Interview

[vishhimu 0]

Has anyoone gone through inter after RFE? Can i call th elocal office to find out why they send my file here even after i replied the California Center with most of prooved except lease aggreement/utility and wrote an explaination letter with my mobility agreement. Everyday i think of it and get worried. I never thought of these since while you legally married you don'r care until i you know /experience things like i am. Has anyone gone through interview at Detroit Local Office?

My husband is a student/part time worker and just got job now. How come he wuold be approved for loan/credit card and utility without having a job ? I am supprting him in his education, and why they suspect us? We tried applying joit loan several times but as soon as i put my husband as a co-signer he got declined due to low/limited credit history and not having work. Should i explain this in interview , i am really frustrated due to the way USCIS is harrasing us with RFE before and now inter right after they recieved our RFE. We are not any special case in fact i am a goverment worker and my husband has not even got a traffic ticket yet. Its our decision to let him study furhter for our better future, and that is what hurting our case, is that so?

Please give as many comment/suggestion/reply as you can this really helps

[Inky 1,111]

They approve anyone for credit because they want you to go in debt and owe them a lot of money.

Some people get interviews and some people don't it is a roll of the dice. It does not automatically mean they do not believe you are a real couple it just means you got selected from the pile for an interview.

[jjbandero 39]

I agree with Inky, it's quite possible that you were picked randomly for an interview rather than specific issues with your paperwork.

As an aside, I'm also a foreigner who's experienced difficulties in getting credit initially, even though I have a long history of using international banks (HSBC) and credit cards (American Express) with business in the US, they also refused me credit because my Australian credit history was "not transferable". You might want to get your husband a secured credit card (basically you put money in the account before you can use the card) or try store cards (my first was a Macy's card with $200 limit) to help him build credit. While it may be too late in getting this done for your interview, it may be worthwhile to start now so that in the future when you do take out a large loan e.g. home mortgage, you are not disadvantaged (financial institutions will charge interest based on the lower credit score in a joint loan).

Best of luck!

[scotty2009 13]

They approve anyone for credit because they want you to go in debt and owe them a lot of money.

NOT TRUE.

"Some people get interviews and some people don't it is a roll of the dice. It does not automatically mean they do not believe you are a real couple it just means you got selected from the pile for an interview." VERY TRUE

[scotty2009 13]

Has anyoone gone through inter after RFE? Can i call th elocal office to find out why they send my file here even after i replied the California Center with most of prooved except lease aggreement/utility and wrote an explaination letter with my mobility agreement. Everyday i think of it and get worried. I never thought of these since while you legally married you don'r care until i you know /experience things like i am. Has anyone gone through interview at Detroit Local Office?

My husband is a student/part time worker and just got job now. How come he wuold be approved for loan/credit card and utility without having a job ? I am supprting him in his education, and why they suspect us? We tried applying joit loan several times but as soon as i put my husband as a co-signer he got declined due to low/limited credit history and not having work. Should i explain this in interview , i am really frustrated due to the way USCIS is harrasing us with RFE before and now inter right after they recieved our RFE. We are not any special case in fact i am a goverment worker and my husband has not even got a traffic ticket yet. Its our decision to let him study furhter for our better future, and that is what hurting our case, is that so?

Please give as many comment/suggestion/reply as you can this really helps

If you are asked why you don't have joint loans- you may want to say that you want to live within your means.

If you are asked for credit card, same thing- you live within your means. Or you may go by your real reason- no credit cards because you both don't get approved. If in case your husband has bad credit history, avoid mentioning this to the officer because this might bring up more questions. Although if you are financially stable enough to put your husband in school, I would think that you would be capable to get approved for a credit card as well? If you do have a credit card, why not add your husband as an authorized user? My husband's BAD credit history does not get us approved for a JOINT credit card, but I added him as an authorized user just so he could use it when needed. I submitted this as added proof to USCIS - it's still a proof of co-mingling assets (or should I say liabilities)

[deidre 13]

I agree with Inky, it's quite possible that you were picked randomly for an interview rather than specific issues with your paperwork.

As an aside, I'm also a foreigner who's experienced difficulties in getting credit initially, even though I have a long history of using international banks (HSBC) and credit cards (American Express) with business in the US, they also refused me credit because my Australian credit history was "not transferable". You might want to get your husband a secured credit card (basically you put money in the account before you can use the card) or try store cards (my first was a Macy's card with $200 limit) to help him build credit. While it may be too late in getting this done for your interview, it may be worthwhile to start now so that in the future when you do take out a large loan e.g. home mortgage, you are not disadvantaged (financial institutions will charge interest based on the lower credit score in a joint loan).

Best of luck!

Hi jjbandero!

So American Express didnt help you? Im also an Aussie and had an amex card back in australia (had it for many years). When i came here, and finally received my ssn, i called amex to let them know i was now in the US and wanted to transfer my card here, they said they couldnt BUT they could pull the card info and check my history. And use that towards opening up a US card. Took them 24 hours, i received a call back from Amex, they said everything was good and gave me the same card as the one i had and a credit limit equivalent to that of my Aussie card.

It was super easy, so i find it odd that they couldnt help you. Maybe call again and speak to the supervisor?

[jjbandero 39]

Hi jjbandero!

So American Express didnt help you? Im also an Aussie and had an amex card back in australia (had it for many years). When i came here, and finally received my ssn, i called amex to let them know i was now in the US and wanted to transfer my card here, they said they couldnt BUT they could pull the card info and check my history. And use that towards opening up a US card. Took them 24 hours, i received a call back from Amex, they said everything was good and gave me the same card as the one i had and a credit limit equivalent to that of my Aussie card.

It was super easy, so i find it odd that they couldnt help you. Maybe call again and speak to the supervisor?

Hi Deidre,

Thanks for your response, I think they may have changed their policies in recent years, I came to the US in 2004, and at the time, they refused to help me, their suggestion was for me to continue using my Aussie card here. Yeah right, I'm not desperate enough to use a credit card that I would rack up foreign transaction fees, exchange rate losses and having to wire money to my Aussie accounts to pay off the balances . I spoke to two supervisory level people (supposedly) and they both acted as if what I was asking was crazy, on the other hand, Citibank was clever enough to set up a foreigner friendly account program, but they charged an arm and a leg for it. I had a lot of interesting banking stories in the beginning, Like not knowing a checking account is a day-to-day transaction account, my first thought was, who writes cheques? Lol... Then I find out "online banking" means instead of you sending a cheque to the payee, the bank will do it on your behalf, and that is why they need the payee's address and not their account number... Oh how I missed BPay in those days, things are a little better now...

Cheers

Juan

[mr and mrs 187]

as a usc who lived in scotland for a year, the lack of electronic payments in the us makes me feel like we are living in a primitive world here. i miss SO MUCH paying rent electronically. actually, i dont miss it because i never had to think about it. i wonder if it will ever come to america? i feel like it's a good tool to help people manage their payments and even save money. (ex fewer late payment fees, at least in the case of renting an apartment. )

[deidre 13]

Omg...online banking is just them sending a cheque on your behalf??? Seriously?! Really? I never knew that!!! Thats kinda redundant! Yeah i so miss BPay!! Ive never used cheques before like i do here. Feels really strange...and my jaw still drops when i see someone pay for their $15 worth of groceries at the store by cheque....total ####### moment each time!

I agree with you Mr and Mrs....its really primitive here!! I thought the US would be leading the way on this..esp because this country is all about money. Lol

[jjbandero 39]

Omg...online banking is just them sending a cheque on your behalf??? Seriously?! Really? I never knew that!!! Thats kinda redundant! Yeah i so miss BPay!! Ive never used cheques before like i do here. Feels really strange...and my jaw still drops when i see someone pay for their $15 worth of groceries at the store by cheque....total ####### moment each time!

I agree with you Mr and Mrs....its really primitive here!! I thought the US would be leading the way on this..esp because this country is all about money. Lol

Yep, it was quite funny, especially when I asked to see a sample cheque (I wasn't sure how you were suppose to fill it out, since the only cheques I'd ever gotten in Oz were bank cheques for large purchases), the bank clerk looked at me like I was up and down, then said, "where did you say you were from again?" I guess to be fair, there are a lot more banks here in the US, including state and regional based banks, it was probably difficult to set up a common system that everybody agreed to to administer and clear all the transactions.