Wrath of Creditors

[Starlight95 1]

In addition to the good comments above, defaulting on debt is considered a criminal offense in some countries. Leaving behind a warrant for one's arrest is not the brightest way to start one's immigration journey.

I agree that its not a good way to start an immigration journey. What if down the road in the near future you want to visit or possibly move to UK? This might not look on his part. Personally, I would not do this and it is a bit risky. Don't you think?

[TBoneTX 45,064]

In addition to all of the above sensible comments, I wish to gently add that "money & finances" is one of the leading causes of relationship strife and divorce in the U.S. After my first mistake, that of marrying someone with financial habits and attitudes different from mine, I resolved that no matter how good everything else in a future relationship might be, incompatibility in this area was an immediate and permanent deal-breaker.

[NgocThuan 0]

The most important thing is for you to hide your credit cards when he arrives. Also, get a bank account together for AOS, but don't put any of your money in there; just keep it in your regular account and make sure he doesn't know or have access to that account. Good luck with your marriage.

[D&R 0]

So, my fiance whom I love, is a total idiot. He wants to max out his credit before he comes here. What are the consequences? Please advise.

BTW- I am ABSOLUTELY and TOTALLY opposed to this!

I think you should put your foot down. Why would you want to marry someone that's willing to steal. I think this speak volumes on him as a person and the things he's willing to do.

What happens in years to come when you want to move there, or he has to move home for whatever reason? It's also putting his parents in an awkward position if the banks contact them asking where he's is. Hardly a man of high morals and character.

[thongd4me 69]

So, my fiance whom I love, is a total idiot. He wants to max out his credit before he comes here. What are the consequences? Please advise.

BTW- I am ABSOLUTELY and TOTALLY opposed to this!

I think you should put your foot down. Why would you want to marry someone that's willing to steal. I think this speak volumes on him as a person and the things he's willing to do.

What happens in years to come when you want to move there, or he has to move home for whatever reason? It's also putting his parents in an awkward position if the banks contact them asking where he's is. Hardly a man of high morals and character.

All this worry and fear about the transference (or not) of his debt.

That's not what she has to fear.

If he's going to steal from his home banking institution, he will most likely steal from her.

When it comes to that, the words "but honey-bunch, sweety-pie" will have a hollow echo.

[SMR 368]

First off, your fiance is attempting theft. Borrowing something and then running away far enough so that the person you borrowed from can't catch you is theft. If he does it, he's a thief. Second, most credit card companies are international or have international ties. Pretty sure that they can and would ruin his credit here and I wouldn't be surprised if they could try to collect as well.

[SophWeb 25]

If you two were to ever return to the UK (even perhaps for a brief holiday), I would not at all be surprised if this issue came back to haunt you. Credit companies can become quite vicious when it comes to their money. My fiance had a very nasty man come to his door recently demanding he pay a measly $120 dollars owed to a cable tv company. This, by the way, was not even his fault. He has asked for the service to be disconnected and the company failed to do so.

Do not underestimate these businesses. Especially if your fiance intends to rack up a large sum of money - the more money he spends, the higher chance that the company will attempt to track him down. I would strongly advise him against this. It's not worth the risk.

[Ellie-and-David 38]

OK OK OK....

I'm not going to get on my high horse like others have. Alot of people dont see screwing over the credit card companies and banks as stealing because those companies have been stealing from their own customers for years.

I thought about doing the same. Using my overdraft to generate some additional savings on top. BUT......

My mum always told me not to burn bridges. God forbid that anything go wrong here and I have to go back to England. It would be a MESS. So I decided against it.

Dont do it. I kind of thought of burning my bridges as tempting fate.....

[SophWeb 25]

OK OK OK....

I'm not going to get on my high horse like others have. Alot of people dont see screwing over the credit card companies and banks as stealing because those companies have been stealing from their own customers for years.

I thought about doing the same. Using my overdraft to generate some additional savings on top. BUT......

My mum always told me not to burn bridges. God forbid that anything go wrong here and I have to go back to England. It would be a MESS. So I decided against it.

Dont do it. I kind of thought of burning my bridges as tempting fate.....

My mother told me exactly the same thing! Haha. Mothers do know best. I know we would all love to just charge money up and not have to worry about it but the truth is you never know what the future may bring.

OP, if, GOD FORBID, your relationship doesn't work out and he has to return to the UK, that debt will most definitely still be on file. They don't just forget these things unfortunately

Or say he gets an excellent job offer in the UK in 5 years time and you two want to relocate there. Due to this bad credit, you two would have a terribly difficult time creating a life there. As I said before, it's not worth the risk. I know you're already against him doing this (which is good! you should be against it!), but maybe you should show him this thread so he can see for himself what could be the consequences of his actions

[Bobby+Umit 161]

So he wants to be a deadbeat?

Good luck with this!

[Craneman 2]

What I think Gary_and_Alla are saying is that his debt becomes your debt when you are married. His awful credit score, as a result of the maxed out credit cards, becomes your awful credit score. This is going to affect you more than you think. I think you need to stand up to him and protect your financial future. What he is doing is simply reckless. Is this how you want to begin your marraige? Heavily in debt?

Good luck.

I understand that, but debt doesn't follow you across nations- or does it?

Yes it does

[Sam and Ben 2]

You would be effectively limiting his (and your) ability to visit there at any time without the possibility of red flags going off.

If you are absolutely against it, as you said... even if there weren't consequences, or you two had no intention of visiting his country, are you comfortable putting this behaviour aside?

Edited August 28, 2009 by Sam and Ben

[clueless_in_usa 8]

So, my fiance whom I love, is a total idiot. He wants to max out his credit before he comes here. What are the consequences? Please advise.

BTW- I am ABSOLUTELY and TOTALLY opposed to this!

I would not worry about the consequences due to what creditors could do. Probably, because it is unsecured debt, he may get away with it (I do not know the laws in the UK).

However, I would worry about a bigger issue: is that the kind of ethical behavior that a would be immigrant is bringing to this country? If I were processing his AOS and knew about his ethical values, I would deny it in a heart beat.

Not only that. You should read about the consequences of crimes of moral turpitude related to the ability to get US citizenship. If he is not caught during AOS, he may well get caught during naturalization. This is risky business, and plain WRONG!!!

[Old Dominion 26]

What I think Gary_and_Alla are saying is that his debt becomes your debt when you are married. His awful credit score, as a result of the maxed out credit cards, becomes your awful credit score. This is going to affect you more than you think. I think you need to stand up to him and protect your financial future. What he is doing is simply reckless. Is this how you want to begin your marraige? Heavily in debt?

Good luck.

I understand that, but debt doesn't follow you across nations- or does it?

The debts will follow him wherever he goes, eventually, and when you are married they will haunt you both. It seems as if he would be the kind of person we don't need in the U.S., if he thinks that way. We like to think of ourselves as ethical people who don't try to take advantage of anyone. We don't need any more people who think it's OK to steal.

[thongd4me 69]

So, my fiance whom I love, is a total idiot. He wants to max out his credit before he comes here. What are the consequences? Please advise.

BTW- I am ABSOLUTELY and TOTALLY opposed to this!

I would not worry about the consequences due to what creditors could do. Probably, because it is unsecured debt, he may get away with it (I do not know the laws in the UK).

However, I would worry about a bigger issue: is that the kind of ethical behavior that a would be immigrant is bringing to this country? If I were processing his AOS and knew about his ethical values, I would deny it in a heart beat.

Not only that. You should read about the consequences of crimes of moral turpitude related to the ability to get US citizenship. If he is not caught during AOS, he may well get caught during naturalization. This is risky business, and plain WRONG!!!

I second that. Aside from financial issues, how far will he be likely to go?

As far as he can get away with anything. That may also include plans that he or his relatives

have for starting a business (scam?) in the US or some kind of immigration fraud of a scope

wider than that concerning the married couple.

If I were the OP I would grill him in detail about any other "plans" he or his family may have in the works.

If she still wants to go ahead with the visa/marriage, I would suggest separate accounts for 2 years

before any comingling takes place. If there must be joint accounts, make sure the bulk of the funds

remains in the individual account.