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> being a foreigner in America (USA or Canada) is pretty easy compared to being one in China When I moved to the US from Canada, the banks couldn't access my c
by bonestamp2 8y ago
> being a foreigner in America (USA or Canada) is pretty easy compared to being one in China
When I moved to the US from Canada, the banks couldn't access my credit file in Canada -- even though they use the same fucking credit bureaus in both countries! I had to give AT&T $500 cash just to get a cell phone account, and another $500 cash so my wife could have an account too... even though we had already bought our iPhones in cash -- we had no debt with AT&T. They literally needed a $500 deposit in case we ran up some crazy bill with long distance calling (text and data were unlimited).
With a lot of work, we were finally able to get a mortgage even though we were putting about 45% down. The bank issued us kind of trail credit card that they issue all immigrants. I ran into another consultant at a client site and we had lunch together. He was fresh off the boat from India and when he pulled out his credit card we laughed because I held up the same immigrant Visa card. Easier than China, ya... but it's pretty silly here too. How equifax here can't get my stellar credit history from equifax Canada blows my mind.
- seanmcdirmid 8y agoI’m sure there are issues. In China, there is no real credit history, so it is undeveloped in that regards (well, they are trying to replace that with social credit history, but I’m a bad communist).
- kspaans 8y agoThis is where multi-nationals like Amex come in handy. I'm Canadian and got my first Amex while living in the UK. Later when I moved to the US I was able to bring my Amex history with me and get an Amex there with no issues.