Personal Loan/Credit Line options for non-US citizens?!

[Anonymous]

I am not a US citizen however I have good SSN and valid visa till 2020. And I have been building credit for 3 years now.

I have all scores in 700-730 range. They used to be 750, after 3-4 new cards and HPs recently, they went down to around 710.

No bad credit history, perfect on-time payments, no bankruptcies whatsoever, everything is just perfect. Except I have tons of credit cards, opened that many just to lower my credit utilization. Only downsides in my credit history is too many INQ's, and somewhat short history (3 years oldest card).

I am a junior university lecturer, with good starting stable salary. I am wondering what my chances are for personal loan and personal line of credit with big banks like WF, Chase, BoA I have checking, savings and credit accounts with? What are possible maximum lines I can get if I can get any?

Remember, everything is fine but I am not a citizen, which might make me a still ''risky debt'' according to their criteria, maybe?

Any experiences?!

[jeffery581]

this thread should be moved as its not reagarding credit cards.

[KSK1912]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I am not a US citizen however I have good SSN and valid visa till 2020. And I have been building credit for 3 years now.

I have all scores in 700-730 range. They used to be 750, after 3-4 new cards and HPs recently, they went down to around 710.

No bad credit history, perfect on-time payments, no bankruptcies whatsoever, everything is just perfect. Except I have tons of credit cards, opened that many just to lower my credit utilization. Only downsides in my credit history is too many INQ's, and somewhat short history (3 years oldest card).

I am a junior university lecturer, with good starting stable salary. I am wondering what my chances are for personal loan and personal line of credit with big banks like WF, Chase, BoA I have checking, savings and credit accounts with? What are possible maximum lines I can get if I can get any?

Remember, everything is fine but I am not a citizen, which might make me a still ''risky debt'' according to their criteria, maybe?

Any experiences?!

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Being a non US Citizen will not make any difference provided that you are here legally and you have a ssn. The only problem is usually the only options you have when you are filling out an application is citizen or permenant resident. But since you already have credit cards, and assuming that you do have a bank account, i don't see this being a problem with you. Usually personal loans may be a little harder to obtain than a credit card. However, they will do really good for your credit report as they are installment loans. Downside, it may hold your scores where they are right now, until you pay a bigger portion of it down. My recommendation, your bank should be the first one to talk to. If for any reason you can not get approved, do the same thing i did. Go to Wells Fargo and open a savings account, deposit $3075 and they will give you $3000 personal secured loan. Go ahead and do it for 36 months, and pay down instantly 75% of it, and make regular payments on the remainder. Once it is paid off, they will release the hold on the security deposit you made at the beginning and it will be available to you in your savings account. If you can not get approved from anywhere, this would be your best bet, as this is exactly what i did. Adding an installment loan will enhance your credit report, and will help increase your score. Also google "promise financial". You can do a pre approval on their website without any harm to your credit score, and they pull transunion. Good side of them doing a soft pull, shortly after you check for per approval, you will get an email with your actual fico credit score. Their rates are high, but with my credit during rebuilding stages, i was pre approved for up to $15K I just never needed the money, but occasionaly check, and my offer is still there. In fact, my first pre approval was for up to $10K about 3 months ago, and since then i have been paying my car payments and WF Loan on time, and last week my pre approval went up to $15K. And i am in the same boat with you too, i am permanent resident, but not a us citizen yet. Good Luck.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I am not a US citizen however I have good SSN and valid visa till 2020. And I have been building credit for 3 years now.

I have all scores in 700-730 range. They used to be 750, after 3-4 new cards and HPs recently, they went down to around 710.

No bad credit history, perfect on-time payments, no bankruptcies whatsoever, everything is just perfect. Except I have tons of credit cards, opened that many just to lower my credit utilization. Only downsides in my credit history is too many INQ's, and somewhat short history (3 years oldest card).

I am a junior university lecturer, with good starting stable salary. I am wondering what my chances are for personal loan and personal line of credit with big banks like WF, Chase, BoA I have checking, savings and credit accounts with? What are possible maximum lines I can get if I can get any?

Remember, everything is fine but I am not a citizen, which might make me a still ''risky debt'' according to their criteria, maybe?

Any experiences?!

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Being a U.S citizen wouldn't impede you from getting a personal loan.  The underwriting for personal loans are different from credit cards and inquiries would deter the lender from giving you are loan if you qualify.

So go ahead and talk to a personal banker about your needs.  All the best..

[Anonymous]

I had no problem getting a Line of Credit at BECU with my SSN. I'm Canadian in the US on a TN Visa. They didn't even ask about that anywhere on the application process, they just wanted SSN and they were happy. 

The only place I've heard of it being an issue was auto loans. I have a coworker who was originally approved for, I think, a 5 year autoloan but had to have it redone as a 3 year loan. Reason being that his work permit expired at 3 years and they didn't want to extend an auto loan longer than he had current work authorization. But that might have been just that one dealer.

So it MAY be that if you get an installment loan, that you will not be able to get installments going beyond your work authorization. Reason being that the lender wants assurance you will actually be employed and able to pay the bill. But things like a LoC should not be a problem. And really, a lot of lenders probably won't ask about work authorization in the first place, just SSN, potentially proof of employment, and a good credit history.

[Anonymous]

I am on an H1B visa. My FICO score is 812. I have 2 credit cards in outstanding shape. I applied for a Wells Fargo Personal Line of Credit. I was conditionally approved but needed to provide proof of permanent residence status. I guess I'm not getting this personal line of credit....

Has anyone encountered this situation before? 

[RobertEG]

It could be an underwritng consideration.

A resident non-citizen can simply leave the U.S. at any time.

Creditors cannot bring effective civil action against a foreigner living abroad.

I would suspect that it could be a factor for unsecured loans, but less of a factor is they have some property to secure the loan.

[Anonymous]

Find out what they mean by "permanent resident". There are TWO different definitions of this term you can run into:

USCIS - it means you have a green card

IRS - it means your primary residence is in the US

In a banking context often it's the IRS definition that applies. Query the bank and see if you can find out whether they actually require you to have a green card, or whether what they are asking for is proof that you live in, and pay tax in, the United States. In the latter case your W2 and some bank statements may suffice.

I would recommend going into a branch. Bring your SSN card, your visa, last tax return, drivers license or other proof of address, etc., and be clear about your status. I would be surprised if a big bank like W-F has any problem with you being on a work visa.

[Anonymous]

Try to not get into debt if possible, only do it if you absolutely need it.

Even though this post is quite old, still responding based on a lender I found recently that specializes in loans to non-U.S. citizens and visa holders.

They are called Stilt. I took a loan personal with them on OPT, they finalized the loan in one day.

I was initially skeptical of a new company like this but they had good Google, Facebook, and Yelp reviews. So I thought, I'd give it a try and it worked.