Credit Card for My Husband - Permanent Resident (during the pandemic)

[kwoodruff 4]

Hi everyone. My husband received his adjustment of status and is now a permanent resident as of November 2019. We want to get him a credit card so he can begin building credit here in the States. We applied for a joint credit card through my credit union, but they denied our application only on the grounds that his permanent residence technically "expires" in November 2021. That is the period where we have to apply for the government to life the "conditional" portion of his 2-year green card, so he doesn't have any limitations. Even after explaining this, they said they cannot make any exceptions. We met the income threshold, etc. so there were no issues there.

 

With that said, has anyone else run into the same issue? Are there good credit card providers that do not see this is a problem?

[yuna628 9,530]

Secured credit card would usually be the way to go. Keep it in good shape and you'll get your deposit back and they'll upgrade you to a full card. Discover has always been good to us. If a bank or credit union doesn't want to do business with you, then they don't deserve your money. 😉

[RLA 323]

Maybe your credit union isn't used to serving foreigners.

 

I've had good experiences with Bank of America.  They let me open an account and get a joint credit card with my wife even before I got my SSN. 

[doggieandsam 765]

Credit unions typically have these stringent requirements (which I don't agree with btw). Try Bank of America. I (the foreigner) was able to open a full credit card with them even with just my 2-year green card.

[bradoony 54]

Hello. I applied for Discover credit card few months ago even before I applied for Adjustment of status.  I was on B1/B2  visa and I only needed social security to do so. a month later I was able to get credit score  

[brainless69 240]

1 hour ago, kwoodruff said:

Hi everyone. My husband received his adjustment of status and is now a permanent resident as of November 2019. We want to get him a credit card so he can begin building credit here in the States. We applied for a joint credit card through my credit union, but they denied our application only on the grounds that his permanent residence technically "expires" in November 2021. That is the period where we have to apply for the government to life the "conditional" portion of his 2-year green card, so he doesn't have any limitations. Even after explaining this, they said they cannot make any exceptions. We met the income threshold, etc. so there were no issues there.

 

With that said, has anyone else run into the same issue? Are there good credit card providers that do not see this is a problem?

american express or try nova credit, they can check your uk credit score and bring it over to the usa

[Harryhdl 2]

I applied for a US Bank Account and a secure credit card well before getting my Green Card approval through Wells Fargo Bank. Thus my credit was established and history began building. When I received my SSN and GC, I went into my Local branch and changed my account from Non resident to Permanent Resident and voila, immediate Credit Score. 

[Fr8dog 312]

I got a secured credit card

On 8/10/2020 at 2:00 PM, kwoodruff said:

Hi everyone. My husband received his adjustment of status and is now a permanent resident as of November 2019. We want to get him a credit card so he can begin building credit here in the States. We applied for a joint credit card through my credit union, but they denied our application only on the grounds that his permanent residence technically "expires" in November 2021. That is the period where we have to apply for the government to life the "conditional" portion of his 2-year green card, so he doesn't have any limitations. Even after explaining this, they said they cannot make any exceptions. We met the income threshold, etc. so there were no issues there.

 

With that said, has anyone else run into the same issue? Are there good credit card providers that do not see this is a problem?

Financial institutions are allowed to deny an application unless there is a fair assumption a debt cannot be paid of before the applicant looses legal status. This does not apply to your case for several reasons. It's a joint application and only one applicant has an expiring green card. The 2 year green card does not mean an loss of residency after 2 years (it's not a temporary status in the eyes of the law). I seriously doubt they are even allowed to check a green card. They need to run your SSN but that's about it.

 

Find a different credit card company (Bank of America accepts applications online without green card questions as do most others) and open a joint one, or have him get a secured card. (I got a $300,= one and built my score up enough to transfer it to an unsecured one after a year).

 

Personally I would raise hell at the credit union. And pull all my accounts if they would not accept the application followed by legal actions.

Link below gives you some basic insight

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0347-your-equal-credit-opportunity-rights

[Hemutian 68]

On 8/10/2020 at 11:14 AM, doggieandsam said:

Credit unions typically have these stringent requirements (which I don't agree with btw). Try Bank of America. I (the foreigner) was able to open a full credit card with them even with just my 2-year green card.

You mention that you were able to open a credit card with Bank of America with your 2-year green card. But what about before your green card was issued? i.e. when you were still waiting for your AOS application to be processed?

 

That's where my wife is right now in the process (has a SSN, but still waiting for AOS, no green card yet). She applied for a Bank of America credit card and was rejected, so I'm not sure where we went wrong...

[doggieandsam 765]

16 hours ago, Hemutian said:

You mention that you were able to open a credit card with Bank of America with your 2-year green card. But what about before your green card was issued? i.e. when you were still waiting for your AOS application to be processed?

 

That's where my wife is right now in the process (has a SSN, but still waiting for AOS, no green card yet). She applied for a Bank of America credit card and was rejected, so I'm not sure where we went wrong...

As soon as I arrived on my K1 (so before I got my green card), my husband (then fiance) added me to his credit cards (major issuers only though eg BoA, AMEX etc, no credit unions) as an authorized user. I was only able to get a credit card under my name when I got my green card (I think, it's been a while, the timeline is a bit hazy for me now). I don't remember if  tried to get me a BoA cc with just my EAD so can't speak to that.

[Fr8dog 312]

On 9/10/2020 at 5:00 PM, Hemutian said:

You mention that you were able to open a credit card with Bank of America with your 2-year green card. But what about before your green card was issued? i.e. when you were still waiting for your AOS application to be processed?

 

That's where my wife is right now in the process (has a SSN, but still waiting for AOS, no green card yet). She applied for a Bank of America credit card and was rejected, so I'm not sure where we went wrong...

Why did they reject her? I'm sure they gave you a reason. If it is based on her credit score, they are allowed to do that. I it is based on her not being able to show a greencard, they are breaking the law. 

[Hemutian 68]

1 hour ago, Fr8dog said:

Why did they reject her? I'm sure they gave you a reason. If it is based on her credit score, they are allowed to do that. I it is based on her not being able to show a greencard, they are breaking the law. 

I don’t think she even would have had a credit score, because she had never had a credit card before. Also, when the application asked for her income, I wrote $0. That may be what did it.

 

But it’s fine. I realized that I could easily just add her to my own credit card, since I’m the primary and it’s based on my credit score. Now she has a card in her name, and she can start building her credit score. 

[doggieandsam 765]

3 hours ago, Hemutian said:

But it’s fine. I realized that I could easily just add her to my own credit card, since I’m the primary and it’s based on my credit score. Now she has a card in her name, and she can start building her credit score. 

This is it! This is what my then fiance did for me and in a few months, I started showing a credit score. If you still can, add her to your oldest, good-standing credit card, her credit history will reflect that credit strength based on the length of time too right off the bat. At least that's what happened to me.

[top_secret 2,062]

Several years ago before we ever even had any plans of marrying, I added my then girlfriend in the Philippines as an authorized user on a Citibank Card of mine.  Nothing needed more than a name and a birthdate. I'm of course responsible for everything.  With Citibank you can do it online here https://online.citi.com/US/ag/authorizedUsers if you are logged in to your account and they send the card to your house just that easy.  Well about a month after I had the card sent, she started getting bombarded with preapproved Capital One credit card offers in her name at my address despite having no connection to the US in any way other than a name and birthdate I gave Citibank.  So I assume if she ever makes it over here she already has a good credit report.

[DarkSilver 20]

Credit unions can be really nice, or horrible sticks in the mud.  My experience, I added my husband as an authorized user on my Credit union card and Capital One card immediately after getting his SSN (before he had EAD or green card), then BBVA.  After a few months I told him to apply to AMEX and they approved him with a rather high credit limit.  His score is almost as good as mine.  
 

But getting banks to add him as a joint account holder has been like pulling teeth...

Edited October 10, 2020 by DarkSilver