American Credit VS Canadian Credit

[ledingham 68]

Hello and happy Friday.

I am confused about credit and how it works in the USA. I have been told that my Canadian credit will follow me to the USA when I move BUT I have also been told that it will not and I will need to start from square one once I arrive. I am unsure which to believe. I know that every country is different but it would be so unfortunate to have my credit discredited (hehee) once I move. I have good credit and I would love to keep it. I am pretty sure that landlords run credit checks before approving your application and I feel as if our chances of finding a place will decrease if only one of us has credit. Does anyone know if a landlord will run a credit check for my Canadian credit if I have no US credit? Moving to the state of Minnesota from Manitoba, Canada. Also, I am aware that I will not be moving for a while as I am still waiting for I-129F NOA2 (filed Nov/6/2019, NOA1 Nov/15/2019) but I would like to educate myself now. Please feel free to share your experience below, any and all replies are welcome and appreciated.

Edited January 17, 2020 by dledingham
Spelling error.

[Cryssiekins 976]

I had Visas and MasterCards and a TD (which has US operations) car loan in Canada.  None of it followed me to the US.
 

You start from zero and have to build yourself back up.  For what it’s worth, I’ve been here a little over 3 years, and am back to excellent credit.  

 

I believe like AmEx may be the exception, but, that’s still a pretty under-accepted card.  

[ledingham 68]

Just now, Cryssiekins said:

I had Visas and MasterCards and a TD (which has US operations) car loan in Canada.  None of it followed me to the US.
 

You start from zero and have to build yourself back up.  For what it’s worth, I’ve been here a little over 3 years, and am back to excellent credit.  

 

I believe like AmEx may be the exception, but, that’s still a pretty under-accepted card.  

I am currently with TD. If you dont mind me asking, did this cause any trouble for you when starting your new life in the USA?

[Crazy Cat 41,886]

18 minutes ago, dledingham said:

Hello and happy Friday.

I am confused about credit and how it works in the USA. I have been told that my Canadian credit will follow me to the USA when I move BUT I have also been told that it will not and I will need to start from square one once I arrive. I am unsure which to believe. I know that every country is different but it would be so unfortunate to have my credit discredited (hehee) once I move. I have good credit and I would love to keep it. I am pretty sure that landlords run credit checks before approving your application and I feel as if our chances of finding a place will decrease if only one of us has credit. Does anyone know if a landlord will run a credit check for my Canadian credit if I have no US credit? Moving to the state of Minnesota from Manitoba, Canada. Also, I am aware that I will not be moving for a while as I am still waiting for I-129F NOA2 (filed Nov/6/2019, NOA1 Nov/15/2019) but I would like to educate myself now. Please feel free to share your experience below, any and all replies are welcome and appreciated.

I would plan on starting from scratch........There are ways to rapidly build your credit.  First, if your spouse adds you to an existing credit card which reports all users to credit agencies, it can start you on a path.  In addition, even a secured credit card can help build your reputation, too.   I highly recommend Creditkarma for monitoring and tracking your credit score....it's completely free.  

In our case, I added my wife as an authorized user to an existing credit card right after she arrived in the summer of 2017 .  I never carry a balance more than a month.  By November, her credit history began showing up on Creditkarma.......6 months later, her excellent credit rating was helpful when we bought our new home......that's how we did it.....

[ledingham 68]

1 minute ago, missileman said:

I would plan on starting from scratch........There are ways to rapidly build your credit.  First, if your spouse adds you to an existing credit card which reports all users to credit agencies, it can start you on a path.  In addition, even a secured credit card can help build your reputation, too.   I highly recommend Creditkarma for monitoring and tracking your credit score....it's completely free.  

In our case, I added my wife as an authorized user to an existing credit card right after she arrived in the summer of 2017 .  I never carry a balance more than a month.  By November, her credit history began showing up on Creditkarma.......6 months later, her excellent credit rating was helpful when we bought our new home......that's how we did it.....

Thank you for this. I plan to go to the same credit union that me fiance is with but its family only and thus I cannot open an account until we are actually married. Then we would like to sit down with an advisor there and see what she suggests as well. As I said, the only thing that I am super worried about is having a hard time finding an apartment due to me not being able to work until EAD or Green card arrives coupled with absolutely no credit. I don't blame a landlord for seeing red flags in that as well.

[Crazy Cat 41,886]

1 minute ago, dledingham said:

Thank you for this. I plan to go to the same credit union that me fiance is with but its family only and thus I cannot open an account until we are actually married. Then we would like to sit down with an advisor there and see what she suggests as well. As I said, the only thing that I am super worried about is having a hard time finding an apartment due to me not being able to work until EAD or Green card arrives coupled with absolutely no credit. I don't blame a landlord for seeing red flags in that as well.

I strongly advise you to apply for a Social Security number very soon after arriving.  Lack of a SSN has proven to be an issue for some when searching for an apartment.  A SSN will allow them to perform a background check.

[ledingham 68]

Just now, missileman said:

I strongly advise you to apply for a Social Security number very soon after arriving.  Lack of a SSN has proven to be an issue for some when searching for an apartment.  A SSN will allow them to perform a background check.

Yeah that is the plan. I would like to do that within the first few days if possible.

[Cryssiekins 976]

2 hours ago, dledingham said:

I am currently with TD. If you dont mind me asking, did this cause any trouble for you when starting your new life in the USA?

Depends on your definition of “trouble”.  TD was a nightmare as I requested to have it moved to a US division so I could continue paying it, but they would not allow for that.  I had closed my Canadian financial accounts so I was stuck for a way to continue making payments.  My workaround has been my parents graciously allowed me to provide their account information for the payments, and in turn, I pay one of their household bills with a credit card.  It’s not perfect, but it works.

 

My husband had some credit issues, so I had nothing to piggy back off of.  I started with a $300 capital one card, and continued after that.
 

There are quite a few inquiries on my US report which isn’t ideal, but those drop off after time, so I think within another year my report will look like I didn’t have to start from scratch at 30, so that’s great.

[JP John 65]

I to am with TD and had to start from scratch when I arrived.  I opened a TD account here and also got a secured credit card putting down $500 and kept using it every month and pay down every month and 6 months later I was in pretty good standing and they gave me back my deposit and now I have a normal credit card and was able to buy a car.  It just takes a little time.  You can't work so go shopping

 

[ledingham 68]

2 hours ago, Cryssiekins said:

Depends on your definition of “trouble”.  TD was a nightmare as I requested to have it moved to a US division so I could continue paying it, but they would not allow for that.  I had closed my Canadian financial accounts so I was stuck for a way to continue making payments.  My workaround has been my parents graciously allowed me to provide their account information for the payments, and in turn, I pay one of their household bills with a credit card.  It’s not perfect, but it works.

 

My husband had some credit issues, so I had nothing to piggy back off of.  I started with a $300 capital one card, and continued after that.
 

There are quite a few inquiries on my US report which isn’t ideal, but those drop off after time, so I think within another year my report will look like I didn’t have to start from scratch at 30, so that’s great.

Do you mean in terms of debt? I have no debt. My fiance has good credit so I can piggy back off of that correct?

[ledingham 68]

2 hours ago, JP John said:

I to am with TD and had to start from scratch when I arrived.  I opened a TD account here and also got a secured credit card putting down $500 and kept using it every month and pay down every month and 6 months later I was in pretty good standing and they gave me back my deposit and now I have a normal credit card and was able to buy a car.  It just takes a little time.  You can't work so go shopping

 

I cant work so I can't go shopping 😭 But bills and such can add to credit as well. I would like to buy a car once I am able to find work but I believe that my fiance will just put the loan in his name because of his credit. If that's possible?  why not?

[Crazy Cat 41,886]

4 minutes ago, dledingham said:

I would like to buy a car once I am able to find work but I believe that my fiance will just put the loan in his name because of his credit. If that's possible?

It is possible, but adding you as a co-borrower will benefit your credit building process......

[ledingham 68]

Just now, missileman said:

It is possible, but adding you as a co-borrower will benefit your credit building process......

ohhhhhhhhh. See I didn't know that. I've never had to take out a loan or anything before so I am a novice at these sort of things & Banking in general.

[Crazy Cat 41,886]

1 minute ago, dledingham said:

ohhhhhhhhh. See I didn't know that. I've never had to take out a loan or anything before so I am a novice at these sort of things & Banking in general.

According to my wife, credit and health care are 2 big learning curves for new immigrants....😀

[ledingham 68]

2 minutes ago, missileman said:

According to my wife, credit and health care are 2 big learning curves for new immigrants....😀

As a Canadian whose barely had to pay for healthcare, wrapping my head around the healthcare system in the USA is a chore