Thread: Need US credit - From Canada

My cousin is very happy. She is moving to the USA legally from Canada. She now has her SS# and needs to establish credit. She has no prior credit as she is very young.

Please help.

What visa/mc accounts can she apply for that report to the 3 CRA's? She does not mind paying a annual fee.

Her plan is this ///

1. Apply for 3 visa/mc accounts immediately.

2. Get Amex green in 2 years after inquiries drop off or earlier if Amex allows it.

3. Auto loan(2 year length) in 3 years.

4. Buy house in 5 years

Providian and Capital One are mid low range card companies, so they would probably be likely to offer a card, but here's possibly a better thought. Wherever your cousin ends up living, have her apply for a gas card for one of the gas stations there. Shell, Exxon, Citgo, all are pretty easy to get. Have her buy ALL her gas at the station . . . oh yea, only get one gas card. Now she pays it off every month, after 3-4 months she may be able to apply for one of the non sub-prime cards like Citibank or Discover. They'll probably refuse her if she applys at first, but heck if you can wait 3-4 months before applying for a Visa / MC and end up without the $79 annual fee of providian then I say it's probably worth it.

Just my thoughts.

ChrisB

hi,
how about Bank one secured card?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ganesh

This is appreciated. I did not think that someone with no credit history could get a gas card. Let alone get a citi or discover card in a few months.

Originally posted by chrisb
Providian and Capital One are mid low range card companies, so they would probably be likely to offer a card, but here's possibly a better thought. Wherever your cousin ends up living, have her apply for a gas card for one of the gas stations there. Shell, Exxon, Citgo, all are pretty easy to get. Have her buy ALL her gas at the station . . . oh yea, only get one gas card. Now she pays it off every month, after 3-4 months she may be able to apply for one of the non sub-prime cards like Citibank or Discover. They'll probably refuse her if she applys at first, but heck if you can wait 3-4 months before applying for a Visa / MC and end up without the $79 annual fee of providian then I say it's probably worth it.

Just my thoughts.

ChrisB

Thanks. We will check it out.

Hey does anyone know how many years of credit history are required for an Amex green?

Originally posted by khvganesh
hi,
how about Bank one secured card?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ganesh

She won´t get a Visa/MC or gas card without cr history except if she is a student. If She is not a student tell her to apply for a secured card or to ask to a relative to add her as authorized user of two of his/her accounts.