Is it possible to get a credit card while doing an AOS?

[top_secret 2,414]

Discover It Secured card is really good for building credit starting from nothing.  It has no particularly onerous terms or fees like some other secured cards do.  It has rewards and they would generally convert it to a regular unsecured card after 6 months so you can get your deposit back. 

 

There are plenty of other secured options but check the terms carefully since some of them are predatory, have high fees or don't offer a path to being unsecured.

 

When you are reporting your income on credit applications it is totally allowed to report your combined household income rather than just personal income.

 

Be careful not to run up allot of hard credit checks by getting turned down. Capital One, Discover, Amex, Credit One, Well Fargo and some others all have pre-approval sites where could check if they would offer you an unsecured card without doing a hard pull on your credit report.

 

Some of the fintech companies like Chime, Cred.ai and others offer gimmicky accounts that function like a checking account with a debit card but report as a credit card on credit reports so they are useful for building credit.

 

I agree with everyone else that becoming an authorized user on someone else's account is usually the best and easiest first step .

[cicgio 4]

I've had an Amex in Germany for a few years and was able to open an US Amex card under my name without a SSN just last month using the Global Card Relationship link that was mentioned in a previous post (https://www.americanexpress.com/us/customer-service/global-card-relationship/). There was an option for people who don't have a SSN to put in their passport number instead.

Edited February 18 by cicgio

[Carpe Vinum 2,327]

19 hours ago, JaredShadkin said:

Visa and Mastercard allow you to add Authorized Users without their social security numbers. American Express, on the other hand, requires a SSN number. So currently, they can have their own card (but tied to yours). 

 

If the immigrant did not receive a SSN prior to filing AOS by requesting one at a social security office, you’ll have to wait until the immigrant receives one for them to apply for their own cards.

 

My wife started as an AU on some of my cards while waiting for AOS. She now has 3 cards of her own and I am an AU on one of her cards. She chuckles at that. She now has a 750+ credit score after only 2 years of having her own cards.

[GEOntificator 281]

19 hours ago, Crazy Cat said:

This is what we did.  I added wife as authorized user to my existing Citibank CC.  She then set up an account on CreditKarma.  In about 3 or 4 months, she had an established credit report. 

Do you know if one needs to call CC issuers to link the SSN (speaking about authorized users) after they get the SSN assigned? Or perhaps it automatically happens somehow?

[little immigrant 801]

1 hour ago, GEOntificator said:

Do you know if one needs to call CC issuers to link the SSN (speaking about authorized users) after they get the SSN assigned? Or perhaps it automatically happens somehow?

You need to call and update it

[Ketsuban 1,034]

The way I got my credit history started was purchasing a car on finance and having my ex-husband co-sign the loan, though I paid it all off myself. She will need an SSN to do that. The dealership I went to said I was like "a ghost in the system", lol. 

 

After a few months of on-time payments, I was able to successfully apply for my first credit card with Capital One. 

[E&G 2]

Thanks for the tips guys 

[W199 333]

On 2/17/2024 at 5:12 PM, E&G said:

We are in our AOS process right now.

Is it possible for the immigrant (greencard application) to sign up for a credit card? 

 

What are the processes? Does she need to establish credit and sign up for creditkarma or something first? Because she has no credit history in the US.

The day after my Wife got her SSN, we got her an unsecured credit card in her own name, without any credit score.  This was done by applying for a student Discover card.  You just need to submit some sort of "proof", such as an admission letter within the past year from a school. 

 

We tried adding her SSN to my Amex (she is an authorized user), but they refused without a State ID because they said they couldn't verify the SSN ...  Note: Amex will accept a foreign passport in lieu of an SSN for an authorized user. Will try again now that we updated her SSN after getting the EAD last week,

 

Note, I know that Discover did an automatic SSN validation as it initially failed with married name, had to change it to the maiden name, same as her SSN, it then passed the validation test. I don't know why it failed with AMEX

Edited February 18 by W199

[Lara SD 12]

On 2/18/2024 at 11:20 AM, cicgio said:

I've had an Amex in Germany for a few years and was able to open an US Amex card under my name without a SSN just last month using the Global Card Relationship link that was mentioned in a previous post (https://www.americanexpress.com/us/customer-service/global-card-relationship/). There was an option for people who don't have a SSN to put in their passport number instead.

Were you able to open the account without having a job? I've had a German Amex for years and plan on using the global program as well, but it was my impression that I would first need a job in the US?

[OldUser 6,624]

On 2/18/2024 at 8:20 AM, cicgio said:

I've had an Amex in Germany for a few years and was able to open an US Amex card under my name without a SSN just last month using the Global Card Relationship link that was mentioned in a previous post (https://www.americanexpress.com/us/customer-service/global-card-relationship/). There was an option for people who don't have a SSN to put in their passport number instead.

That's a very good suggestion. That's how I got my first card in the US in fact 😃

[OldUser 6,624]

4 hours ago, Lara SD said:

Were you able to open the account without having a job? I've had a German Amex for years and plan on using the global program as well, but it was my impression that I would first need a job in the US?

Why not just try? I had a job when I applied though.

 

What exactly happened - I applied, got denied, talked to their support and explained I had existing relationship with them in another country. Got approved.

Edited February 21 by OldUser

[cicgio 4]

23 hours ago, Lara SD said:

Were you able to open the account without having a job? I've had a German Amex for years and plan on using the global program as well, but it was my impression that I would first need a job in the US?

Yes, I didn't have a job in the US when I applied and was approved immediately. It asks about your income, but as far as I understand you can include your spouse's income.

Edited February 21 by cicgio

[Lara SD 12]

32 minutes ago, cicgio said:

Yes, I didn't have a job in the US when I applied and was approved immediately. It asks about your income, but as far as I understand you can include your spouse's income.

Thank you, that's very helpful!

[GEOntificator 281]

Update: My mother whom I added as an authorized user on 3 of my CCs got her SSN a week or two ago. I called CC companies and added her SSN to her profiles. Her FICO score shows 770 now and she got approved for the highest CC tier the next day with high CL. I figured I'd share this if it helps someone else down the road.

[dabursot2 24]

I've had AMEX in the UK for a couple of years and just got approved for an AMEX in the US without the SSN, the card is on its way

 

Should arrive tomorrow, just posting this as proof that you can make it happen, it might take a call or 2 to their 1800 number but its definitely worth it.