Obtaining credit in the U.S.

[GeordieWife 1]

I'm up again in the middle of the night obsessing over things....My fiance has really good credit in England. Will he have to start all over establishing credit once in the states...or will his credit history follow him? I'm doing premarital financial planning....I'm obsessing I know, but it's keeping my mind busy!

[Dan J 277]

I'm up again in the middle of the night obsessing over things....My fiance has really good credit in England. Will he have to start all over establishing credit once in the states...or will his credit history follow him? I'm doing premarital financial planning....I'm obsessing I know, but it's keeping my mind busy!

He will have to start over. If he has a UK American Express card, he may be able to get an American one with a similar limit. Other worldwide banks may do the same. You can also add him to your accounts once he gets a social security number.

[ChristinaM 0]

Depending on who you bank with, he may be able to be added to your accounts without an SSN. I obtained a letter from the SS Office saying I was not eligible for an SSN at that time, which I used when we added me to hubby's account and opened my personal one.

[Lansbury 19]

It does take long to establish reasonable credit, I've been here 7 months and my US credit score is well over 700.

I did the Amex trick and changed my UK one for a US one, and my wife put me her Visa as a joint account holder, avoid just being shown as an authorized user it doesn't carry as much influence.

Now I get pre approved credit card offers in the post but I waiting for Chase to offer to replace my UK United Airlines visa with the US card.

[GeordieWife 1]

very helpful information everyone...thank you!

[Anna C. 4]

Also, there is a bank in GB that Bank of America cooperates with. Just give them a call, maybe that's his? B of A did that for me with my German bank and transferred my credit (it even appears on the credit score papers - "credit was established before SSN was issued"). This way I had my credit card right away with a decent limit and tons of cc offers weekly in the mail.