Having "credit history" in the US is like having a car: it's not an " extra", something you choose to have or not, its CRUCIAL to being part of the American way of life. (About cars, foreigners, except for rare exceptions in NYC, Washington, DC, San Francisco and, to a lesser degree, Berkeley, forget the idea of buying groceries down the street from your apartment!)

Credit history is, of course, quite a foreign concept to those who come from nearly anywhere else in the world. In other countries, criteria like employment, current savings, good standing with one's bank, and family warranties are used to determine a person's ability to pay on time. Why, often times, it is not very well regarded upon to contract debts; shouldn't one pay for things up-front?

In America, credit history is on the contrary an indication of standing in society. Americans build up their credit history at a young age, well, usually around high school. They may already have a credit card in their name, and they may have bought a car (with some help from mom and dad), or a computer and paid for them through a loan. Building up a collection of credit cards from stores and financial services companies is in fact part of growing up. The fact they repaid their loans on time is recorded by the credit bureaus like Experian who then produce the sacrosanct "credit report" landlords and any one in the US selling a service over time will require.

So now we take up the issue foreigners coming to the US to study at prestigious institutions or to work are faced with: having no 'CH' (we shortened the term as it is being repeated enough in this paper). Do not expect to easily obtain phone service, or to rent a cell phone upon your arrival here, without CH! You may be the brightest stars in your home countries, if you have no CH in the US, you're worth less than the pimple-ridden, beer-guzzling 18 year old preparing to enter university with two objectives: leave home and "have a goood time!"

This is part of the adventure of coming to this great land, and why so many of you choose to come! I know you are bored with a life that's much too easy and comfortable for you in your home countries·

You must therefore be prepared to tackle the suspicion-ridden attitude of bankers and hand over a fat wad of US bills to open a bank account. Once that is done, you should immediately borrow, borrow, borrow. Computers, cars, appliances, furniture, consuming, and paying for these items with credit will make you king or queen of the hill - should you, of course, repay the loans on time·Since you still will not have any CH when setting up these loans, you may have to enter into some special arrangement with your banker, such as leaving a million dollar deposit check with him or her, or providing some other type of reassurance. I heard having an American Express card (even from Swazyland) greatly helps·

You may also try going to a bank with ties to your home country for a more understanding attitude, i.e. French-owned Bank of the West for French or Belgian individuals. So don't jump into the first bank you see. Once you have (good) CH, the US is your oyster, as they say.

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