4 ms·

Here's something I've wanted to know for a while: How is a foreigner emigrating to the USA (or Canada I guess) supposed to function? We don't use credit cards i

by Asooka 10y ago

Here's something I've wanted to know for a while: How is a foreigner emigrating to the USA (or Canada I guess) supposed to function? We don't use credit cards in my country (we use direct debit cards) and I've never had any debt to my name. On the other hand, I've always paid all my bills on time. Do you get some sort of crappy default credit score given based on estimated factors, or are you SOL until you've lived long enough to establish a credit history?

smnrchrds 10y ago
Some credit card companies issue secured credit cards: they basically request a payment of e.g. 1000$ called security deposit and keep it in escrow (I think. IANAL) and in return they give you a credit card with a credit limit of 1000$. If you don't pay your credit card bills, they will cancel the credit card and use the security deposit to pay off the remaining balance. If you do pay all your bills on time, they release the security deposit after 6 months to 2 years based on the issuer. At this point you will have a credit report showing several months of prompt payment and a reasonable score. It is not perfect, but it is not that bad. It sucks having to have your money blocked in an account for a year though.