Building Credit Score

[lemur923 1]

Is it possible to obtain a credit card to build credit score outside of the US? I would like to build credit score while waiting for the K1 Visa, with a bank like Citibank or Barclays, but I am not sure if I would be given a score based on my transaction history after I enter the US. Does anyone have any experience with this? Thanks!

[JeanneAdil 6,193]

Barclays , yes

[lemur923 1]

2 minutes ago, JeanneAdil said:

Barclays , yes

They have a global transfer program like Amex?

[NYCruiser 423]

29 minutes ago, lemur923 said:

Is it possible to obtain a credit card to build credit score outside of the US? I would like to build credit score while waiting for the K1 Visa, with a bank like Citibank or Barclays, but I am not sure if I would be given a score based on my transaction history after I enter the US. Does anyone have any experience with this? Thanks!

Yes indeed. If you have AMEX, they are the best (for credit reporting). The part that is great is they report your spouse to Equifax etc the same way as they report you, so your spouse gets the same rating as you. (without the time and effort LOL)

[lemur923 1]

1 minute ago, NYCruiser said:

Yes indeed. If you have AMEX, they are the best (for credit reporting). The part that is great is they report your spouse to Equifax etc the same way as they report you, so your spouse gets the same rating as you. (without the time and effort LOL)

I'm the beneficiary, so the plan is to get a credit card here in Portugal, to then use the transferring program to obtain credit score in the US. So Amex would report me to Equifax and then I would get the same credit as her?

[ADW & JOP 146]

I am not an expert at building a credit history. But typically it takes time to build a credit history. I don't think you will just obtain the same credit rating as your US spouse just by having an AMEX.

 

I am in the final stages of obtaining a CR1. I did get an AMEX card to establish a relationship with AMEX. My understanding is that you can utilize the global transfer program so that they would give you a credit card using your credit history with them. This will help build your credit history in the US but that will still take time.

 

If you have an ITIN, certain companies will allow you to get a secured credit card. I got a Capital One SCC with my ITIN. I had to put down a 49 dollar deposit for a credit line of 200, which really isn't much but enough to start building a credit score. When I move to the US and obtain an SSN, I will call the credit companies and update my SSN in place of ITIN.

[lemur923 1]

7 minutes ago, ADW & JOP said:

I am not an expert at building a credit history. But typically it takes time to build a credit history. I don't think you will just obtain the same credit rating as your US spouse just by having an AMEX.

 

I am in the final stages of obtaining a CR1. I did get an AMEX card to establish a relationship with AMEX. My understanding is that you can utilize the global transfer program so that they would give you a credit card using your credit history with them. This will help build your credit history in the US but that will still take time.

 

If you have an ITIN, certain companies will allow you to get a secured credit card. I got a Capital One SCC with my ITIN. I had to put down a 49 dollar deposit for a credit line of 200, which really isn't much but enough to start building a credit score. When I move to the US and obtain an SSN, I will call the credit companies and update my SSN in place of ITIN.

If it helps me to at least be able to get a credit card when I get to the US, it would be awesome.

 

I already have an SSN since in the past I worked in the US, I don't know if that helps with anything at this exact moment? I had an account with Chase back then.

[lemur923 1]

2 minutes ago, lemur923 said:

I did get an AMEX card to establish a relationship with AMEX

Which one did you get if I may ask?

[ADW & JOP 146]

1 minute ago, lemur923 said:

If it helps me to at least be able to get a credit card when I get to the US, it would be awesome.

 

I already have an SSN since in the past I worked in the US, I don't know if that helps with anything at this exact moment? I had an account with Chase back then.

Having an SSN opens your option a lot more. Many companies require SSN over ITIN. When you worked in the US previously, with your SSN, don't you already have a credit history? If so, obtaining a credit card and building your established credit history should not be hard.

[lemur923 1]

Just now, ADW & JOP said:

Having an SSN opens your option a lot more. Many companies require SSN over ITIN. When you worked in the US previously, with your SSN, don't you already have a credit history? If so, obtaining a credit card and building your established credit history should not be hard.

I didn't, I just had a normal account with a debit card. I had no idea I would be going back to the US permanently so I didn't do any of that unfortunately.

[ADW & JOP 146]

1 minute ago, lemur923 said:

Which one did you get if I may ask?

I have an AMEX platinum. It comes with a hefty fee but the reason I got it was because it came with a welcome bonus that equates to two round trips from Canada to California (where my wife lives in the US) which was more than the annual fee.

[lemur923 1]

1 minute ago, ADW & JOP said:

I have an AMEX platinum. It comes with a hefty fee but the reason I got it was because it came with a welcome bonus that equates to two round trips from Canada to California (where my wife lives in the US) which was more than the annual fee.

That's smart! Been looking at the options and might just get the Amex Blue, since I just need something to make my life easier when I get to the US.

[ADW & JOP 146]

7 minutes ago, lemur923 said:

I didn't, I just had a normal account with a debit card. I had no idea I would be going back to the US permanently so I didn't do any of that unfortunately.

If you have a SSN, you can get better cards than the one I got with capital one. I wanted the discovery card one but they wouldn't accept an ITIN.

 

Check this website. 

 

https://www.creditcards.com/secured/

[lemur923 1]

1 minute ago, ADW & JOP said:

If you have a SSN, you can get better cards than the one I got with capital one. I wanted the discovery card one but they wouldn't accept an ITIN.

 

Check this website. 

 

https://www.creditcards.com/secured/

Thanks I'll check it out! You're suggesting this for when I arrive in the US or for now?

[ADW & JOP 146]

4 minutes ago, lemur923 said:

Thanks I'll check it out! You're suggesting this for when I arrive in the US or for now?

Does your partner have an address in the US? If so, you can get it now. You don't have to wait until you arrive in the US. I obtained my credit card a few months ago.