topic Re: Foreign immigrant husband... how to deal in Credit Cards

Foreign immigrant husband... how to deal

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Dec 2013 07:27:13 GMT

I posted in another post about my husband who is shortly (prayerfully) moving up here (Minnesota) to be with me (from Haiti). He's a manager at a Canadian bank, and quite careful with money, but he likes to have some play money from time to time. Very careful about paying off any debt right away, however.

We are wanting to make up for lost time (my CS ruined by an ex, his lack of credit) so that we can invest in property in the next few years. I'm wondering if anyone has had success in what I'll call "leapfrogging?" Basically, my baddies just rolled off so I went on a CC app blitz gained some (at least 4, and 1 "wait & see"). When he gets here in about 6 months, I'm thinking of adding him immediately to one or two of my larger limit cards (biggest one is 600, so it's not a huge risk) and getting him in at a CU. Then applying for 3 or 4 cards... at least one secured and one retail. That will be around June. Once that's done, wait another 6 months, add me to his accounts, and I apply once my inq roll to year 2.

rinse and repeat...

I'm thinking this can help us, but wondering who else has tried any form of such tomfoolery?

Foreign immigrant husband... how to deal

Anonymous — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 07:36:37 GMT

My husband is from Haiti, and we are currently waiting for his US visa so he can join me here. Of course, he has no US credit and no SSN. Has anyone here dealt with this?

I am wondering how much I should worry about puting him on my cards and such (I don't have much at this point), or if I should just let him develop his own credit independent from mine. I have a ton of student loans, and don't know if tying him to my other accounts might affect him negatively. Was thinking of adding him on my CU account only and then on one or two cards to help establish him.

I appreciate the feedback on this.

Re: Foreign immigrant husband... how to deal

Anonymous — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 17:10:47 GMT

I don't know a lot about this, and haven't experienced it personally, but I do know one thing. If you add him to a bank account and two credit cards, only those cards will effect his credit. So the student loans won't effect him negatively since he is not added to them =)

Re: Foreign immigrant husband... how to deal

Bleu — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 19:39:23 GMT

Make him develop his own. So if it ends he cant take any money from you or run up your credit.

Re: Foreign immigrant husband... how to deal

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Dec 2013 04:52:42 GMT

But it's not going to end! [shocked face!]

Seriously though, can anyone tell me what the best 4 cards would be for him to apply for as soon as he gets here? Including retail & secured...

Re: Leap-frog, anyone?

Revelate — Tue, 03 Dec 2013 05:16:24 GMT

Plenty of people have done it, but there's not a whole lot of point to your being added to his cards in the current market.

You'd be better served by simply waiting a year after you initially establish yours and then going and getting better cards. Once you have your own cards, there's very little point to being added as an AU unless it substantially improves your credit report either in length of the AU tradeline compared to yours, or in helping your aggregate utilization because of a comparitively spectacular limit on the individual card.

In your situation, with both of you establishing credit, neither of those are likely to be the case so they'll wind up being a comparitive negative for you (unless he hits a lender lottery somehow, admittedly stranger things have happened).

Also there are some cards which will approve immediately: your husband would be better off getting his own credit cards in his name from a FICO perspective as soon as possible: thinking the Cap One for Newcomers or similar but I admittedly don't have much familiarity with it.

TLDR: seems like an awful lot of effort for something which really isn't that needed; at most your husband would only need 1-2 of yours added for a jumpstart anyway, from your plan your being added to his actually sets you back.

Re: Foreign immigrant husband... how to deal

wHiTeSoL — Tue, 03 Dec 2013 05:35:08 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
My husband is from Haiti, and we are currently waiting for his US visa so he can join me here. Of course, he has no US credit and no SSN. Has anyone here dealt with this?

I am wondering how much I should worry about puting him on my cards and such (I don't have much at this point), or if I should just let him develop his own credit independent from mine. I have a ton of student loans, and don't know if tying him to my other accounts might affect him negatively. Was thinking of adding him on my CU account only and then on one or two cards to help establish him.

I appreciate the feedback on this.

I am about 1 year ahead of you. My wife is from a SEA country and just arrived in the US under a k1 visa november of last year. After explaining how credit works here (totally different there!) we made a plan. Here's how it's going so far

11/2012 - Arrived in US

12/2012 - Married and added as AU to 2 Capital 1 cards (AAoA 1 year each) had to do it by phone becuase she didn't have a SSN, same with Chase Bank account (in branch)

6/2013 - Her SSN was issued to her (we could of receieved it a lot sooner but i dropped the ball on applying)

7/2013 - Applied for 2 cards. 1) Capital One Newcomer card - Approved $1,000 2) Chase Freedom - Denied due to no credit history

8/2013 - Added as AU to my AMEX cards, was backdated to 2005

10/2013 - Approved for 1) AMEX PRG 2)BCE 2k 3)Chase Freedom 7k 4) CSP 12k

If you have any specific questions I'm happy to help anyway I can via PM.

Re: Foreign immigrant husband... how to deal

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Dec 2013 05:46:34 GMT

Extremely helpful! Thanks. So I could add him now if I wanted, even without a SSN?

Re: Foreign immigrant husband... how to deal

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Dec 2013 05:53:02 GMT

Add him as an AU to your current cards, except for cards that are maxed out or has past derogs, such as lates.

If you can deposit between 5-10k usd, and maintain that balance for some time, many banks will be willing to offer him an unsecured card right off the bat. I know Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America and citi can help with cases like this. This is a shortcut for people who have thin files, not bad ones, which is the situation your husband is in.

Check out credit unions. They are usually more personable and more willing to help you.

For secured cards, check out Bank of America. They usually graduate within 6-12 months as long as account remains in good standing. If your husband still doesn't have a SSN by then, it may delay graduation. Some have mentioned another secured card offered by SDFCU? (Can't remember the exact name)

Capitalone also has a decent secured card product. Other national banks that offer secured cards include Wells Fargo and citi, though I don't recommend you go with Wells Fargo.

Re: Foreign immigrant husband... how to deal

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Dec 2013 05:53:43 GMT

Wait till he gets his SSN, then add him as AU.

Re: Leap-frog, anyone?

FinStar — Tue, 03 Dec 2013 06:30:31 GMT

OP - it appears you already have a similar/duplicate thread on this topic:

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Foreign-immigrant-husband-how-to-deal/td-p/2623209

Re: Foreign immigrant husband... how to deal

FinStar — Tue, 03 Dec 2013 06:33:35 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
My husband is from Haiti, and we are currently waiting for his US visa so he can join me here. Of course, he has no US credit and no SSN. Has anyone here dealt with this?

I am wondering how much I should worry about puting him on my cards and such (I don't have much at this point), or if I should just let him develop his own credit independent from mine. I have a ton of student loans, and don't know if tying him to my other accounts might affect him negatively. Was thinking of adding him on my CU account only and then on one or two cards to help establish him.

I appreciate the feedback on this.

OP - seems like there's another similar thread recently posted with guidance on this topic:

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Leap-frog-anyone/m-p/2625261/highlight/false#M750327

Re: Foreign immigrant husband... how to deal

09Lexie — Tue, 03 Dec 2013 07:25:35 GMT

OP,
I merged your threads together and changed your title to match your other thread - I changed nothing else.

Lexie, myFICO Moderator

Re: Foreign immigrant husband... how to deal

wHiTeSoL — Tue, 03 Dec 2013 08:19:51 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Wait till he gets his SSN, then add him as AU.

It doesn't really matter I guess if you wait or not unless it's an amex, however I didn't becuase I wanted her to also have access to the credit itself. Getting a SSN can take a few months if you went the same route I did.

Re: Foreign immigrant husband... how to deal

Mengineer77 — Tue, 03 Dec 2013 14:17:39 GMT

Hi ptilda,

I dealt with this when my wife came over. Your husband can get an SSN once he arrives in the US, and a couple weeks after that you can add him as an AU to your cards. I would recommend getting his SSN as soon as he arrives. To get an SSN he will need to show his passport and the I-94 form which he will fill out once he enters immigration in the US. I have had 2 different responses to when i went to Social Security, one attendant told me that the I-94 is no longer valid once you get married so they cannont give out an SSN unitl my wife has her green card. The another attendant in a different city did not even ask about if we got married and proceeded to proecess the paperwork. My wife got her SSN 2 weeks after. One thing is for sure is that the I-94 is only valid for a couple of months. Also with the I-94, they should be about to get a bank account. There is a lot of information regarding things that need to be done when your fiance or spouse arrives on visajourney. Hope this helps

Re: Foreign immigrant husband... how to deal

Anonymous — Wed, 04 Dec 2013 01:52:35 GMT

Added him today to Wamart. I'll add him to the Discover and Cap One cards later this week if they let me. Walmart said they'll start reporting it on his credit report right away. We'll see how it works without a SSN, but once he gets the SSN, if it's not on there, we'll ask Walmart to correct.

Also, I'm gettin Discover It and Cap One securred & will push the limits up (via deposit & good pmts) so hopefully we'll have at least $5-6K when he gets here. He'll have a SSN right away bcause it's a spouse visa, not fiance visa.

Thanks again! Lots of help!

Re: Foreign immigrant husband... how to deal

Anonymous — Sat, 07 Dec 2013 22:09:34 GMT

Another question for you, Mengineer77, how long did it take for your wife to show a credit report once you put her on your acts & she got her ssn?