Bank Account/Credit Card/Loans? etc..

[Hydey 0]

Hi there. I am adjusting my status from the VWP very shortly and was wondering once i receive my EAD card for working from the I-765 and have a bank account joint and established with my partner, (where my pay checks will go) will i then be eligible for some sort of credit card or loan? Inquiring because we are having a renewal of the vowels next year which will have my international guests from England and we have a lot to save for.

Also, if eligible or not, will my credit score start afresh once i have my green card, if not how is the information taken from England as i am almost positive the credit systems are harsher there.

Regards,

-Richard

[Heliosphan 1]

Hi there. I am adjusting my status from the VWP very shortly and was wondering once i receive my EAD card for working from the I-765 and have a bank account joint and established with my partner, (where my pay checks will go) will i then be eligible for some sort of credit card or loan? Inquiring because we are having a renewal of the vowels next year which will have my international guests from England and we have a lot to save for.

Also, if eligible or not, will my credit score start afresh once i have my green card, if not how is the information taken from England as i am almost positive the credit systems are harsher there.

Regards,

-Richard

Depends, usually once you have a SS number you can establish credit. Sometimes they require you be a citizen or a GC resident but I'm a foreign student and I have credit cards/loans etc

[Wishes 2]

Hi there. I am adjusting my status from the VWP very shortly and was wondering once i receive my EAD card for working from the I-765 and have a bank account joint and established with my partner, (where my pay checks will go) will i then be eligible for some sort of credit card or loan? Inquiring because we are having a renewal of the vowels next year which will have my international guests from England and we have a lot to save for.

Also, if eligible or not, will my credit score start afresh once i have my green card, if not how is the information taken from England as i am almost positive the credit systems are harsher there.

Regards,

-Richard

Hey Richard,

I have heard that incoming immigrants have no credit history at all.. Dont know if thats entirely true or not. My wife doesnt have a SSN yet, still waiting on her EAD to come. I successfully added her to all of my credit cards and even my bank account. I was told though once she has a social to call them all back and give them her Social security number. I assume at that time she will start building a credit history.

[Hydey 0]

So my wife and i would be able to take out a joint credit card that we could both pay back money to? Say from.... capital one? Or does it have to be from a bank?

Regards,

Richard

[Rosie74 0]

You can start building credit history from any credit company, it doesn't have to be from your bank.

And yes, every immigrant starts with zero credit history unless he/she already had a US based credit before they arrived in the US, which is very unlikely

[island_princess 2]

i have been working for more than 2 months now and have our internet account under my name, but i still have no credit record. why i know? i applied for credit cards, and i always get rejected. however, bank of america offered a secured credit card of $500.00 credit line. you just have to write them a $99.00 check. well, sounds good to start a credit history.

[Rosie74 0]

Island princess, the internet bank account itself will not make you built any credit history unfortunately. The only things that can do that are things like credit cards and loans. Secured cards are also a good way to start, since most likely you will get turned down on any actual credit card. In my case, about a year after I had opened an account with my bank, they decided to give me some credit so I didn't have to go through the secured card. Your own bank is always the first choice if you want to try for a credit card, because they know who you are and might decide to trust you enough to give you some credit

[Mononoke28 135]

Since you don't have a credit history at the moment most credit card companies will deny your application. But this is what my husband and I did and now he has a very nice credit score in less than 6 months. We opened a joined checking and savings account with our local bank, then I added him to all my credit cards (it helped that I have a nice credit score as well), then he applied for a Capital One card and he got approved for $500. After 6 months his limit was raised to $750 and he just opened another one with Washington Mutual.

He did apply to like 5 different other credit card companies but they all denied him because of his lack of credit. Capital One has one special card designed to help people build or fix their credit. All the info is in their web site. The best thing to do is to pay off your balance each month and that'll help you raise your credit score. What we usually do is buy groceries and gas for the month and then pay it all off before the due date.

Diana

Edited July 31, 2008 by Mononoke28