credit history etc. questions

[Sherri and Matt 1]

My fiancee and I were discussing finances the other day and we had some questions about how all this works.

He has a really good credit history in England. In fact we have delayed applying because he wants to get all of his debt paid off, and save money before he comes here. It is our understanding that when he comes here, he will have no credit history at all. I have read some posts about people being added to existing bank accounts and credit cards of thier spouses. Our concern with that, is that I have just ended a bad marriage a year ago, I have a ton of debt, bad credit history and will most likely be filing for bankruptcy before he comes here.

Will my bankruptcy affect our Visa? I don't meet the income requirements, because I have 3 dependents, but we have a co-sponsor. I was thinking that if I added him to accounts that I have that are in good standing, it would give him good history. Since leaving my husband, all my personal accounts, bank, credit cards etc, are in good standing, it's really old marriage debt I need to deal with. Does anyone have any experience with this?

If people do leave debt behind in thier country, what happens to it? He has a pension from the Navy that goes into one of his accounts monthly, they said he will continue to get that even after moving here. We have had the thought of him consolidating his debt with one lower interest rate loan, and the pension could go to pay that possibly.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Edited September 9, 2008 by Sherri and Matt

[Otto 83]

Will my bankruptcy affect our Visa? I don't meet the income requirements, because I have 3 dependents, but we have a co-sponsor. I was thinking that if I added him to accounts that I have that are in good standing, it would give him good history. Since leaving my husband, all my personal accounts, bank, credit cards etc, are in good standing, it's really old marriage debt I need to deal with. Does anyone have any experience with this?

Bankruptcy/bad-credit/debt (or good credit for that matter) has no bearing on your visa.

[Mononoke28 135]

My fiancee and I were discussing finances the other day and we had some questions about how all this works.

He has a really good credit history in England. In fact we have delayed applying because he wants to get all of his debt paid off, and save money before he comes here. It is our understanding that when he comes here, he will have no credit history at all. I have read some posts about people being added to existing bank accounts and credit cards of thier spouses. Our concern with that, is that I have just ended a bad marriage a year ago, I have a ton of debt, bad credit history and will most likely be filing for bankruptcy before he comes here.

Will my bankruptcy affect our Visa? I don't meet the income requirements, because I have 3 dependents, but we have a co-sponsor. I was thinking that if I added him to accounts that I have that are in good standing, it would give him good history. Since leaving my husband, all my personal accounts, bank, credit cards etc, are in good standing, it's really old marriage debt I need to deal with. Does anyone have any experience with this?

If people do leave debt behind in thier country, what happens to it? He has a pension from the Navy that goes into one of his accounts monthly, they said he will continue to get that even after moving here. We have had the thought of him consolidating his debt with one lower interest rate loan, and the pension could go to pay that possibly.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Since your credit here in the US is not so great, then the best thing is not to include him in any of your accounts. He can apply for a Capital One credit card which helps people establish credit and doesn't need any deposits beforehand. That's what my husband used to establish his credit and has a great credit score right now.

Your credit won't affect his visa process, so no need to worry about that.

As far as leaving credit behind, you need to check to see what would happen to his finances there and if there are any legal implications before any decisions are made.

Diana