But it's also true that if you come to the US during or after college, banks will not issue you a credit card.

Instead, they will issue you a 'secured' credit card, where you get a $300-500 limit on a card against the same amount paid to the bank as security. Only after a year or 2 of this, will the bank actually issue credit.

Maybe you had an account/history with the bank for a while, and that made a difference?