Hi, Miguelon. I am also from overseas, and have been familiarizing myself with the whole credit score system over time. First of all, there are many cc lenders that will work with you to get you a secured credit card, starting at $200, so you shouldn't have to start with a secured balance of $800 if this is not a good fit for you. You could take a look at Bank of America or CapitalOne as a for instance (wherever you search, make sure that you review the lender's terms before committing to that card). My security was returned to me after 9 months. I paid my balances on time, every time, and kept these low. After a year, my score 'started' at 720. High FICO scorers generally keep their revolving credit below 8%. Bear in mind that your account must be opened for at least 6 months before it is reported to the credit bureaus. When it is reported, your score does not change from day to day. I thought that any changes in my balances were automatically reported to the bureaus, but this is not the case. Changes occur only when the lender reports to the bureaus with whatever balance is showing on their reporting day. It is my observation that this occurs about every 10 weeks. As for increasing the score, I needed age on my side, which raises your score. To do this, I became a joint account holder (not the same as an 'authorized user') with my husband on one of his credit cards, which was ten years old. This aging also appears to have raised my score. One of the best books on the market is 'Best Credit' by Dana Neal. I have read a number of publications and this one trumps most of them. Good Luck!
