I have a very good credit score from my previous country. Can I use that in the US?

Question

I have a lot of question, which I have googled but did not really found a good answer that fit with my situation.

So I have moved to the US as a student. I (think)have a high score credit back in my country. I also have a SSN already because I work as a TA. However, I continue using my credit card from my country here because for the past two years, I only focus on my study and did not think much about the credit score in the US tho I always pay my rent on time. Now I am on my OPT and need to rent my own apartment and probably a car. I start to check out my credit score but any website they say I can use to check my score do not accept my information.

... Here the questions

1. Should I skip my curiosity of this credit score thing and just apply for an apartment ? See how it goes. I have money to pay for sure but, seems like some landlords might trust this score more than how much money I have.

2. If NO to the first question, where exactly should I contact to check my score as international student who has her score in her homeland country?

3. I have a bank account at Chase. Should I go and apply for a credit card at that bank?

Any tips + advices are appreciated. Thank you.

Answer 1

Should I skip my curiosity of this credit score thing and just apply for an apartment ? See how it goes. I have money to pay for sure but, seems like some landlords might trust this score more than how much money I have.

Ultimately landlords want to be confident that you will pay rent. As a landlord, I primarily use a credit report to assess how much debt a prospective tenant has, because that directly affects their ability to pay rent. I don't care much about a relatively low score or no credit history if the person has no outstanding debts, that's better than a decent score with lots of outstanding debt. A good landlord will assess your situation properly, some might focus too much on score, but that's their loss. I say go for it and don't worry about credit score too much.

I have a bank account at Chase. Should I go and apply for a credit card at that bank?

It's not a bad idea to establish a credit history here. To my knowledge there's no way to import your credit score. I'd probably shop around for the most agreeable rewards card, not necessarily with Chase, and if you have trouble getting approved for one then consider a secured card as an alternative.