If you are just started living in the United States, you are probably concerned about how to go about starting to build your credit profile.

Unfortunately, foreign credit reports cannot be transferred over to credit reports in the United States. This means that people who move to the United States are starting over with the credit rating as a blank slate. This blank slate may be a good thing, if you have had a previously bad credit rating. But no credit also means it is nearly impossible to get loans or credit related debts.

It may seem impossible to build credit if you do not have certain key things essential to getting credit for people who have been living in the United States, such as a Social security number. But building credit when you are new to the United States is possible even without a Social Security number.

Let’s take a look at how you can build credit even if you are new to the country.

Quick Steps

The quickest way is by signing up for a credit card. For people new to the country, this may be a viable way to begin building their own credit rating–depending on their situation. Some companies, such as Capital One and Chase, require a Social Security number on a credit card application. Some banks and credit card companies, however, take other forms of identification. Discover and Bank of America allows taxpayer identification numbers in lieu of a SSN. Taxpayer identification numbers are issued by the Internal Revenue Service and people who are new to living in the United States may apply for one.

American Express accepts different types of identification, such as social security number,  taxpayer identification number, a valid foreign driver’s license or a foreign-issued passport.

Starting Up

In addition to applying for a credit card, you may be able to start building credit by being a supplementary credit card owner. This type of credit builds-up much slower than opening a personal credit card account. This is your best option if you have none other.

Once you have secured some means of starting up a credit profile, it will be easier to start building your credit by always paying your bills on time.