Opening a bank account (Atlanta: get credit, loan, real estate)

[Stinkifatcat]

HI,
My husband now has his H-1B visa and we are making preparations to arrive in Atlanta in about 6 months time. I am going to come over for a week in August to have a look at areas and schools etc and have a little holiday at the same time!
I was wondering how easy it is for foreigners to open a bank account. I am on a british passport and was hoping to open a low level account of some sort. Wont need any overdraft facilities on the account.
Was wondering if anyone has had any experience with this and how easy this will be to do.

[LilyLaLa]

We did that in Maryland (saving to buy a house in WV soon) and we're still in Ireland. Yes, they wanted us to have a Maryland address...which we didn't have, but my husband has family there, so we said we were living with them (didn't mention it was only three weeks!) and got through.

I wonder if your visa & employer's information might be enough? I'd take all the relevant information with you just in case: anything Atlanta-based, or work-related, so that you'll have it if they let you. They may want a local address. If you don't have a house lined up already, perhaps a local real estate agent who's looking for you, could provide you with a c/o address in the meantime?

If you can't manage a local address, try the "welcome" office (might be part of the tourist board) to ask about moving into the area--they may know a bank or other institution (like a savings & loan) who wouldn't mind your foreign address.

Good luck! And LUCKY YOU escaping all this cold and rain we're having, to go to such a sunny place!!

[Stinkifatcat]

Thanks for the advice, Lilylala.
I have a friend who is resident there and will be staying with them so could hopefully use their address. As for the work situation, it is my husband who has the visa and the job but I wont be able to work. Just think it be better to get a credit history ticking over sooner rather than later.
Agree on the escaping the weather!!! What is this, autumn/winter again?
Are you also planning to escape once you've purchased a property?

[LilyLaLa]

Well, now we're hoping for a summer home: I work at home and my husband's semi-retired, so even with kids in school we've got some freedom to do that. I don't want to spend any more summers sitting by the fire watching rain pour down my windows!

That, and the expense of this country has become unspeakable. I guess we're just thinking of "where do we want to grow old?" and sadly, our own country isn't looking like a comfortable option, in spite of all its services and supports and benefits. There's just nothing a government can do about the cold and rain (I'm sure the tourist board wishes otherwise!)

Have a wonderful trip--will you be settled for Christmas then?

[rasmom]

To open a bank account: You need a domestic address, valid ID, etc. Rememeber, banks are very careful....fraud, etc. You will need to prove who you are and where you are from, cannot be from any country that is adverse to America. I wish you luck!

[RainyRainyDay]

Originally Posted by Stinkifatcat

Thanks for the advice, Lilylala.
I have a friend who is resident there and will be staying with them so could hopefully use their address. As for the work situation, it is my husband who has the visa and the job but I wont be able to work. Just think it be better to get a credit history ticking over sooner rather than later.

Stinkifatcat, since 9/11 the banks have been subject to much more stringent regulations about opening accounts for foreign residents. It will be no problem at all for your husband to open a bank account just as soon as he arrives in the US, gets an SSN (Social Security Number) and residential address. Since you will not be eligible for an SSN (because you are not eligible to work), you may find it's difficult for you to open an account during your visit. I caution you against making a false statement of any kind (e.g. your local address), particularly on a government form. (There's a government form that the bank has to submit in order to open an account for a non-resident). It could come back to haunt you and just doesn't seem worth it just to get an account opened slightly sooner.

About getting "a credit history ticking over", credit is entirely keyed by SSN. You won't get any credit history in the US during your stay on H4 status. Your husband will, due to his SSN.

Sorry to sound off-putting. I came to the US on L1B status (very similar to your husband's H1B) so I know it's a challenge. Having a friend here will be a great help to you, though. I hope you have a very successful visit and find some areas and schools that you like.

[applejuice]

You do need an address...maybe opening up a PO Box would be an option?

Good Luck on your move to Atlanta!

[LilyLaLa]

Well, we opened a US account long after 9/11, and there are US banks with offices in the UK and Ireland: Bank of America and Citibank come to mind.

Try phoning your nearest UK branch and explaining your situation -- it could be that if you open an account here, it can be transferred or linked somehow when you move.

Banks are global these days, as are credit companies like MBNA: if you arrive in the US with evidence of your credit limits and accounts over here, it can't hurt your ability to get credit there.

[RainyRainyDay]

Originally Posted by LilyLaLa

Well, we opened a US account long after 9/11, and there are US banks with offices in the UK and Ireland: Bank of America and Citibank come to mind.

Try phoning your nearest UK branch and explaining your situation -- it could be that if you open an account here, it can be transferred or linked somehow when you move.

Banks are global these days, as are credit companies like MBNA: if you arrive in the US with evidence of your credit limits and accounts over here, it can't hurt your ability to get credit there.

LilyLaLa, my experience of this process is so radically different from what you state that I suspect you are just making guesses that seem logical to you, not relaying hard facts as you know them.

After I moved to the US from Canada (a country whose economy is more closely tied to the US than is the UK's), I was getting credit card offers from MBNA Canada in my redirected mail from Canada while being denied credit by MBNA US. Naturally, I phoned to complain, but the explanation was that the national operations are entirely separate. My excellent Canadian credit was of no value whatsoever in the US, where I was temporarily regarded as a deadbeat by the credit bureaus because they had no prior history on me. Of course they didn't, since I had not previously lived in the US!

I surmise that the non-portability of credit information may actually have to do with national privacy laws.

This isn't just my experience, you can read it all over expatriate chat boards.

If you have factual information on a transformation of the US banking and credit industry's treatment of newcomers to the US, since about 2003, then I apologize for out of date information. Otherwise, I'm afraid that international migrants are continuing to find the credit industry's welcome a lot less sunny than the weather.

[LilyLaLa]

Originally Posted by RainyRainyDay

LilyLaLa, my experience of this process is so radically different from what you state that I suspect you are just making guesses that seem logical to you, not relaying hard facts as you know them.

Well, in my turn, I suspect that you didn't read my post very closely.

I suggested that the OP "Try phoning" the international American banks---because I believe THEY can tell her the realities of the situation better than any of us could. How is "try phoning" a guess? It was a suggestion; I even said "it COULD be".

And it's true that US banks have offices over here: I pass one on my way to the supermarket each week in rural Ireland, so Southampton certainly might have something. I don't think any of us non-nationals could simply stroll into any US bank branch and demand a standard account, but there ARE alternatives that individual banks can help us with, when we ask. I still feel that those banks are the ones to ask.

As for credit, I only suggested what we'd done ourselves and said "it couldn't hurt", which is true-- what would it hurt? When we emigrated to the US, we brought along documentation -- the "evidence" I mentioned --of our credit with MBNA and our own banks, because we knew it wouldn't transfer automatically. However, that documentation helped us get a credit account at a local shop and a small loan we didn't need from the bank where my husband's pay was direct-deposited, and then a financed car, and we built on our US credit from there.

Simply applying for credit cards and relying on the central credit-reporting database isn't the only way to obtain credit; if you want it you have to work at it. Going through all this is just one of the prices we pay for emigrating.

Anyhow, I signed back on because I remember what helped us tremendously before:
When you get to Atlanta, Stinkifatcat, look up the local offices of the Consumer Credit Counselling Service: they're the ones who gave us the advice about non-resident bank accounts, and starting with small local credit with our paperwork, and building up; it worked. They'll be up to date with laws and advice, and the service was free when we visited.