Credit Card U.S. Resident Question

[immario1991 0]

Hey I was hoping you guys could answer this question for me. So I was granted DACA a couple of months back and have my ID and ssn. I was trying to apply by phone for a college cash back credit card and the dude doing the application first asked me my country of citizenship. When I told him I wasn't a us citizen he asked me if i was a us resident. I told him no and then he asked me if I was under a visa or anything I told him no I'm living in the united states but I'm not a legal permanent resident. He asked me if I was living in the United States permanently or just here on a visa and I told him I was living here permanently so he said he'd put yeah and then mentioned "yeah and you have an ssn so..". I was concerned so at the end I asked him again and stressed I was NOT a citizen or legal permanent resident and I asked him if there were any options to choose from. He said no it just asked if I was a resident and that it just meant if I lived here. I told him ok and he submitted the application. I've heard that if you claim to be a us citizen or legal permanent resident in any forms such as bank accounts that later when you try to do an adjustment of status that it comes up during the fbi background check and that is a felony and get arrested/deported. Should I be concerned and call back and tell them to cancel my application? Thanks

[NickD 203]

USCIS takes it very seriously with any claim to be a US citizen, going to school, applying for a job, drivers' license, voters registration, etc. Worse thing is to lie about it on your applications, that will get you deported for sure.

[newacct 688]

There's no single definition of "resident". For example, "resident" for federal tax purposes means having stayed in the U.S. for 183 days that year (it's more complicated than that, but that's the basic version), so illegal immigrants, tourists who have come a lot during the year, etc. are "residents" for tax purposes. You would definitely be a resident for tax purposes. (For state taxes, each state has its own rules; they mostly do not depend on immigration status.) Then, in many states, public universities care about "resident" for tuition purposes, which means you've lived in that state for some amount of time, and in many states regardless of your immigration status. Then, "permanent resident" in immigration means something else entirely.

I think it's okay to say that you're a resident. In the absence of any particular context, "U.S. resident" simply means you "reside" in the U.S., probably in a non-temporary capacity, which is definitely your case. I'm not sure why credit card companies care about this. I know when we applied for a bank account, on the banker's screen the menu had options that said something like "U.S. citizen", "U.S. resident", and "U.S. non-resident", or something like that. The banker didn't give a convincing explanation for what the difference was. Perhaps it could be for tax purposes.

[immario1991 0]

Great insightful response nick. obviously you didnt bother to read the question as I clearly stated I told him multiple times i was not a citizen. but yeah i think i just wont submit the proof that im in college so the application gets thrown out and i avoid ANY sort of problems

[NickD 203]

When my wife first came here, had her own credit card from her home country, a Master Card just like ours, with that stupid APA act, wasn't allowed to do anything with her, not even open a hundred buck account in her name, until she received her EAD card.

A bit confused as to how you received an SSN, unless you have some kind of a work visa. As a tourist, not allowed to work, but SS loves to take your money, and even as a LPR, feds love to make you pay taxes, but at the same time, even as a taxpayer, not allowed to vote.

I am uncertain as to the laws regarding SS if you come here on a student visa. What I do know from my experience, our universities will break there backs to issue a student visa, they get to charge full rates.

[immario1991 0]

I got a work permit that's how i got ssn. I'm not here on a student visa