Originally Posted by
florin
AMEX is a CC, not a library card. You need more than an address. You need a SSN, credit history, pay stubs, etc.
Originally Posted by
GUWonder
Some kind of satisfactory (to Amex) credit history in the US will indeed be required for Amex to issue a US card. Whether a SSN and pay stubs are needed, that is something that may be a situation of YMMV, although Amex has tightened up in recent years such that an application may end up being placed on hold or denied short of supplying some additional documentation in a way that was nowhere near as frequent as what has taken place in the past couple of years.
A definite
NO. Amex has a department called global services that can move one of your European cards. The initial credit is low and the APR is sky rocketing but it works - even without a SSN, real credit history, etc. However, it really helps to have your Amex account in good standing since they seem to use that data as well.
Originally Posted by
libuser
ill make it easy for you man.
The only way is to get a resident visa, either the following:
- J1 summer working program
- h1b or h2b business visa
- au pair visa...
etc...
all of those will get you a social security number. With that number in hand you can open a bank account asap.
Once you open the bank account you can pretty easily after about 4-5 months get a credit card thru the bank. Once you have that credit card you charge it for about 2 years... and then after that you apply for AMEX and you MIGHT(40% chance) get it depending on how you spent was...
Your history in Europe means squat here...
Based on personal experience... I went from 0 to 830+ on all 3 credit bureaus. A lot lower now because I have 3MM+ worth of miles from credit cards... : )
update: easiest visa to get is the J1. You apply and the chance to get is more than 90%. If your gender is F, then au pair is also a pretty easy one, and can find a job relatively easy... And tourist visa does NOT get you Social, so forget about coming here as a tourist.
The only thing you
really need is the bank account. My account is a joint account that was opened (at least for me) with my European credentials with no SSN or Visa. Amex is merely asking for an American account that has your name on it and is to be connected to the card.
I had to start with something low, such as the Amex DL Gold and after the first billing cycle more cards opened up (showing as pre-approved in my account). Anyway, in retroperspective I cannot say that it was worth the hassle ... the benefits of the DL SM card are marginal and in contrast to Amex EU the Americans dont like (re-)negotiationg things like the annual fee
I have not found a way to bind an American card against an European bank account - unfortunately. Additionally, as someone already said here, the foreign currency fee is killing me
