Aloha!
First post - so aloha to all and mahalo for helping 
I have some questions as to the best way to set up credit for my wife in the USA. First the background:
After having lived overseas for over a decade, our family is moving back to the USA. My wife will be coming in on a IR1 visa so will have immigrant status and a green card the day she steps off the plane.
She has a good job, college degree, and good credit in her home country, but I am sure this will not apply to new accounts in the US.
I have a FICO of 805 at last check about a month ago. I hold 4 credit cards with CL ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 USD. We plan on purchasing a home in the US with approx 50% down on the mortgage, so I want to make sure my score stays high to get the best rates.
Should I add her as an AU on my accounts / Will this affect my FICO score???
What seperate Credit Card accounts would be best for her to get set-up with? Preferrably non-secured and with decent interest rates - rewards would be a nice bonus.
Appreciate any additional ideas or thoughts on how best to go about getting her set for a successful life together in the USA.
Mahalo!
Get her a social security number when she gets here. After that, you should add your wife as AU on all of your current accounts and also open at least one new joint account with her. This will set her up for great credit scores. About 6 months after doing all of this, her credit will be perfect.
My wife is also a foreign national with a green card. Her credit is fantastic, significantly better than mine, but it is built entirely from all of my recent accounts + a joint account.
EX:694 TU:744 EQ:777
Does she already have an an American Express card in another country? She could transfer it to the US:
https://www.americanexpress.com/global-card-transfers/united-states.html
@LiveAloha wrote:Aloha!
First post - so aloha to all and mahalo for helping
I have some questions as to the best way to set up credit for my wife in the USA. First the background:
After having lived overseas for over a decade, our family is moving back to the USA. My wife will be coming in on a IR1 visa so will have immigrant status and a green card the day she steps off the plane. Have her apply for a SSN right away.
She has a good job, college degree, and good credit in her home country, but I am sure this will not apply to new accounts in the US. If she has Amex accounts overseas and is the primary account holder, she can opt for global transfer program.
I have a FICO of 805 at last check about a month ago. I hold 4 credit cards with CL ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 USD. We plan on purchasing a home in the US with approx 50% down on the mortgage, so I want to make sure my score stays high to get the best rates.
Should I add her as an AU on my accounts / Will this affect my FICO score??? Yes, add her as AU. it will not adversely affect your FICO.
What seperate Credit Card accounts would be best for her to get set-up with? If she can maintain a >10k average daily balance with a bank, such as Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, etc. Most would be able to get her approved for an unsecured card right away via special considerations. The CL is usually around 500-1500 only though. Preferrably non-secured and with decent interest rates - rewards would be a nice bonus.
Appreciate any additional ideas or thoughts on how best to go about getting her set for a successful life together in the USA.
Mahalo!
Answered in red.
Grats as well
@Enmie wrote:
@DaveSignal wrote:My wife is also a foreign national with a green card. Her credit is fantastic, significantly better than mine, but it is built entirely from all of my recent accounts + a joint account.
Hi, Dave and OP, I'm an immigrant too, though I've been here for about 9 years I still have a "thin" credit line. I plant to ask my mom to add me to her BCE as an AU. Will this affect / negatively impact her credit score despite me having no delinquencies, just a thin / short credit history?
Hi Enmie,
No, this will not affect your mother's credit score at all. She doesn't even need to give you the card, technically. If you are added as AU, her history will appear on your credit report. As long as it is a long positive history with low utilization, it will improve your AAoA, utilization, and number of accounts.
OP's wife does not need to apply for a SSN. based on personal experience, when the IR1 visa petition was submitted, one of the question on the application packet was to issue a SSN for the applicant. if they said yes on this question, DW will receive her SSN card within several weeks of entering the country (green card will also take several weeks to arrive in the mail).
to OP:
+1 on adding her as an AU to one, some, or all your cards. this is what i did within the first year my DW immigrated with our kids. fortunately, the cc's i added her as an AU reported on her cr's. some cc's does not report AU accounts on cr's. then when she started working, she opened an account with a CU. she tried applying for a cc under her own name after having AU history but was getting denied due to a very thin credit file. she then decided to get a secured visa with her CU with a $1.2k cl. after 6 months on perfect payment history, started applying for cc's again in december. she now has 2 amex, csp, b of a alaska airlines, and barclays arrival cards. when she applied for the secured cc, i took her off as AU on all but 2 cards.
with just AU accounts (took her off on most but 2 accounts when she got secured card) she had way better credit scores than i do. go figure!
@Enmie wrote:
DaveSignal wrote: Hi Enmie, No, this will not affect your mother's credit score at all. She doesn't even need to give you the card, technically. If you are added as AU, her history will appear on your credit report. As long as it is a long positive history with low utilization, it will improve your AAoA, utilization, and number of accounts.Mr. Dave, sir, this applies to any other credit cards, correct? Her Chase Freedom has a much lengthier CU, do they allow AU in their accounts too? THanks very much, I am learning something new everyday. Hope I could be just as successful as you guys...
Yes, Chase does AU accounts also and it will work the same way.
Mahalo!
Appreciate all the fantastic replies and help
This is a fantastic community with some really helpful and insightful members.
Aloha!