Ask HN: What problems do international people face when they come to the U.S.? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: What problems do international people face when they come to the U.S.?

12 pointsrm290416 comments

I'm wondering what problems people face who come here on long term visas. Irrespective of the country they are coming from there are some common problems in terms of access to credit, apartment hunting, phone connections etc.

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I can give you a list of important things that you must focus on when you are new to the US. This will take care of the problems as well:

- Social security number (SSN): This should be one of the first things to get. Usually if you come for employment or as a student, your employer/college will help but this is definitely one of the first thing you need. You will get a card for this with the number on it. This number should be remembered by heart as you will need it almost everywhere when it comes to credit. See the items below. All of them require SSN.

- Credit and credit scores: To apply for a bank account, credit card or even a cell phone, you may need credit. There are services for people with no credit but you may be limited in the beginning. The best thing you can do is to convince a bank to open an account AND give you a "Secured" credit card which means that for a deposit of say $500, they will issue you a credit card. You start using it and hence start building your credit.

- One point about cell phones. Prepaid even though available that doesn't require credit, is not popular here as much. Most people use Post Paid cell phones with a fixed plan every month. The catch? You may get a nice phone with a 2 year contract for almost no upfront cost. But again, credit is required for post paid phones. So you may need to start with prepaid.

- Form of identification that is local. So, if you need to go anywhere where an ID is required, you could try to use your passport but that gets difficult in some places. The best form of identification in the US is a driver's license. Now, if you absolutely don't need to drive, you could always apply for an "State ID" within your state that looks like a driver's license but you cannot drive of course. One of the issues getting an ID could be that you need multiple proofs of a valid address within the state so that means until you have an address, it may be difficult.

Credit scores and how they are linked to everything.

Would you mind sharing types of services you were not able to get because of credit scores?

Rent, phone, bank account, car, employment. Credit scores are basically used for everything and a a recent immigrant you are considered worse than a bankrupt.

Lack of credit can stand in a way of getting a job?

Yes some employers use credit scores as a screening tool. No score == bad employee!

This is more of an issue for the spouse who is trying to get a job locally.

Do you mean lack of a credit score upon entering the US, or misconceptions about credit scores compared to other countries?

Both really, but the lack of a score is worse. Once you find out what this means it does not take too long to work out what you need to do.

I know someone who was moved from the UK to the US with work. Despite earning $200,000 PA he still had to pay 6 months rent up front and he was unable to get a new iPhone on contract. He told me this was because no credit history = 0.

This is interesting and a good example where credit scores fail.

Credit scores aren't perfect, but that's not a good example. An individual's salary says nothing about their credit-worthiness.

This is true if you are from the country, but if you are a recent immigrant you are treated as though you are a bankrupt.

If credit scores were really based on risk they would look at the default risk of immigrants as a group (maybe using things like country of origin, education level, and job status to fine tune) and start the score to reflect the real risk rather than starting at zero.

There are some laws around what data can be used to underwrite loans. Nationality can't be used, but immigration status can be. http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0347-your-equal-credit-...

You can provide this national origin information voluntarily if you wish. If it means you get a credit score then most people would. The problem right now is all immigrants are treated as they are the highest possible credit risk with no effort made to adjust on the basis of personal circumstances.

You can't do that because it's discriminatory. At the same time, there are many people who can and do cycle in and out of the country and scam creditors.

How big of a problem is getting an apartment when someone moves to the U.S. as a student or for work?

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