Getting credit for your wife

[viking]

My wife has a social security number ( it says for work purposes only and she has her EAD) but has not yet received her green card. I want to start getting her credit established. I tried to apply for a store credit card, thinking it would be easier than visa/mastercard, but was denied. No reason given but I suspect we will get something in the mail soon to explain. What have you done to get the process started?

[ECOCKS]

My suggestions:

1. Get her to work. Somewhere, anywhere.

2. Open accounts for her at one bank and get the debit card thing going. After 4-6 months of working, have her apply for their credit card.

3. Look into buying her a Capital One account with a low limit and have her systematically embark on charging AND PAYING OFF, a couple of hundred dollars or more a month. Maybe use it for all gas or grocery purchases.

Good luck.

[Gator]

ECOCKS,

Good answers.  To get started, I met with the bank's branch manager.  At first he wanted my name on the account with my name removed later.  Yet, he consented to her name only after I agreed to deposit $1000 in a checking/debit account.

I assume having a driver's license is also important when making the application. 

[Shadow]

I always was under the impression that most men would be happy to get rid of their wife's credit facilities. 

[ECOCKS]

DL's are not essential. Only valid ID's. Mine opened her first with a passport and then added her GC and other numbers later.

[GQBlues]

I called my gas card company to issue an extension of my account using her SS#. Then when the card arrived, I purposely used 'her' gas card liberally and paid it off...3 months later, I made her apply for a Dept. Store CC and they gave her a credit line that started with a $200.00 limit. Did the same charge/pay exercise....6 months time lapsed.

Shortly after that, I leased her her car and made sure her name and SS# was also in the account. 1 year elapsed since the 'gas' card issuance...

3 Bank cards came almost immediately after the lease....2 years since gas card.

Now she has a mortagage to add to her credibility.

Charge and payoff is a great habit/discipline. The leasing and mortgage accounts only serve to solidify her on-going sound credibility.

[I/O]

I always was under the impression that most men would be happy to get rid of their wife's credit facilities. 

LOL, Mrs I/O just nicks my credit card and uses it over the phone.

When I read the thread title...........

Getting credit for your wife

......... I thought is was about "getting wives on credit". Lucky beggars, I had to pay cash for mine.

[SANDRO43]

Lucky beggars, I had to pay cash for mine.

Wasn't an installment plan available ?

[Rutherford]

Consider a secured credit card  , this is how I started

   A Secured Card works like any other credit card, and can be used wherever Visa or MC credit cards are accepted, but requires a deposit.

    * You deposit $300-$10,000 into a "Collateral Account." Your credit line will directly reflect the amount of your deposit.
    * You still need to make monthly payments toward any balance you accrue, as with any other credit card.

[Vaughn]

Same situation here as Rutherford's....   watch your junk mail closely. Once her name gets "out there"
either by having it added to your utility bills and other obligations (which, BTW, is a good preparatory
tactic for impending Removal of Conditions later) she'll start receiving "pre-approved" offers of credit,
although they may be in the form of a secured card. Elvira's first one required only $100 up front for
a $300 line....  eventually with consistent use the deposit comes back and the line increases.

[viking]

I/O. Never heard of the lay-away-plan? (Somehow I think your mind will read this differently)

[viking]

Considering she got turned down for a store credit card, the secured card seems the way to go. I get offers from an Orchard Bank in my emails weekly. May try them.

[SMS60]

Just be patient. The more her name appears on " stuff ", the more the offers will start to arrive in the mail box.

My shredding machine is running 24/7 .

[Rutherford]

Maybe this will help , maybe it won't

http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&hl=en&q=secured+credit+card+&aq=4o&aqi=g4g-o1&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=&pbx=1&fp=b339b50e1c851ae5

[Jumper]

Viking, in the past i used Orchard for establishing a credit history for "T"
it worked well.

We got a checking account soley in her name as well,
and also added her name to the utility bills ,like gas /elec ,and particularly the home phone, as many credit bureaus give that some credence.
These were done years before she worked.. so you do not need to wait.

as far as the utility billing, this  was also done to establish her residence here, and living together/sharing bills, as the 2 year AOS (for those on a I-179) asks such proofs. 


What your new RW is missing to the credit bureau , is mostly credit history, and you can work on that immediately.She does not need to be working,  to establish it.

[I/O]

Wasn't an installment plan available ?

Papa wasn't takin' nuthin' but cash...!!!

Never heard of the lay-away-plan?

Sure have but that didn't cum into negotiations either.

[Faux Pas]

Viking,

You can go to creditcard.com and put in her information. A list of offers that she'll qualify for will come up. Likely most will be secured cards but they maybe something or two else. It will also give you the opportunity to shop a bit for the best card for the best fit.

[ConnerVT]

You should be able to do the following, with a SS# and an EAD:

-- Add her to one of your existing credit cards.
-- Take out a car loan, and finance it in both of your names.

We did both (actually, bought two cars in a 12 month period).  My wife's credit score was actually higher than mine for awhile after a few years.  (High 700's)

[groovlstk]

You might want to have her apply for a retail store card, in person. My wife was turned down a few times for CCs, and one day we were in Macy's during a sale and she applied for a card and they opened an account with $200 in credit. It's since grown. I can't say for certain that applying in person helped, but until that point she'd been turned down consistently when applying through the mail.

[GoodOlBoy]

My wife was turned down a few times for CCs, and one day we were in Macy's during a sale and she applied for a card and they opened an account with $200 in credit.

Sorry, missed this topic completely!
My wife has the same story as Groovlstk.
She got her first card through Macy's in Miami (Christmas holiday sale).
It was good for only a few hundred dollars in credit.
The next card she got was a Chevron gas card and then an AMEX (Gold) card.
One caveat, my wife also had a checking and savings account with a major national bank, BEFORE she applied for any credit cards.
Good luck!

GOB

[Misha]

Given that I wanted my wife to build up her credit rating, we simply went to the credit union and got her a secured credit card: we deposited money in a GIC and they gave her a credit card for an equivalent sum 

[MarkLeftTX]

FWIW...

First, I added Viktoriya to my bank account which gave her an ATM.

then I got her a secured credit card. We used it all of the time and paid it off promptly every month. After about 6 month or so, she got a small credit extended to her on the card.

We applied for a second card and she got one for like $250. We kept using them and paying them off and by the end of about two years she had a credit score of 680 -- with no job!

[ConnerVT]

Employment (and income, and savings, and assets) have no effect on credit scores.

[Chicagoguy]

Connor is correct even though it sounds counterintuitive. When I worked in the loan department at a bank all that was really important was that they had borrowed money before and had paid it back. I think good [ probably perfect ] credit card payments also reflect this.

Try to never have any black marks or problems anyplace.

[ConnerVT]

From the source:  FICO themself.

http://www.myfico.com/CreditEducation/WhatsInYourScore.aspx