My dear relative is new to the country. She is a legal immigrant. USA gold will give her a card that reports to all 3 CRA's with no employment of credit verification. She has to pay a $149 upfront fee and it should be no surprise that the terms are not good. Has anyone had experience with these folks or does anyone have an opinion about them? My relative is esablishing credit for the first time. She will drop these guys within 2 years as her credit earns her better terms. For now she is desperate to establish credit. Do you guys know of any other comapnies that will give a legal immigrant a chance without a lot of verication?
Does she have a SSN? That can make a difference in the offers to accept. Secured Credit Cards are a MUCH better way to go. I would choose one that came from a local bank. Both BofA and Wells Fargo offer secured cards - and even if she has no SSN, she can sign a W-8 BEN form that says that she is a foreign resident - w/out a SSN. Then if/when she gets a SSN, she can call her lender and have them update the account to reflect the new SSN, and she'll sign a W-9 form (confirming the SSN) and it should begin reporting to credit bureaus under the new SS.
If she can get a SS# tell her to get it in the first order. Anyway tell her to go to a bank and open a Secure loan (Ask if they will report it). And/Or add as authorized user of your own account with good history. And/or tell her to apply for a secured card as B of America, Chase, Fleet, etc. Don´t tell them about her status (legal inmigrant or whatever) just us her SS#(If she gets one), use 50k or higher as income, etc. they don´t verify any information except probably the home address and tel. If she can not get a SS# apply for a tax ID. if she can not use a tax ID use the word "Exempt" in the the SS# space and file a w8 form when apply for the secured card or secure loan.
Make sure you check that offer carefully. I believe that it is not a REAL credit card (Visa, MC, etc) but is a card allowing you to buy from their catalog. The merchandise is overpriced and you often have to pay something, can only put part on the credit. When they ask for money up front and it's not a secured card, be careful. I suspect it doesn't have the MasterCard or Visa logo. Or sometimes they are MC or Visa, but they won't tell you what bank, because they're going to shop it around. So, just read all the material very carefully.
Geo, I don't think she should make fraud her first order of business. Lying about your income and using a TIN for personal credit are both fraudulent activitives, and with today's "throw em out" philosophy, the smallest of offenses could lead to deportation. She should be fine with a straight secured card as others suggested. -HDAlex
She is eligible to get a SS#. We are working on this now. But can she get one of the secured cards you mention without a drivers license? Her DL may take some time as she has to learn to drive and no one in the family wants her out driving until she is competent. Thanks to all of you guys who are answering this thread.
Isn't that a CATALOGUE CREDIT CARD for over-priced JUNK??? JC PENNEYS has FREE credit cards...and you can even get a catalogue for less than FREE... You pay like $5.00 for the catalogue and get a coupon for $10.00 towards your first order...
Last time I looked at a BofA application it didn't ask for a Drivers License number. It's also one of the preferred banks for those doing a file segregation.
She won´t need a Dr license. Anyway she can apply for an ID card instead. Wait for the SS# and then apply as suggested.
