Opinions please

[Robert&Karen 264]

Credit issues: The UK has the same credit bureaus as the US does. Equifax and Experian are international. CallCredit in the UK works with TransUnion in the US. Now I suppose you can come to the USA and pretend you never had credit before.

Criminal past: yes I know it is way more complicated, I used to work in a US Embassy. There is nothing that the government does that can really be answered in one or two sentences. If you have a criminal past it is best to seek legal guidance, but know that if you got out of prison yesterday it's really not going to look good. For most people this is a cut and dry issue but for those in the middle, they need to dig deeper for their personal issues.

[TracyTN 237]

Credit issues: The UK has the same credit bureaus as the US does. Equifax and Experian are international. CallCredit in the UK works with TransUnion in the US. Now I suppose you can come to the USA and pretend you never had credit before.

My husband didn't 'pretend' he never had credit in the UK. Everything was based off his US social security number, which of course wasn't linked to anything until we established him some credit here. Never once was he asked if he had credit cards in the UK.

CallCredit may well work with TransUnion but I don't see in what capacity. It certainly doesn't seem to be an 'on the ground' partnership, where it would help a new credit applicant in the US show that they had established credit during their years in the UK. It would be really helpful for a lot of new immigrants if this were true!

[Fandango 1,440]

My husband didn't 'pretend' he never had credit in the UK. Everything was based off his US social security number, which of course wasn't linked to anything until we established him some credit here. Never once was he asked if he had credit cards in the UK.

CallCredit may well work with TransUnion but I don't see in what capacity. It certainly doesn't seem to be an 'on the ground' partnership, where it would help a new credit applicant in the US show that they had established credit during their years in the UK. It would be really helpful for a lot of new immigrants if this were true!

dingdingding We have a winner, folks!

Nich-Nick - Of course! glad you liked!

sarah9 - glad that you clarified about what you knew/when you sold your house...cos I was steaming mad for you thinking you didn't know any of it and sold your house before making your choice!!! oooh, I was like 'if that was my man, I'd effing kill him'

[P & T 14]

My thoughts on the above:

2) Your brother-in-law may end up being a Godsend. If your husband does lose his job, you have another working adult in the house who can contribute to the bills. Quid pro quo.

3) Can your brother-in-law drive you? Bring him along for the grocery shopping and then split the bill with him.

1) Don't discount your accountancy qualifications. The FASB is looking towards adopting or aligning with IRFS. As such, many companies are starting projects to map out the accounting changes that would need to happen with IRFS. If it's in your skill set, market yourself as an international accounting consultant and seek employment with placement agencies that specialize in long-term projects.

2) Perhaps your perfect credit score could be of use in the US. Look into transferring your credit history into our credit scoring companies here. If you have a good score here, perhaps you can leverage it on a house refinance if that will help you. If you can lower the mortgage rate and change from a 30 to a 15, your payment may stay the same but you'll pay down the balance faster so that you can get out of the mess. Of course, depending on the individual situation, this may not be an option for you.

Good luck!

Sarah9,

Curious to know how things worked out? I thought this suggestion on 'pressing' the brother in law into taxi service and grocery bill paying was AWESOME!!!! Great 'small step' to set the new tone of how things needed to be.

But on a more serious note, I am and am sure all of us are hoping that one solution clearly presented itself as a 'winner' for you and your husband- with the fewest drawbacks possible......