How to improve immigrants credit score.

[semidevil 12]

My green card holder wife has been in the u.s for 1 year now. She has steady income and we have a joint bank account. I was surprised when she tried to apply for a Gap visa and was denied. The letter mailed to us indicated insufficient credit history.

is the issue purely because she hasn't been in the u.s long enough, or do we need to do anything to get her some credit scores?

We try to avoid credit card payments as much as possible, but we do use the debit card to make payments.

I went ahead and added her as an authorized user in my card just so she can have her name on some of my stuff, but besides that, I don't know what else we can do.

How long does it usually take to get decent history?

[Boiler 45,468]

What has she done to generate a history? What does she have?

[heo luoi 206]

Theres many threads on this and a pinned one in a forum. Search for them for more details.

I do not believe debit card usage would do a whole lot for credit building, the funds from debit card comes from your own account. Its not proving your responsibility or ability / history of paying back revolving credit or a credit line since the funds are simply withdrawn from your account.

Charging a $500 ipad from your account w/ $1000 you have, is a lot different you effectively borrowing $500 you dont have w/ the promise to pay it back in 30 days or less or pay interest.

The secured credit card people suggest here is almost the same thing except that you front the credit (effectively almost making it a debit card) until they see you've proved your responsibility and offer to remove the collateral. Many suggest that after a year, that collateral requirement is lifted.

Edited October 17, 2015 by heo luoi

[TBoneTX 45,267]

*** Thread moved from Off Topic forum to the Tax & Finances forum, where the aforementioned existing threads are. ***

[Dakine10 5,452]

My green card holder wife has been in the u.s for 1 year now. She has steady income and we have a joint bank account. I was surprised when she tried to apply for a Gap visa and was denied. The letter mailed to us indicated insufficient credit history.

is the issue purely because she hasn't been in the u.s long enough, or do we need to do anything to get her some credit scores?

We try to avoid credit card payments as much as possible, but we do use the debit card to make payments.

I went ahead and added her as an authorized user in my card just so she can have her name on some of my stuff, but besides that, I don't know what else we can do.

How long does it usually take to get decent history?

Secured credit cards are good for establishing credit history. It's a good way for people who don't like to use credit but want to build a credit history. It takes about a year to get in to the "good" range, and about 2+ years to get into the range where you get the best rates for something like a mortgage. Having more than one credit card helps bring the score up faster. Of course, payments need to be on time and balances kept low. Ditch the secured card as soon as she can qualify for a regular card. That would be probably around six months or so of using the secured card.

Unfortunately people who don't use credit cards or other types of credit much may not have enough credit history. It's possible to not even have a credit score. Which is fine if you always intend to always pay cash but not great if you need a loan or something.

[david'sgirl 134]

I added husband to my cards. He opened a card with Capital One. Have her set up a credit karma account. It's free. Until there is an inquiry into your credit it's like you don't exist. Take out a small secured loan at your bank and pay it back.