Cell Phones/ Credit Cards/ Credit in the U.S.

I can completely sympathize with you your credit frustrations. I have been in the U.S. on TN since early 2004. Upon my arrival I immediately set up a bank account with a National bank and naively thought that getting credit would be a relatively simple process.

I applied for a Macy's card and was given a charge account for the whopping limit of $100. After a year of stable employment, I applied for an MBNA M/C and received the rejection letter in the mail. By this time I was getting very frustrated and called the MBNA customer service number. I expressed my frustration to the representative and mentioned that I had an excellent credit rating in Canada. Much to my surprise, the rep then asked for my "Social Security Number or what ever they use in Canada". A few days later, the same rep phoned me back and told me that I would receive my card in the mail shortly.

Around the same time I shopped around for a mortgage and found a broker who was familiar with applying for a mortgage with foreign credit ratings.

Today, I am inundated with credit applications.

As far as cell phones carriers, you will probably have to pay the exorbitant contract fees for a short period, but you may ask for your credit to be reevaluated and transition to a new plan.

Good Luck,

Alta Al

Here are some more tips that may help you:

1. Open an account with Bank of America. Bank of America can do credit history checks in Canada - its even easier if you had a CIBC account in Canada.
Create a relationship with one Personal Banker at a branch near your home/work. Explain your situation - have them advise you as well.
Also Ensure you are doing a direct deposit of your salary into the account -- this provides credibility of your employment and earning capacity.
Then within 30days of opening the account, speak to your personal banker and you should be able to apply for a credit card (with 500min limit).

2. The suggestion for American Express is a good one. We've heard of other people doing the same. Try speaking to someone at American Express Canada (telling them you are moving to the US and need a card). Also call the US branch and tell them you are a Canadian living in the US, you have an Amex Canada card and want a US card.

3. Give this a try: If you're a Canadian Costco cardholder - goto Costco in the US and obtain an Amex-Costco card.

This is definitely a little bit of a hassle when moving to a new country, but you should be on your way to having credit being built up in no time -- just keep at it.

Good Luck

But does having Amex convert your CDN card into US currency and having a US address does not mean you'll be able to build credit though right?

Yes it does. They don't just convert your CAD to USD, they give you a whole new USD card with a different account number.

But does having Amex convert your CDN card into US currency and having a US address does not mean you'll be able to build credit though right?

If you attach your SSN to the card, yes it'll start building your credit!

Trying to get a US credit card without a credit history is a royal pain in the ass! If you still have a Canadian address, get an Amex, use it for a few months, and then switch the address and card type to a US dollar, US based card. If you no longer have a Canadian address (like me) then you are SOL. Your best bet is probably to go in person to a national bank (I use Chase), talk to the manager, and explain the situation. It can be helpful if you have an old Canadian credit card bill that lists your previous credit allowance, and pay stubs for the income. John, my bank manager, and I are now good friends and after my card application was rejected, he overrode the rejection and approved my application, for a whooping $300! The bank said my best option for increasing the limit was to rack it up and pay it off as much as possible. That way, you can establish a payment history and you will look like less of a risk. Good luck, you have discovered a problem that a lot of newcomers to the US encounter, but never even thought about before moving.

It's not that hard anymore, like I said above, use a secured credit card.

Hi.
Yes, I experienced the exact same problem. Capital One gave me a "platinum" mastercard with a whooping $300 limit. I used that to establish a credit history (I paid the card every couple of days so I didn't exceed the limit!) and now I have a US Amex. As for the cell: T-mobile has the best pay-as-you-go plan (10c/min if you put down $100) which worked for me since I only make about 3-4 min of calls a month.
Hope that helps.
Jomo

It was a shock to find out how hard it was too to deal in the USA with no credit but as long as your bank provides you with a depbit card with the visa logo you can at least get a hotel room! Capital one is good - but watch the rates they can be high - patients is the key and dont over apply for things and get rejected as you are just screwing up your credit even more (something we didnt know until it ws too late) when you are ready to buy a home go to the Lending tree web site, they actually ask if you are a resident etc. we were told we couldnt buy but within 30 days of logging onto their website we had a mortgage with a 30 yr fixed term of 5.70 so pretty good!