Immigrants could be required to show credit scores if they want to stay in the U.S.

[moosy 139]

20 hours ago, little immigrant said:

As an immigrant I had no credit score coming here. I had no help whatsoever. I had to take out a car loan at a high interest rate to even get my credit score started at 600. Then I was finally able to get a secured credit card and from them on my score went up. 

 

Now my husband got his SSN and I added him as an authorized user on my credit card. Within a month he had a file on creditkarma with a score of 750. 

 

It can be easy if you have help from someone who trusts you but if you start out by yourself it's difficult to even get a credit file and score. 

Agree. Most are able to piggyback, but not in those cases.

 

Same goes if your USC spouse has a bad credit score as was the case with mine (a prior thing over a decade ago which he ignored and never got back up).

 

I ended up with this weird setup the bank suggested: I basically gave them 2000 dollars and set that in one of those things where you get a low interest rate back every month. Then I took out a loan on THAT in the same amount over 2 years.

... So basically I am paying THEM to take out MY money and give me a credit score.

This has a name and is a legal way to obtain a credit score; I can't remember it right now. Their vague statement of why you would otherwise use it was "if you pay for a big purchase and want to remind yourself you have to pay this back to yourself"; why on earth would you pay a high interest rate for this "service"? I am pretty sure this is to get up your credit score for people in my situation, who do not need actual loans right now, but need one for the future.

 

After 6 months, I had a first FICO 8 score of 650, and a credit karma score later on that was much lower than that. It is now 9 months and the FICO went up to 697 while the credit karma score is still lower than my FICO 8 score. I added a credit card to the mix, which bumped both my scores but then took them back down (I think it has something to do with the average age of the accounts).

I am also getting my husband's score back up (he started mid-500s because of the stuff he had before, and is slightly above 600 now). Once I hit a better mark, I will get another useless credit card in a few months.

 

I find this stuff absurd as I have enough money to pay for a car without a loan, but not enough to pay for a house, which means I have to now loan money for no reason just to show them that I can loan so I can loan money when I need it.

ARGH.

And as most countries have to state when an ad runs for loans: "borrowing money costs money too"

 

 

[Orangesapples 1,954]

11 minutes ago, moosy said:

 

 

 I added a credit card to the mix, which bumped both my scores but then took them back down (I think it has something to do with the average age of the accounts).

 

The average age of the accounts would have been a factor when you just got your bump as well, so this can't explain why your score went back down. It was probably your utilization - the lower it is, the higher your score is. Or you might have been late to pay, always pay your credit card in full. 

[Daniela M_______ 410]

24 minutes ago, dawning said:

I'm the USC, my husband is from Venezuela.  I have spent a lot of time there in the past, so I do know a little bit about how different it is/was.  (Nothing seems to be working well in Venezuela right now.) 6 years ago I was there and had an emergency health problem, and was able to go to the public hospitals and be treated without anyone seeming to care at all if I was a citizen or a resident or a tourist.  But I had to bring my own sheets and toilet paper, so it wasn't like a hospital here.  The doctors and nurses were very good and very kind though. 

 

I think you should be fine if your fiancee has private insurance he can add you to, at least from an immigration perspective.

Yes, I'm not as worried about the health part as I was at first, because you know, life happens! and things away from home are very different...

 

Thanks again for your comments!

 

 

[NYCruiser 423]

21 hours ago, Springrain22 said:

"Under a U.S. Department of Homeland Security proposal, intended to determine who is considered “admissible” to the country, immigrants would have to provide evidence of their financial status. This includes applications for public benefits in the U.S., proof of private health insurance to cover certain medical conditions, and their credit histories and credit scores."

 

I think this is absolutely right!

 

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/guid/F03EE8BE-C105-11E8-B936-2E55B6128C2C

A bunch of baloney. Did not even bother to read the link. Talk about fakenews. I have reported this

[Springrain22 427]

1 minute ago, NYCruiser said:

A bunch of baloney. Did not even bother to read the link. Talk about fakenews. I have reported this

Reported? Wow, that's going to change everything!

[NYCruiser 423]

1 minute ago, Springrain22 said:

Reported? Wow, that's going to change everything!

Why would you put such nonsense on here and worry people from other countries who are trying to come here?

Credit reports are not for people applying for Immigrant Visas and you should know it

[geowrian 22,337]

7 minutes ago, NYCruiser said:

Why would you put such nonsense on here and worry people from other countries who are trying to come here?

Credit reports are not for people applying for Immigrant Visas and you should know it

Re-posting the actual memo with the proposed change, including credit reports/scores review:

https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/18_0921_USCIS_Proposed-Rule-Public-Charge.pdf

Edited September 27, 2018 by geowrian

[saguaro 2]

Well, immigrants and non-immigrants alike, have to show financial resources, mostly in liquid form to cover for their stay and expenses in the US. Most countries just do not have a credit score system similar to what we have here in the States.

[Trawicks 5]

Reading Comments 🍿🍿🍿😋

[NYCruiser 423]

22 minutes ago, saguaroz said:

Well, immigrants and non-immigrants alike, have to show financial resources, mostly in liquid form to cover for their stay and expenses in the US. Most countries just do not have a credit score system similar to what we have here in the States.

Yes correct. However, why talk about credit reports? This is a US domestic matter. Accessing Credit reports is a domestic matter. (Western countries and others have their own.) This is publishing

[moosy 139]

1 hour ago, Orangesapples said:

The average age of the accounts would have been a factor when you just got your bump as well, so this can't explain why your score went back down. It was probably your utilization - the lower it is, the higher your score is. Or you might have been late to pay, always pay your credit card in full. 

I never missed a payment in my life haha. Might have been the utilization. I kept it under 30% at all times, but at first, I used 28-29%, and after, I made it into 10%.

[Lucky2Lucky 2,526]

Haha what third world country has credit scores? 

[A&H2018 148]

3 hours ago, moosy said:

I never missed a payment in my life haha. Might have been the utilization. I kept it under 30% at all times, but at first, I used 28-29%, and after, I made it into 10%.

You had to do all thar financial engineering because after 2008, banks not encouraged to offer secured credit card structures that often anymore. Anyways that structure while costing you a bit was probably more worthwhile, a loan vs a secured credit card would move a long your credit history faster. Bit confused how you cannot purchase a home with over 690 credit rating that said...

Edited September 27, 2018 by A&H2018

[A&H2018 148]

5 hours ago, geowrian said:

Re-posting the actual memo with the proposed change, including credit reports/scores review:

https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/18_0921_USCIS_Proposed-Rule-Public-Charge.pdf

447 pages, I started to skim it. But the media coverage and headlines versus what I can see as reality seem different. We are adding forms? So the total cost of AOS will go up?

So the i-864 will continue to exist then we add a whole new self-sufficency test? For sure this will slow down the AOS process longer.

 

The test automatically passed if you hit 250% of poverty guidance. They are doing this all cause they could not force changes to the i-864. Just madness.

Edited September 27, 2018 by A&H2018

[WaterLeaf 201]

I would like to extend the discussion.

 

Had anyone thought about any reason that isn't good for this to be passed?

I've read a few things such as it could add backlog to the system, possibly raise AOS fee, the complication of getting a credit card on the first try is not likely unless you have someone that trust you to put it on their card or get a secured credit card... what else?