Building up credit history

[athena_ny 1]

Go for the Secured credit card, works great for me, I just got mine last october and I 've been using it and making all my payments on time and other banks all already sending me offers.

When I first came here hubby got me one with my name under his account but that didn't help at all.

I will recommend to definitely open a joint saving account or checking account with your hubby that will help you alot with your AOS or I-751.

Good luck

Vi

This is totally OT, but Vi, you look just like my friend who just had a baby. She's Cuban...but her husband is Peruvian!

[mawilson 2,133]

Being added to your USC spouse's credit card will give you 'fake' history. Meaning, the score will partially attach to the foreign spouse's name, but a quick pull of the credit will show it's an authorized user and not the acct holder, which essentially means bubkus.

Exactly. Not to mention that if your USC spouse screws up his/her credit, your credit will be affected as well.

[Jenn! 918]

I added him to my credit card account as soon as he got here. He also got a Best Buy credit card almost immediately. After that, he started to get solicitations by mail and we've gone from there.

With the credit history that he'd built to that point, we were able to get a $25,000 car loan in both of our names less than a year after he arrived.

[Vi Mazzella 4]

This is totally OT, but Vi, you look just like my friend who just had a baby. She's Cuban...but her husband is Peruvian!

That is really funny, here everybody thinks I'm Indian (I get that almost everyday). Silly question, hubby is not around to ask him, what means OT???

[mawilson 2,133]

I added him to my credit card account as soon as he got here.

It's definitely a good way to jump-start your credit.

[athena_ny 1]

This is totally OT, but Vi, you look just like my friend who just had a baby. She's Cuban...but her husband is Peruvian!

That is really funny, here everybody thinks I'm Indian (I get that almost everyday). Silly question, hubby is not around to ask him, what means OT???

Off topic

[pushbrk 13,116]

Go for the Secured credit card, works great for me, I just got mine last october and I 've been using it and making all my payments on time and other banks all already sending me offers.

When I first came here hubby got me one with my name under his account but that didn't help at all.

I will recommend to definitely open a joint saving account or checking account with your hubby that will help you alot with your AOS or I-751.

Good luck

Vi

The secured cards get the job done but I would caution against most of the offers by mail. They tend to have huge start-up fees and low limits making the overal expense quite high. I'd try your own bank first because they'll usually just give you a one to one credit limit with minimal fees. By waiting a couple months after obtaining the SSN, my wife, with no credit history or help from me except with the application, was able to obtain a no fee, no interest for six months Platinum Visa from Capital One. On the other hand, we weren't in a hurry.

[bora bora 1]

We don't want credit cards...so there are other ways - joint accounts, the gym, buying something together (ie: a car), store "credit cards"....

[Jeraly 4]

Would your credit rating from your home country not have any impact at all? What if I were to bring previous credit card statements etc? Bank statements don't look all that great as have just finished four years of uni but!!!

Also what are the chances of getting a mortgage together? I'm confident we can save the money for a downpayment but I don't know how much credit history will impact on this..

[trailmix 77]

Would your credit rating from your home country not have any impact at all? What if I were to bring previous credit card statements etc? Bank statements don't look all that great as have just finished four years of uni but!!!

Also what are the chances of getting a mortgage together? I'm confident we can save the money for a downpayment but I don't know how much credit history will impact on this..

Your credit history in another country will probably be no help at all. You may be able to get a mortgage. I know of a couple who did this last year - they were not considered to be permanent residents at the time, however their local bank offered them a mortgage at a slightly higher interest rate. They had developed a relationship with their bank though - so that's important too.

Also - with regard to credit - as Texanadian mentioned in an earlier post, we have had a few conversations about this in the Canada forum and one thing mentioned is that if you have an American Express card you may be able to transfer it to a U.S. American Express card.

It's no problem for Canadians and I think they offer this to persons from the U.K. as well - you can check it out on their site here:

http://www.americanexpress.com/globaltrans...ansfer_en.shtml

Edited December 30, 2007 by trailmix

[pushbrk 13,116]

Would your credit rating from your home country not have any impact at all? What if I were to bring previous credit card statements etc? Bank statements don't look all that great as have just finished four years of uni but!!!

Also what are the chances of getting a mortgage together? I'm confident we can save the money for a downpayment but I don't know how much credit history will impact on this..

Your credit history in another country will probably be no help at all. You may be able to get a mortgage. I know of a couple who did this last year - they were not considered to be permanent residents at the time, however their local bank offered them a mortgage at a slightly higher interest rate. They had developed a relationship with their bank though - so that's important too.

Also - with regard to credit - as Texanadian mentioned in an earlier post, we have had a few conversations about this in the Canada forum and one thing mentioned is that if you have an American Express card you may be able to transfer it to a U.S. American Express card.

It's no problem for Canadians and I think they offer this to persons from the U.K. as well - you can check it out on their site here:

http://www.americanexpress.com/globaltrans...ansfer_en.shtml

American Express Cardholders in good standing can get US cards but historically, they don't report to the credit bureau like a bank card does. So, they don't build your credit rating, just your relationship with Amex.

If you plan to get a mortgage, and use the two incomes to qualify, it would be good to get some credit established in the US.

[Jeraly 4]

Hmm - that's what I thought - well we aren't realistically going to be looking to buy for a while anyway - we need to get me a job and get a decent downpayment - maybe that in combo with a decent credit rating will all fall into place at the same time

Thanks guys Will also check out Amex now

[JVKn'CVO 11]

Being added to your USC spouse's credit card will give you 'fake' history. Meaning, the score will partially attach to the foreign spouse's name, but a quick pull of the credit will show it's an authorized user and not the acct holder, which essentially means bubkus.

I don't think either of us knew that, that's interesting Lisa

As I was reading through the posts, I was surprised to see different experiences. I took the secured credit card route and it worked fine for me.

Absolutely! many great options, and a lot of helpful input on this thread

Go for the Secured credit card, works great for me, I just got mine last october and I 've been using it and making all my payments on time and other banks all already sending me offers.

Good luck

Vi

Thanks for the advice, sounds like the secured card is one of the most popular options.

Exactly. Not to mention that if your USC spouse screws up his/her credit, your credit will be affected as well.

well, we're on this boat together, in sickness and in health, in 750 or 350 credit score lol

(I think I woke up on the geeky side of the bed... )

We don't want credit cards...so there are other ways - joint accounts, the gym, buying something together (ie: a car), store "credit cards"....

I never liked credit cards either, I think we'll need them though since we plan to travel quite a bit, and he wants to have them, so I guess we are keeping them

I was telling Justin yesterday how my mind has changed about economics since I came here. I always lived on a full paid house, and grew up thinking the house is priority #1 and don't buy anything else until you fully own your house, and all that. I know now that the economy works different here, it's kind of neat learning about it

Saludos,

Caro

[trailmix 77]

American Express Cardholders in good standing can get US cards but historically, they don't report to the credit bureau like a bank card does. So, they don't build your credit rating, just your relationship with Amex.

Well, that won't be very helpful then, i've never heard of a credit card not reporting to a credit bureau. Can you give me a link to your info on this pushbrk, I would like to ask Am Ex about it.

Thanks

[Jeraly 4]

Well I applied for a card anyway - if it means I can get a credit card in the US it is a step in the right direction... I hardly use them and have set up a direct debit fo pay off my balance in full each month so.. Would be nice if it did help