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Question about background checks and credit in the US

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Philippines
Timeline

My wife came here on a K-1 visa. We got married Sept 2015. Her I-94 expired in Nov 2015. She has a SSN with her married name. We started our AOS paperwork in Jan 2016. She just received her EAD card, but our I-485 is still in process. I am trying to get her established in the US by working on her credit, getting IDs, and adding her to my monthly statements. A month ago, I added her as an authorized user to my credit card and confirmed with them that her credit is affected and will slowly build with our payments.

One hurdle I'm currently facing is adding her onto my apartment lease. My landlord told me that they can't add my wife on the lease if she has no history in the US or if the background check fails, they would have to significantly increase my rent if I wanted her on my lease as she'd be a risk.

1) My question is, at what point will my wife "exist" in the system such that they can do a background check? Now that she has an EAD, is she "in" the system yet or do we have to wait until her I-485 is done? (although I think I need her name on my lease for the AOS interview...)

2) Similarly, since I just recently added her to my credit card, at what point will she "have" credit? I'm not asking when she'll have good credit, but rather when will she have a non-zero score? Is it immediately after I signed her up, after a couple monthly payments, or after 6 months or so on?

12-01-2014: Sent I-129F package via FedEx

12-03-2014: Package arrived at TSC

12-08-2014: Check cashed

12-12-2014: NOA1 hard copy

01-23-2015: USCIS status: Case was Approved

01-30-2015: NOA2 hard copy

02-02-2015: USCIS sent K1 package to NVC

02-10-2015: NVC received K1 package

02-11-2015: Date that NVC supposedly assigned case number

02-18-2015: Called NVC and asked for case number

02-23-2015: Paid MRV Fee

03-02-2015: Scheduled USEM interview appointment

03-02-2015: NVC letter received

03-09-2015: Medical interview

04-23-2015: USEM interview, got 221g email, CEAC status: Immigrant AP

04-28-2015: CFO Seminar, sent 221g response

04-29-2015: USEM received 221g response

04-30-2015: CEAC status date updated

06-17-2015: CEAC status: Non-Immigrant Ready

06-27-2015: CEAC status: Non-Immigrant AP

07-01-2015: Visa in hand! (CEAC still AP lol)

 

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if you don't mind me asking how did you get a social security card for her before her AOS approval? My fiance is in process from a K-1 visa but we are waiting for him to start working once he gets his EAD approved.

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Vietnam
Timeline

You're getting bad information. One, adding her as an "authorized user" of your credit card does nothing for her credit. I had a credit card printed with my K-1 fiancee's name before she even left Vietnam. It gives her the right to use it - and that's all it does. Credit cards can be issued in many names, but only under one contracted/primary card holder. Why? Follow the logic. She is not responsible for paying the credit card bill - you are. Otherwise, we could all get great credit by attaching our names to responsible credit card holders. It simply does not work that way. Adding your wife to the lease should not increase the price of your apartment - if anything, it spreads and lessens the risk for the property. Secondly, they can add her anytime they want by just issuing a new lease or addendum that all parties agree to. As for credit, she won't have any credit until she buys something on credit and makes payments and/or gets credit (loans, credit cards, phone contracts, utilities, etc.) in her name and SSN.

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She should get her own credit card. Depends on the system used.

AOS for my husband
8/17/10: INTERVIEW DAY (day 123) APPROVED!!

ROC:
5/23/12: Sent out package
2/06/13: APPROVED!

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Vietnam
Timeline

if you don't mind me asking how did you get a social security card for her before her AOS approval? My fiance is in process from a K-1 visa but we are waiting for him to start working once he gets his EAD approved.

A couple of days after landing in the U.S., I took my fiancee to the local Social Security Administration office. They looked at her passport and I-94 entry papers - that's it. Two weeks later her SSN arrived via the mail. All before filing AOS. I have heard that if you fail at one office, go to another. Maybe we got lucky.

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