Building Credit Score Without Social Security Number

[Longingfor 195]

On 28/07/2017 at 0:15 PM, Michael2017 said:

Hi,

 

As this community has helped me on many occasions , I would like to contribute some very interesting way to build credit score way before you immigrate.

 

I went to Bank of America, to open a joint account with my wife (LPR). They also offered me a secured credit card. The lady in BOA told me, that the credit card record would be on file,

and once I have a GC/Social Security Number, the record would be connected with my SSN. This means, I can build credit score years before immigrating and once I immigrated, I will have a good credit score from day 1.

 

What did they ask me for?

 

1. Mailing Address in USA (Spouse address)

2. A Credit Card from my home country

3. A deposit to secure the card. Min. $250. 

 

That`s it. The card costs $39 per year.

 

I am charging $5-10 monthly, based on other trials available on the internet, this should lead to a great credit score over time.

 

Everyone with a Visa Waiver / B Visa etc. should do this, if possible, as it will greatly speeds up the time to get a good credit score after the GC is issued. 

 

Good luck everyone!

 

 

 

Thanks for the idea. Great information.

[Michael2017 368]

I just want to report back, that after now 10 months having the cards, BOA send me a mail with following content:

 

a) My deposits have been returned to me

b) My secured card is now unsecured

c) My credit limit has increased by 400%

d) The fee of $39 is waived and is now 0.

 

This has happened to me as non resident alien having no SSC. 

 

My wife`s cards, which we made at the same time, are still secured and she did not receive such a letter (yet).

 

So, BOA does trust also Non resident alians without SSC with their credit lines.

 

 

 

 

[Coco8 1,042]

6 hours ago, Michael2017 said:

I just want to report back, that after now 10 months having the cards, BOA send me a mail with following content:

 

a) My deposits have been returned to me

b) My secured card is now unsecured

c) My credit limit has increased by 400%

d) The fee of $39 is waived and is now 0.

 

This has happened to me as non resident alien having no SSC. 

 

My wife`s cards, which we made at the same time, are still secured and she did not receive such a letter (yet).

 

So, BOA does trust also Non resident alians without SSC with their credit lines.

 

 

 

 

Yes, I also opened a credit card with BoA in a similar way (I didn't need a deposit because I was a student and they had a special arrangement with my university) and my husband did the same (he needed a deposit as your case). We both have good credit scores now.

 

Just one tip, never spend over 30% of your credit card limit because your credit will go down. If do that just one month, you can go back up in 2 months. (It happened to me because I moved and my job had to reimburse all my moving expenses that I put on my credit card).

 

If you foresee a big expense, it is important to request an increase in the credit line so you can leave more "room" of unused credit. Bank of American allows you to request increases online that are immediately decided by a computer system. 

 

 

 

[Binna 108]

Just to add to what other members have posted -

 

For a very long time I've had a BOA credit card (a normal credit card without the security deposit) but I am unable to view my credit score from FICO (it says unavailable) which is in line with what @Michael2017 posted.

 

So I Called bank of america and they said the reason is because my Primary residence is not in the US that I would need to walk into any of their branches to change it to a US residential address and then I should see my credit score in about a month after the changes are made. I did as they said but the system wouldn't let the BOA staff at the branch office to update my primary residence address because I am nonresident alien. So they told me that I can only change primary residence to a US address once I become a lawful permanent resident.

 

So it is not possible to be able to have a credit score without these two major items in your US bank account records:

1. Primary residence in the US

2. SSN or ITIN (I have ITIN through my business in the US as I have to file income tax for the business)

 

Without those two components it is very impossible for any credit bureau to be able to compute your credit score.

[Michael2017 368]

11 hours ago, Binna said:

Just to add to what other members have posted -

 

For a very long time I've had a BOA credit card (a normal credit card without the security deposit) but I am unable to view my credit score from FICO (it says unavailable) which is in line with what @Michael2017 posted.

 

So I Called bank of america and they said the reason is because my Primary residence is not in the US that I would need to walk into any of their branches to change it to a US residential address and then I should see my credit score in about a month after the changes are made. I did as they said but the system wouldn't let the BOA staff at the branch office to update my primary residence address because I am nonresident alien. So they told me that I can only change primary residence to a US address once I become a lawful permanent resident.

 

So it is not possible to be able to have a credit score without these two major items in your US bank account records:

1. Primary residence in the US

2. SSN or ITIN (I have ITIN through my business in the US as I have to file income tax for the business)

H

Without those two components it is very impossible for any credit bureau to be able to compute your credit score.

Hi,

 

Yes this thread is about pre-building Credit Score as non resident alien. The idea is, what BOA told you, after you become a Resident Alien, within 1 months you will have a (good) credit score if you used the secure cards. Otherwise this takes more than a half year. So this solution is a short cut for new immigrants and you will safe about half a year.

[Suss&Camm 2,213]

16 hours ago, Binna said:

Just to add to what other members have posted -

 

For a very long time I've had a BOA credit card (a normal credit card without the security deposit) but I am unable to view my credit score from FICO (it says unavailable) which is in line with what @Michael2017 posted.

 

So I Called bank of america and they said the reason is because my Primary residence is not in the US that I would need to walk into any of their branches to change it to a US residential address and then I should see my credit score in about a month after the changes are made. I did as they said but the system wouldn't let the BOA staff at the branch office to update my primary residence address because I am nonresident alien. So they told me that I can only change primary residence to a US address once I become a lawful permanent resident.

 

So it is not possible to be able to have a credit score without these two major items in your US bank account records:

1. Primary residence in the US

2. SSN or ITIN (I have ITIN through my business in the US as I have to file income tax for the business)

 

Without those two components it is very impossible for any credit bureau to be able to compute your credit score.

I also have BoA, not being able to view your credit score in BoAs webpage/app is not the same as not having a credit score. That is just related to their systems. You can still get your credit score from the credit bureaus and once BoA are able to update your information, your WHOLE history will be there.

 

1. NOT TRUE

2. NOT TRUE

Edited December 14, 2017 by Suss&Camm

[Binna 108]

15 minutes ago, Suss&Camm said:

I also have BoA, not being able to view your credit score in BoAs webpage/app is not the same as not having a credit score. That is just related to their systems. You can still get your credit score from the credit bureaus and once BoA are able to update your information, your WHOLE history will be there.

 

1. NOT TRUE

2. NOT TRUE

@Suss&Camm you are right, I used the wrong word earlier see my correction below.... And my two points still stands  

 

"It is not possible to be able to VIEW a credit score without these two major items in your US bank account records:

1. Primary residence in the US

2. SSN or ITIN (I have ITIN through my business in the US as I have to file income tax for the business)"

 

BOA doesn't do any credit score services directly, they are able to provide the scores from the online banking through partnering with FICO. FICO is an independent data analytics company based in San Jose, California focused on credit scoring services using credit reports from TransUnion (one of the 3 big credit bureaus). 

 

 

[Suss&Camm 2,213]

8 minutes ago, Binna said:

@Suss&Camm you are right, I used the wrong word earlier see my correction below.... And my two points still stands  

 

"It is not possible to be able to VIEW a credit score without these two major items in your US bank account records:

1. Primary residence in the US

2. SSN or ITIN (I have ITIN through my business in the US as I have to file income tax for the business)"

 

BOA doesn't do any credit score services directly, they are able to provide the scores from the online banking through partnering with FICO. FICO is an independent data analytics company based in San Jose, California focused on credit scoring services using credit reports from TransUnion (one of the 3 big credit bureaus). 

 

 

"It is not possible to be able to VIEW a credit score WITH BANK OF AMERICA without these two major items in your US bank account records:

1. Primary residence in the US

2. SSN or ITIN (I have ITIN through my business in the US as I have to file income tax for the business)"

 

If you bank directly with a credit union (such as Capital One) you can view your score with them. The issue you are talking about has nothing to do with the credit score itself (which is why it doesn't belong in this thread) - it is strictly a Bank legality/policy issue. It has nothing to do with the SSN and building credit score.

[Michael2017 368]

Hi,

 

just an update. My bank of america online profile shows now the official fico score from trans union.

I am still a non resident alien, have no social security number, but an official fico score. 

Banks have other ways to connect a person (name, date of birth) with a credit score, and report that

to trans union and others already before you have a social security number.

 

My official fico score is 774 and all this was done only with monthly charges of 10$ that are paid in time,

all as non resident during the wait for the green card.

 

Thus the advice given in my original post 100% works and allows you to build credit score while waiting

for your green card.