Immigrant experience

[Anonymous]

I thought it might be useful to pass my experiences as a recent immigrant to the USA. I had great credit in England - 20 years with the same bank, no debt other than a mortgage and credit cards with high limits and low balances. On moving to the US (last June), all that was effectively wiped - not unexpectedly, but it did cause a number of unforseen issues. Trying to get a cell phone plan required a (refundable in 12 months) $300 deposit, likewise Verizon cable. Lack of a credit card made it difficult to book hotels and flights, and perhaps hardest of all, renting an apartment had to rely on the landlord's goodwill rather than the credit check.

We brought a healthy balance to the country - the proceeds of selling our house in the UK timed fortuitously with a strong pound, though I wasn't really aware of how much credit scoring featured until I tried to buy a car and get a credit card. Nobody was interested in the fact that we had liquidity if the credit checks failed (I even offered one landlord a year's rent up front!)

Amex turned me down - despite having had one in the UK for 10 years, this counts for nothing. Chase also turned me down flat. I thought that getting some credit on buying a car, rather than paying cash would be a good thing, so we financed $18k of a Mini Clubman at an usurious 13.69%. Looking at the Interest vs Capital on this, I'm strongly tempted to pay off the balance, though I've been advised that it would be sensible to pay it for at least a year. (thoughs?)

Out of the blue, perhaps in October, came a flyer for a credit card from Capital One, guaranteeing I would be accepted. I suspected that I wouldn't, but applied anyway. I was given an unsecured card with a $200 limit. This limit has been increased on a monthly basis and now stands at $750 after 4 months. I put some on it and pay it in full each month.

In November, we tried to buy a second car and were turned down flat for financing. The advisor at the garage couldn't work a deal, even one with high interest like we had, he said he'd never seen a report like ours, which had a score of 1 (not sure which agency this was, but it was a Toyota dealership)

I'd recently attempted to get a MyFico score, but didn't have enough history - well, this week I did, and it's standing at 666.

So if you arrive in the country fully formed, so to speak, it looks like you can get a reasonable credit score after about 6 months.


 

[Anonymous]

Welcome to the USA! and to the MyFico forums. It looks like your on your way to establishing some credit here in the States, but I see it can be a pain as well.

Do you have a bank here in the states that you do business with? I would give it a year or so and see if you can't refinance with your bank. While your interest rate on the car is high, it isn't as bad as I've seen it with people with little or no credit established. Think over 20%.

Off topic but I would love to visit England some day. The history is just fascinating. I would love to do the touristy thing. I wan't to see a real live mideval castle. That would be cool!

[MattH]

Yep, credit histories don't transfer between countries.  I also recall a German colleague complaining about his auto insurance rates.  He said "I offered to show them a letter from my German insurance company that I had been with them for N years with no claims, but they would not even look at it."

Anyway, I'm sure if you keep paying bills on time and so forth you should soon have an excellent FICO score.

[Anonymous]

Yes - I'd forgotten about Insurance costs! I went from paying 300UKP per year to $3400, because I had no insurance history. Interestingly, Progressive said that had I maintained my UK insurance, they would have honoured my English "No Claims" - unfortunately, I cancelled it on leaving the UK. The good news is I found a really great Insurance agent who took pity on me and managed to negotiate a much better rate on my behalf - saving me about $2000 So I guess another tip is shop around and be nice to people!

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the welcome! My wife has dual citizenship and already had that all-important SSN, so she was able to open a bank account immediately, which really helped.

I have the cash to pay the car off, I had just assumed that taking the interest rate hit would be better for my credit score in the long run - I'll post something in the car loans forum to see what the ramifications are of paying it off early - looking at my statement, I've barely made a dent in the capital payment, and am looking to lose about $2000 if I maintain it for 12 months.

You're never far from history in Europe! The UK has some stunning castles, bit perhaps even more spectacular are the great cathedrals - built back when time wasn't quite so important, and the people who started them knew and understood that neither they or even their sons would ever live to see them completed - the cathedral in Wells, where I grew up, took over 300 years to finish!  

Still - I'm loving the Northwest coast Natural history

[Anonymous]

Nicktf01,

Where in the Northwest are you at if you don't mind me asking?

One of these days me and the wife will get across the pond and visit England.

Good luck with the car note I know even for me (a citizen) it is always dificult to start building a credit history. I know it takes time. But to have to do it twice (through no fault of your own) would be discouraging a bit.

[Anonymous]

Portland...we came here for the rain - just like home!

[Anonymous]

Ah! Beautiful part of the county. I live in Washington State, on the east side, it's basically a desert with little rain. The Oregon beaches are beautiful but the weather can be foul at times Just got back from Seaside, Oregon. It rained the whole time. Anyway, just curious. Thanks for sharing!