Question
I have a friend who is going to study in the US (from Israel) for a year, and was wondering what credit cards would be a good bet, preferably with miles, but he's not a US citzen...
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I have a friend who is going to study in the US (from Israel) for a year, and was wondering what credit cards would be a good bet, preferably with miles, but he's not a US citzen...
Is he Israeli?
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Easiest cards to get initially will be student credit cards. Make sure he gets a social security number, then he can apply for credit cards. Also helpful to get checking and savings accounts set up first. AFAIK there aren't any student cards that give good sign-up miles bonuses. I think Citi has a nice line-up. Student version of Dividend Platinum gives 5% back on groceries/gas/drug stores, 1% elsewhere. MTVU card gives bonus points for having a good GPA (up to 2000 ThankYou points twice/yr), 5 TY pts/$ spent at restaurants, bookstores (supposedly all Amazon purchases count), etc, and 1 TY pt/$ on all other purchases.
After maybe 6 months of good payment history, he can try going for the bonus mile offers.
Oh, and have him enroll in United College Plus. Gives 10k bonus miles when he graduates (just mail in a transcript).
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yes, he's Israeli.
you can get a SSN if you're just on a student visa?
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yes, he's Israeli.
you can get a SSN if you're just on a student visa?
Hey entropy,
I just sent u a PM.
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you can get a SSN if you're just on a student visa?
You can, but only if you're doing some sort of work (or possibly if you're receiving some sort of stipend payment--not sure about that). Work includes research assistant/teaching assistant. W/o a SSN, it's difficult, but not necessarily impossible, to get a credit card or even a banking account (due to the so-called Patriot Act). See this page (the last "answer") for some details on this:
http://www.faqfarm.com/Q/Can_you_get_a_credit_card_without_a_Social_Securit y_number
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hmm, I'lll replay the advice!
thanks!
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Easiest cards to get initially will be student credit cards. Make sure he gets a social security number, then he can apply for credit cards.
Impossible to be approved for even a student CC with no US credit rating -- so he'll need to build ne using a secured card. Citibank used to offer one but seem to have discontinued offering it -- so try Bank of America instead which I think still has one.
It'll take at least 18 months to build a good enough credit history to apply for any other type of card so no miles unless from a debit card to start with.
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Not necessarily true. Without any sort of credit history, I applied for a student Amex credit card as my first card and was approved.
Impossible to be approved for even a student CC with no US credit rating -- so he'll need to build ne using a secured card.
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If he must go the Secured Card route then the only one that is readily available if the US Bank issued Korean Air Skypass Secured Visa Card (see RewardsDB.com (http://www.rewardsdb.com/finance/US_Airline_Rail.html) for this and all other airline mile US cards). He may be lucky as a student and be able to get a student card with the right documentation (although if he is only here for a year that may also be an issue).
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Ok, found that (kinda) old thread with a random search. A few things, being myself an ex-foreign grad student (now working, hopefully here to stay, yay).
- I got a SSN (3 years ago) while on a student, F1 visa, no work. I do believe, though, it has changed; now you need the job first. I suggest your friend goes to his university's website and find the "international student/office" section, probably info on that.
- When I got here, I was denied every cc I applied for. I thought I had bad credit, when in fact, I had a totally blank credit. Nothing on it, therefore no score. Only thing I could get was a secure cc. Citibank still has it, and it builds your credit right away (in a week, I went from nothing to a "good" score). Definitely worth it.
- One of my friend (from Iraq of all places) applied for a regular credit card right away and got it. Not sure what difference btwn him and me. I believe you can always call Amex, explain your situation. They'll ask for utility bill etc. and give you a very simple cc with low credit line if they're nice enough :D
Good luck to your friend, coming to the US for studies was for me an unbelievable experience, hope it's the same for him!
Ben.
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Not necessarily true. Without any sort of credit history, I applied for a student Amex credit card as my first card and was approved.
Both MBNA and Citi issued me student cards when I had completally blank credit. This was only 4 years ago, so I doubt things have changed much.
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yes, he's Israeli.
you can get a SSN if you're just on a student visa?
A person can get an SSN on a foreign visa; non-residents legally domiciled in the US can get an SSN. Many students are from tax treaty countries, so they don't bother, but they could.
My suggestion is that your friend apply for a store credit card first; they're easiest to get. Buy a few things and pay the bill in time etc. to establish a credit history. I'd also suggest opening a bank account as quickly as possible and get an ATM card. Within six months after getting a store card and opening a bank account, apply for a card.
Now, the student will probably need to show a source of steady income. If he or she is on a scholarship, working as a TA, etc., they're be a steady source of income. That helps too--a lot!!
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A person can get an SSN on a foreign visa;
True, but as Benjh noted, the SSN can now not be issued until one has a job. This can make things difficulty for new international students who are trying to open bank accounts, set up utilities, etc.
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True, but as Benjh noted, the SSN can now not be issued until one has a job. This can make things difficulty for new international students who are trying to open bank accounts, set up utilities, etc.
I am not sure if the information is one hundred percent accurate, though things have changed in the past few years. A job is certainly the driving reason to get one. If the person is coming as a grad student, chances are that he or she will have a job on campus, so will have some sort of remuneration. The student will get a temporary SSN from campus--usually begins in 999 or 99N. You can actually use that number to open a bank account, but you might get hassled; I suppose you could use it to start your credit history. You don't need an SSN for a lot of things, though many companies (like insurance companies) are in the habit of asking for it.
The big problem is getting a driver's license. There I know they have clamped down: in the past you could apply for the SSN because you needed it for a license; they've changed those rules since 9/11.
By the way, the rules on F visas were changed about 12 or so years ago; I understand that now students can, under certain circumstances, apply for jobs. That might solve the problem.
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I'll be the first to admit that immigration policies are complicated and always in flux. J1 visa holders can get an SSN without much hassle. F1 holders need a job and paperwork.
Social security number issuance has been a big issue on my campus--for both grad students and undergrads. With the grad students, the problem isn't so much that the students won't ever get a social security number (most of them have appointments with the university), but more so that there is now a big lag between arrival in the US and issuance of the SSN. In the past, students were able to apply for the SSN much earlier in the process, but now that is no longer possible. The new paperwork requirements (http://ssa.gov/pubs/10181.html) have put a burden on the process that didn't previously exist.
Students who initially arrive in the US often wait months now before they get an SSN, causing problems for a range of daily transactions that most of us take for granted. But, you are right, in terms of the credit card issue, getting an SSN and utilizing store credit to build up the initial file
999 student ID numbers have no bearing outside of the college administration system and many universities are using them less and less as the dependency on the SSN as the universal identifier within university mainframes is decreasing. Banks may certainly accept them if they choose to. What we've done on our campus to improve the situation for international students is work with local banks to find institutions that are willing to work with our international students.