Foreigner applying for a visa/mastercard?
 

Hi,

I'm curious if anyone has had any luck applying for a credit card not from their home country?

I've heard it is relatively easy for someone apply for a credit card in Australia, but how about in other countries?

As an Australian, i'm not too pleased with the competition here and in particular i'm keen to earn points on ANA or United or Mexicana or even Air Canada.. anyone had any luck applying for cards which partipcate in these programs but are based in foreign countries?

Hope ft'ers can help out.
I'm sure this will be useful for many.

Nope - unless you legally take up residence in another country it is very difficult. That said - I have cards from 3 countries but I was/am a resident of three countries. I thought the Qantas Telstra VISA card was a good one due to the AUD/point ratio?

Dave

It is, particularly the NZ ANZ Qantas Visa. Particularly if you're overseas (ie in AU) most of the time.

Anyone have one?

[This message has been edited by kawoh (edited 05-20-2002).]

Not your topic, but may be of interest: If you have a foreign Amex, you can convert it to a U.S. Amex.


Saar

First of all as Saar has mentioned if you have a foreign amex you can do an international structure change as named by amex i.e. to move and/or retain yor current membership in your home country, once that is done and you build yourself a decent credit history you should have no problem getting a visa/mastercard.

Additionally, Chase Worldwide Consumer Banking offers a SECURED Visa Card (with money on deposit as security) which I have heard will also build your credit in the US.

Hope this helps.

P.S. You will need a US mailing address to establish credit.


[This message has been edited by ganefe (edited 06-03-2002).]

Dont you also need a SSN to establish US credit history?

Based on my limited one year experience of living in the US: Yes, you need a SSN to establish US credit history. The credit agencies collect the credit information using SSN as the primary key.

JPH

[This message has been edited by ganefe (edited 06-05-2002).]

In the US, you will need the SSN and an address in the US.

Generally speeking, that's right. However, it's possible to get a credit card without SSN.
You can apply at IRS for a tax number (ITIN or so). It looks like a SSN. Some banks accept this number and give you a credit card. In some cases you have to give a collateral/security (CD or so).
You need an adress in the US.

Originally posted by kawoh:
Obviously one would need an Australian mailing address. But what else would one need? Australian tax number, or other sort of financial registration? Must one be a legal resident?

I do, at least the Aussie version. Unfortunately, the value of the bonus points keeps gradually dropping over time and they've just upped the annual fee from $55 to $95!

There are two issues here: what the bank would require and what they'd be required to require by the law. They'd be required by the cash transactions act to collect proof of your identity. It'd be very hard for a non-resident to have enough Australian ID, so you'd probably have to use your passport, which would tend to tip them off that you don't live here. No requirement for tax file number at all though.

There are a few things that are quite different here to the US. For one, all information on your credit record apart from ongoing commitments and bankruptcies, get deleted after 5 years. So, after you've had a credit card for a while, the banks have very little to go on but their own records. (eg. 3/4 of my credit cards are no longer on record with the credit reference agency)