Hey, friends.
Welcome to another Home Edition, so to speak, of McBean Immigration TV.
Thanks for joining me.
In this video, I'm going to speak about the credit score and the credit reporting requirement
that's part of public charge.
So if you're interested in an answer to a question such as, well, what credit score
do I need to have in order to feel really confident as I apply for a green card?
If that's your question, I'm going to answer it.
Stay tuned.
Friends, I'm so glad that we have another day together to do this, right?
We are facing such an awful time these days, a challenging time these days, but I want
you guys to stay optimistic and hopeful.
We're going to pull through this.
We're all just doing our part, just practice social distancing, stay away from each other
and let's do everything else that we're supposed to do, right, like washing our hands.
Because I want us to stay together for another 20, 30, 40 or even 50 years, right?
So I'm just praying for you all and I hope that you guys will stay healthy.
Now, if you have not yet subscribed to McBean Immigration TV, go ahead and do so, so that
you'll be the first to get notice of my videos each week.
Now in this one I'm answering a question that came up recently in Smart Immigration Academy,
as well as through the McBean Immigration TV and Facebook and other places.
I hope that you'll find this information very, very informative.
So let's go.
According to the new public charge rules, for those of you who are here in the United
States, you're going to have to fill out the I-944, which is the Declaration of Self-Sufficiency.
That declaration has questions on it regarding your credit history.
The government now wants to know does the applicant have a good credit history or not?
So questions about what is your credit score?
Do you have a credit report available?
If so, you need to provide proof of that credit report and then also proof of that score.
Those questions are on the I-944.
Immigrants have been saying to me and on other online forums, "Well, firstly, I don't have
a credit report available here in the US because maybe I don't have a social security card,
social security number.
So how could I possibly generate a credit report?"
So that's a great question.
Just so you know, other immigrants do have a credit history here.
A lot of people do not, but some do.
So for those of you out there who do not have a credit report available, the government
says that you can submit proof from a credit reporting agency that a report does not exist
for you because you never opened a bank account in the US or maybe you never applied for a
credit card or something like that, so you don't have a credit history.
So submitting a letter or the printout, you may not get a letter from the credit report
agency stating you do not have a report.
But what you can do is you can attempt to get a report and show the screenshot from
your computer of the fact that no record exists for you.
That's one avenue.
The second thing that you can do to prove that you have a good credit history is you
can show proof that you've been paying all of your other bills, right?
If you have any other bills in your name, like utility bills or something like that,
or rent or any other expenses that you may have, you can provide evidence or proof that
you've been paying.
So that's another thing that you can submit.
Now, for those of you who do have a credit history here in the US, you need to get a
credit report from one of the major credit bureau or agencies.
I don't know if they're called bureaus anymore, but agencies, right?
We're talking about Experian, we're talking about Equifax, TransUnion.
Those are the three major reporting agencies.
So I would say get your report from them and then also get your score.
So this brings me to the question, right, like what's a good score to have?
What's a good score to have?
So a good score to have according to the guidelines from the government, a good score to have
is a score of at least 670, 670, 670 is a positive factor for public charge purposes,
670.
If you have a score, friends, that is below 580, that's going to be considered a negative
factor.
So submit the credit report as well as your score.
If you do not have a credit report or a score available, submit some sort of printout showing
that no record exists for you, you have no credit history here in the US.
Submit also evidence of you paying your other bills.
So I hope you found this video helpful, friends.
Be sure to share it with other people.
Again, stay safe, stay healthy, and I'll see you in the next one.
Bye-bye.