guesswho2000

My experience, for the benefit of anyone who is interested - relocated from UK to Australia, permanent resident, full time permanent employment. Still hold 4x Amex cards in the UK, all up to date, as they have always been!

Applied on 16/1 for the Explorer card (AU) put my PR Gold (UK) as the existing Amex number. After a couple of weeks, I had to provide certified copies of my passport and proof of address (fair enough, JPs don't charge for document verification here). A week later I was asked for two most recent payslips (believe the criteria is different for temps, casuals and self employed, but still possible), which I provided yesterday. Got a text message about half an hour ago saying card approved, will receive within seven days.

All in all, a fairly painless process, although I will say that ANZ gave me a credit card with slightly less hassle, despite not having the years of history Amex have, but would still recommend anyone moving abroad to give it a go, if they have a good relationship with Amex in their home country. In their defense, timescale wise, I believe Amex here had to liaise with Amex UK to get a yes/no from them, and ANZ do have the benefit of my salary being paid into their account, which probably helped.

martzipan

Moving from Canada to the United States. Experience ok but not the smoothest.

It takes over a month to get your SSN here and because I wanted to take advantage of the online bonus offer, it meant I had to wait a month to apply. My application was initially denied due to lack of credit rating, even though I provided my Canadian Amex #. I call and inquire and after reviewing my case they say they cannot do that still because my Canadian card has been open for less than a year. Except the requirement online says it needs to be 3 months...

After much complaining on my part, they still refuse, because I didn't have much activity on my card in the last 2 month (no kidding, I used a card that does not charge forex fees, a feature none of Canadian Amex cards have). I get upset and quit that because I honestly was expecting them to be way friendlier.

After another month I decide to try again and apply for a different card. This time I call the very next day and the rep processes everything right away. She spends some time checking everything but does not give me any trouble, unlike last time. To verify my US address they contact my US based bank - right as I'm on the phone with them. Interesting system they got.

The next day I start getting all sorts of welcome emails and in a couple more days - my new card arrives.

That's more like what I expected from Amex

My partner's experience was much smoother, same Canada to US transfer:

Does not have SSN yet, and never had ITIN either, so applied online and provided 899-99-9999 instead of SSN. Called in right away to the Global Transfer number, they verified Canadian card details, asked for passport information and approved the application. A few reps I talked to before were adamant that one can't apply without any tax number (SSN/ITIN), but turns out it is possible.

wildchartermage

I've applied for Italian AMEX Green card before and was denied.....They didn't say their reasons. So in that case, I've been looking into getting an ICC euro card. (I'm an American living in Italy...and I have two US-based AMEX cards. Seems like the Italian AMEX branch is very strict about issuing cards...boooooo)

I saw the ICC application asked for income (must be at least 35,000 euros). I don't make that much. Do they mean only my own income or can it include my partner's income? If I can combine my own and my partner's income, it would be over 35,000 euros. I don't know how strict they are about checking income or the sources of income.

JFSV

Has anyone by any chance had any recent luck in transferring (i.e. getting a new amex card) in Germany? I have recently relocated form the UK and had applied for a new Amex Plat in Germany whilst still keeping the UK Plat running.

Unfortunately the attempts have not been successful. I have also spoken to the Amex team in Germany but they have said I should try again in 6 months. For me personally therefore, I found this Global Transfer programme virtually useless.

Clearly, when completing the new application form and asked for how long I have been living in the new address, I have answered the truth and stated 1 month. Other than that, income, etc should be of no issue as I have relocated with my current employer. Hence, I see that the applications disregarding completely any previous experience with Amex in the UK.

Grateful for any views you may have, in case these differ!

martzipan

I would try calling again. When I did Canada to USA transfer, I received very inconsistent information and level of service from the Global Transfer team. Also, it seems that even the phone numbers of the relevant agents are hard to get. It's very important to speak to a good agent, if you are not getting anywhere just hang up and try again later.

JFSV

Thanks! I think I will write them a formal "constructive feedback" letter - hoping someone with authority/initiatve picks it up and writes me back offering some solutions. Let's see!

NP_

Arriving late to the conversation, but would you also kindly pm me?
I'm interested in setting up US account and feel your experience will be helpful.

Thanks in advance!

LondonElite

I had the complete opposite experience from you. I've had a Platinum Card for decades and, since I spend a lot of time in Germany, decided to apply for the German Platinum through Global Transfer. I went through the website process, provided my German mailing address and telephone number, income details, and within a few days was sent an email confirming that the account was set up. When I next went to my German apartment, the card (in a needlessly fancy case) was there waiting for me. Since then, excellent customer service.

Johnko1987

Is it necessary that a foreign cardholder has an address in the U.S.A to transfer amex platinum charge card to the U.S.A? If the answer is yes, is there anyway to avoid this problem?

I really wanna transfer my card to the U.S.A, but I don't have any address in the U.S.A. The annual fee of the platinum charge card of my country is much higher than in the U.S.A. We have to pay more than US$ 1,000 per year, that's an unreasonable fee!

mia

Global Transfers does not transfer your card, it transfers your history with American Express to be used as a basis for the application in the new country.

Read more about the USA requirements here:

https://www.americanexpress.com/glob...ed-states.html

guesswho2000

As MIA says, it's not the card which transfers, they use the history to determine whether they're willing to take on the risk - your old cards stay open as before (in my experience anyway).

However, if you did manage to open one, where would you expect them to send it, if you don't have an address? You can't take one out from another country unless you live there at least part of the time.

Your cards from different countries don't all need to be at the same address though, my UK ones are registered to a UK address, Australian ones to an Aussie address, though I assume I could change them all to the same address if I wanted to.

LondonElite

You can't do what you want to do. Also, consider the 3% FX fee you'll be paying. A $10,000 charge will cost you ca $300 in FX. As a Platinum cardholder you'll obviously be spending much more than this in a year. Does the US card still make sense for you?

AllieKat

They can't do it, you're right. But there's no FX fee on the card they want.

LondonElite

The US Platinum Card has no FX fee?

mia

Correct since 2010:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...num-cards.html