Establishing credit

[Liz and Miguel 3]

What is the easiest way for a new LPR to establish credit? My husband wants to start by getting a credit card and using it to buy a plane ticket, but bank denied the application for a starter credit card. Any other easy way to establish credit?

[RandomRealityShif 5]

What is the easiest way for a new LPR to establish credit? My husband wants to start by getting a credit card and using it to buy a plane ticket, but bank denied the application for a starter credit card. Any other easy way to establish credit?

I started with a secured credit card from my bank, and in a little over a year of using it I've been able to build up a decent credit score, and now have a couple of store credit cards.

[newlyweds2010 208]

What is the easiest way for a new LPR to establish credit? My husband wants to start by getting a credit card and using it to buy a plane ticket, but bank denied the application for a starter credit card. Any other easy way to establish credit?

Check CreditOne, they have a card called 'for newcomers' giving you some credit, and it is unsecured (meaning that you don't need to pay a deposit to use it). At first you will get very small credit (I got $300) but after a while they increase it, plus when you start making several timely payments your credit improves and you qualify for other cards. It took me nearly two years, but I finally got a credit card with a reasonable credit limit.

[jkelly07 120]

any big department store credit card, intrest is high, thats a start.some banks you give them 300.00 limit to start, if you pay that on time, then maybe thay will rise the limit to 800.00 it's a test to see how your going to pay.

[bigdog 376]

Also try a gas station card.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

What is the easiest way for a new LPR to establish credit? My husband wants to start by getting a credit card and using it to buy a plane ticket, but bank denied the application for a starter credit card. Any other easy way to establish credit?

Get a credit card with your bank with you as co-applicant. Make sure you list your husband's name first. As he uses that credit card and demonstrates an on-time payment history, he will be establishing his credit. That assumes you have good credit.

Edited May 16, 2012 by ☼

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

What is the easiest way for a new LPR to establish credit? My husband wants to start by getting a credit card and using it to buy a plane ticket, but bank denied the application for a starter credit card. Any other easy way to establish credit?

My fiancee/wife went to our local credit union the second day she was here with her SSN in hand. She opened her own account with a deposit of $50 and was immediately issued a Visa Credit card with a $500 limit in her name only. Her limit om that card is now $5000. She was not yet an LPR and not even married to me yet.

Check your local credit unions they are the easiest to begin credit with. When Sergey arrived he did the same. Pasha is not yet 18 and they will not give him a credit card yet, they did give him a visa debit card. He will get a credit card when he is 18.

[paojack 41]

Capital One has a credit card for 'Newcomers' and they even give you cash back as you use it. That's the one I started with, they only gave me 300dlls credit, crappy but it was a start at least! Capital One

[kzielu 1,147]

I did get a credit card with my wife as a co-signer - they gave me 3k limit (although I said anything will be fine) - ~3 months later after using it and paying off completely I started getting offers in the mail from credit card companies and insurance agents (btw - personal data in this country is shared by absolutely anyone and with anyone - disaster) which is a sign a credit score is moving up (don't know what it is though).

[SunnySanDiego 17]

My fiancee/wife went to our local credit union the second day she was here with her SSN in hand. She opened her own account with a deposit of $50 and was immediately issued a Visa Credit card with a $500 limit in her name only. Her limit om that card is now $5000. She was not yet an LPR and not even married to me yet.

Check your local credit unions they are the easiest to begin credit with. When Sergey arrived he did the same. Pasha is not yet 18 and they will not give him a credit card yet, they did give him a visa debit card. He will get a credit card when he is 18.

Was she working with her own source of income Gary? Just curious because I may try this myself if she didn't. I just got my SSN and have not yet found work but would like to get started on my credit.

Thanks.

Edited May 16, 2012 by SunnySanDiego

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Was she working with her own source of income Gary? Just curious because I may try this myself if she didn't. I just got my SSN and have not yet found work but would like to get started on my credit.

Thanks.

If she was K-1 like you, she probably wasn't employed yet. She most likely waited for her EAD before working.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Was she working with her own source of income Gary? Just curious because I may try this myself if she didn't. I just got my SSN and have not yet found work but would like to get started on my credit.

Thanks.

No. It was two days after she arrived. I have had an account there and added her to that one and then she opened her own and they gave her a credit card but that is their policy. They give a $500 limit card with a minimum $50 opening of an account. It is her own card, shw was not added to mine and I did not co-sign anything.

After 6 months they review your credit (if you ask them) and they raised her limit to $1000. After 6 more months (1 year since opening) they raised it to $2500. It is now $5000.

Edited May 17, 2012 by Gary and Alla

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Was she working with her own source of income Gary? Just curious because I may try this myself if she didn't. I just got my SSN and have not yet found work but would like to get started on my credit.

Thanks.

Credit Unions are owned by their members and make their own rules regarding such things based on what their member/owners want/vote for. Their policies will vary, check with the different credit unions.

One well known credit union here is called "Opportunities Credit Union" and specializes in people with little or no credit or bad credit. There seems to be one for everyone.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Just as an aside...Credit and banks are not so popular in Ukraine. Alla did not want a bank account or credit card. I told her she was going to need to do it. Her response was something like "Fine, but I am not going to use it" Whatever. she also said at one time she would probably not want to drive a car A little over a year later she had a convertable sports car completely fitting a Euro hottie she was zooming around in with the top down! It happens

Anyway, her account remained at $50 for a while and she never used the credit card, maybe just one or two times and then ran right to the bank to pay it off. So a few months in, the girl at Macy's says "get our card and get an extra 10% off" and VOILA! she gets a Macy's card! PLUS got another 10% off the "almost free" clearance clothes (sweaters for $7!) And in no time all the others are flooding the mailbox and she is getting lots of 10% off deals! She has several store cards now, her $5000 visa, a car loan she got on her own and paid off 3 years early. She has no balances and a credit score just over 800, I think she told me 817 (the credit union checks for her)

She now handles ALL our bills, makes ALL the payments and does exceedingly well at it. Better than I ever did. She even managed to pay off two credit cards I had with balances for some time (too many trips to Ukraine ) And I swear, when she arrived she wanted nothing to do with this and was actually afraid of it. My income is direct deposited and she hated that, wanted me to go take all the cash out on payday and pay everything by cash (banks in Ukraine failed twice since she was an adult) When she first started working she cashed every paycheck and put it in her desk drawer. No kidding. She was saving money for paying for her school and just before payment time would have a lot of money in her desk. I was not too comfortable with that.

Now, everything is direct deposit she does online banking, keeps me up to date, tells me how much we have to spend, etc. Nothing is ever overdue, nothing is ever overdrawn, she knows every detail of every kilowatt of electricity or CCF of gas. I get notes on my desk like "pick up your prescriptions, I called them in and paid for them"

Takes a while, but you will do fine. One of those things you have to do that is not in the immigration forms.

[웃 910]

What is the easiest way for a new LPR to establish credit? My husband wants to start by getting a credit card and using it to buy a plane ticket, but bank denied the application for a starter credit card. Any other easy way to establish credit?

Do you have a credit card? The easiest way is to add your husband to your card.

People on here will tell you it doesn't work but they have no idea what they are talking about!

The next easiest way is to get a secured credit card. Pay your bank X amount of dollars and you get X credit limit. We did this with $500 and after 1 year we cancelled the card, got a check in the mail for $500, and had good credit. Within 1 and a half years she had good enough credit (the easy part) and good enough tax returns (the harder part) to get approved for a 30 year mortgage.

It's unbelievable to me because she was making minimum wage and it proves to me that even if you are a young adult working at McDonalds, with a halfway decent credit score (high 600s / low 700s) you can easily be approved for a home. Mind boggling! With her low income (about $16k a year) she was approved up to $60,000....We got a bank owned house for $20k, fixed it up, and rented the house out for $1150 a month and the mortgage payment started at $350 but has since dropped to $290 (not sure why). Taxes/Insurance rolled in.

Edited May 17, 2012 by ☠