved too. Thank you Jesus.
Thanks guys for your great advise in our immigration journey :)
God bless you all.
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The info in the new card says the card holder residence since 00/00/ same date exact like the old GC. only the expiration date is different which is mean the old one never become expire while you’re u are waiting for the new one. Just info for those who apply or renew their GC.
 
Sam2015 said:
The info in the new card says the card holder residence since 00/00/ same date exact like the old GC. only the expiration date is different which is mean the old one never become expire while you’re u are waiting for the new one. Just info for those who apply or renew their GC.
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Of course the resident since date remains the same. Even if one applies for a replacement card 10 years down the road after the initial card expires, resident since date will not change.
 
Sam2015 said:
Hi guys just updating you about my son who turned 14 last year( 11 month ago.). My son I-90 approved and card produced. We didn’t receive it yet but I received text message and online says it’s approved too. Thank you Jesus.
Thanks guys for your great advise in our immigration journey :)
God bless you all.
Click to expand...

We got notification card produced Oct 20th (also replacement card for 14-yo). We filed I90 late November last year so almost exactly 11 months.
 
Just a question re: taxes. We activated our diversity visas late March this year and have been out of the country since then, doing the proper move in mid February. I've read that I'll need to ensure I've filed taxes so as not to raise any issues on arrival, even though we haven't earned any income in the states this year. The problem is our social security numbers never actually arrived with at our friend's address in the states like I thought they were supposed to, so I'm assuming it will be a bit tricky to do that paperwork without these. I figured I'll have to go into an office to sort out our SSNs once we're there. Will we be ok to wait until we're there, as long as we do our taxes before the deadline, which I see is in April?
 
Gharrison said:
Just a question re: taxes. We activated our diversity visas late March this year and have been out of the country since then, doing the proper move in mid February. I've read that I'll need to ensure I've filed taxes so as not to raise any issues on arrival, even though we haven't earned any income in the states this year. The problem is our social security numbers never actually arrived with at our friend's address in the states like I thought they were supposed to, so I'm assuming it will be a bit tricky to do that paperwork without these. I figured I'll have to go into an office to sort out our SSNs once we're there. Will we be ok to wait until we're there, as long as we do our taxes before the deadline, which I see is in April?
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Should be fine. (And yes, you do need the SSNs to file tax.)
 
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