Where do you live when you arrive?

[*Snowdrop* 604]

1 minute ago, bukawbukaw said:

No my husband grew up in the US. Is it common knowledge that immigrants can't rent in most places? I thought that was only me. No one ever told me this. That is why I wanted to discuss it. I never read it here either.

In which case - why did he not know how to find a place to rent? As a USC he would be able to rent anything even if there are some places who won't rent to immigrants - I've never seen this myself. 

Does he not have any family or friends in the USA you could have lent on for help? 

 

Now you are a USC and have been here for years have you done some research on different States you might like to move to? Perhaps there is a better place with quieter more rural communities that would be more suitable.

[bukawbukaw 2]

2 minutes ago, Paul & Mallory said:

So your husband's never lived anywhere on his own then? I'm not understanding this part.

 

If he already lives somewhere, especially if he already resided somewhere with his name on the lease/mortgage/whatever, it should not be such an issue to add his legal spouse to that residence contract. I've already added my fiancé to the lease on my house with his move in date in May and had ZERO problems with this. People have zero problems adding their immigrant spouse/fiancé all the time, to utility bills, bank accounts, etc.

Sure.  But it is not easy. First you need a US Social Security Number, a high credit score(750+), credit cards, rental references, personal references, professional references, and so on.

 

Utilities are a bit easier. But you still need SSN and good credit. But that is not an issue. The utility companies do not care if you have a spouse. Still working on a bank account though. I don't drive. So I only have a US passport. And you can't use that as ID in America! lol

[bukawbukaw 2]

5 minutes ago, Trellick said:

In which case - why did he not know how to find a place to rent? As a USC he would be able to rent anything even if there are some places who won't rent to immigrants - I've never seen this myself. 

Does he not have any family or friends in the USA you could have lent on for help? 

 

Now you are a USC and have been here for years have you done some research on different States you might like to move to? Perhaps there is a better place with quieter more rural communities that would be more suitable.

No he did not know how to find a place to rent. No one told him. Well he was not going to get a place for himself and make me live in a homeless shelter with our baby all alone. He is too noble for that. Oh we have moved around a LOT. I am a citizen now. And have had a SSN for a long time. We are looking for quieter places, but I am not allowed to talk about that on here. Got in trouble in another thread for asking.

[mrmvkjts 459]

4 minutes ago, bukawbukaw said:

Sure.  But it is not easy. First you need a US Social Security Number, a high credit score(750+), credit cards, rental references, personal references, professional references, and so on.

 

Utilities are a bit easier. But you still need SSN and good credit. But that is not an issue. The utility companies do not care if you have a spouse. Still working on a bank account though. I don't drive. So I only have a US passport. And you can't use that as ID in America! lol

You’re working on a bank account?

 

COME ON NOW!

I had a bank account on a J-1 visa so please stop making things up

[Paul & Mallory 1,398]

Just now, bukawbukaw said:

Sure.  But it is not easy. First you need a US Social Security Number, a high credit score(750+), credit cards, rental references, personal references, professional references, and so on.

 

Utilities are a bit easier. But you still need SSN and good credit. But that is not an issue. The utility companies do not care if you have a spouse. Still working on a bank account though. I don't drive. So I only have a US passport. And you can't use that as ID in America! lol

And your husband has none of the above, being he grew up here in the US as you said earlier?

 

I'm not sure of either of your ages, perhaps some inexperience and a tad of naivety is in play here, too. Starting out on your own on top of starting out as a married couple ON TOP of starting out as a married couple where one is an immigrant...is a lot. Because as a regular person in their 30s who is pretty established as the US citizen in my situation, the difficulty you are having is blowing my mind a bit. I'm even able to add my fiancé to my health insurance at work without him getting his SSN right away just by him having a valid visa and us being married.

 

Again - it may also be the area you are living. But as I said before, I'm not sure what you expected in moving to California. It isn't cheap. Relocating somewhere more rural may be worth considering.

[bukawbukaw 2]

35 minutes ago, Ben&Zian said:

Can definately say never have seen anywhere say "Only US citizens". There are tons of places to look. Craigslist, apartments.com , rent.com , apartmentfinder.com and endless other places where you can specifically search criteria that you desire and can afford.

You can search on those sites for "immigrant friendly"? Maybe that is new. We used all those sites and never saw that.

[Bandt 87]

11 hours ago, bukawbukaw said:

I don't think marriage qualifies one for the SSN card. $600 a month is cheap! We were in California. So that probably explains that. AirBnb is a great idea. I don't think it existed then. But would help people now. I am looking back and just amazed how hard it was. I spent the first year wishing I was back home and regretting coming here! lol I was a CR-1 when I arrived. Yes I had a sponsor.

The only places I've asked here have different applications for foreign nationals (3 out of the 3 I've asked).  You can use a visa number, passport number, any way to prove you are in the country legally.  No social sec number needed.  You need to prove you are here legally and can afford the place. That's it.  Also nobody needs a 750 credit score to rent an apartment. you think everyone living in an apartment has almost perfect credit?  

Edited March 27, 2018 by Bandt

[Paul & Mallory 1,398]

1 minute ago, bukawbukaw said:

No he did not know how to find a place to rent. No one told him. Well he was not going to get a place for himself and make me live in a homeless shelter with our baby all alone. He is too noble for that. Oh we have moved around a LOT. I am a citizen now. And have had a SSN for a long time. We are looking for quieter places, but I am not allowed to talk about that on here. Got in trouble in another thread for asking.

*Got in trouble for using degrading terms/phrases and not following Terms of Use.

 

 

If he had a place in his name and you are legally married, not sure where the problem of everyone living under the same roof came into play.

[yuna628 9,676]

I'm confused by this thread.

 

A USC, who has undertaken the big responsibility of marriage and conceiving a child with someone regardless of immigration status, should do their best to provide for the needs of their family. It is especially important, when a USC marries an immigrant to prepare living arrangements, ensure their spouse obtains all needed documentation that is available to them including an SSN, an ID or driver's license, and health insurance. There is no reason why a CR-1 couldn't have obtained an SSN. There is no reason why the USC spouse could not add their foreign spouse to bank or credit available to them. Nor is there no reason why apartments shouldn't be available to rent - people do it all the time and successfully. Establishing credit can be temporarily tricky, but is easily done and in most cases can be set up effectively soon after arrival. The USC should also prepare the foreign spouse for life in the US, this includes different weather and culture shock.

 

If the USC has not done this, then they have shirked their responsibilities to their family.

[bukawbukaw 2]

36 minutes ago, nightingalejules said:

We were lucky... my husband's mother let us stay with her for the first while, as we were setting up and getting jobs etc (I came here on a CR1 but my husband and I had been living together in Canada before that, so he didn't have much US credit/rental history either.

 

He did have some old credit history, so we were able to get a credit card with a small line of credit and start building up our US credit history. Yes, we had to make a fairly large security deposit on the apartment we got, but by that time we were both working and could prove income, at least. 

 

And on a CR1, you are eligible to get a SSN as soon as you arrive, so if you didn't get yours you need to contact Social Security and get one ASAP. 

 

Sorry your arrival was so difficult.

I did not get an SSN as soon as I arrived. It took a couple of months before I had the card. The number helps. But in some places, not much without credit and references.

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

6 minutes ago, bukawbukaw said:

Well we were shocked. And I hope someone else comes on this thread that needs it. We survived, but I have little in the way of advice. But others here seem to have a few good ideas!

Our first year together as husband and wife in 2012-2013 was hard and we struggled due to only me having a job. While having to pay rent in Los Angeles and child support for my two kids at the time. It was really hard but we made it through it and ended up getting custody of my 2 kids and ultimately having 2 more with my asawa. But like I said we struggled so much until I started getting money from the VA for going back to school and now my disability compensation . 

 

Where was your husband living/working  during the CR1 process????? You won't answer my question that I have asked a couple times now. 

 

Like I said when we moved to CA in 2012 I had like a 480 credit score and now I have 700+ credit score. So i had to pay extra for a security deposit and find a LL willing to take a chance on us. When we left out property manager took us out to eat and gave us our SD back in whole because we were good renters. 

[Paul & Mallory 1,398]

1 minute ago, Bandt said:

The only places I've asked here have different applications for foreign nationals.  You can use a visa number, passport number, any way to prove you are in the country legally.  No social sec number needed.  You need to prove you are here legally and can afford the place. That's it.  Also nobody needs a 750 credit score to rent an apartment. you think everyone living in an apartment has almost perfect credit?  

RIGHT.

 

Most people living in apartments/renting are doing so BECAUSE they have far from perfect credit, lol. If I had perfect credit, I'd be owning my place already.

[Paul & Mallory 1,398]

1 minute ago, yuna628 said:

I'm confused by this thread.

 

A USC, who has undertaken the big responsibility of marriage and conceiving a child with someone regardless of immigration status, should do their best to provide for the needs of their family. It is especially important, when a USC marries an immigrant to prepare living arrangements, ensure their spouse obtains all needed documentation that is available to them including an SSN, an ID or driver's license, and health insurance. There is no reason why a CR-1 couldn't have obtained an SSN. There is no reason why the USC spouse could not add their foreign spouse to bank or credit available to them. Nor is there no reason why apartments shouldn't be available to rent - people do it all the time and successfully. Establishing credit can be temporarily tricky, but is easily done and in most cases can be set up effectively soon after arrival. The USC should also prepare the foreign spouse for life in the US, this includes different weather and culture shock.

 

If the USC has not done this, then they have shirked their responsibilities to their family.

THISSSS.

 

 

This is my biggest issue with this whole story that I'm not comprehending at all.

[bukawbukaw 2]

30 minutes ago, cyberfx1024 said:

I am trying to understand how her husband had no credit whatsoever and what was he doing during the Visa process, was he in the Philippines as well and didn't have job to go back to? If that is the case then it's poor planning on his part. I was in Afghanistan during the process and I had a job lined up outside Los Angeles, that's why we moved literally 4 days after getting married from NC to Ca. 

How was your asawa supporting you during the process? There is no housing sponsor.

Why do you want to know about my husband's credit? Or his job? I don't think I was talking anything about those things?

 

Someone mentioned a housing sponsor.

[mr&mrshinds 77]

OP, where in the PH do people give birth on cardboards?