Soon I will be in the US again and gonna have plans to go to the NY DMV and apply for a Non-Driver ID. I will be on ESTA. What I read here, it is quite easy and if you go with a standard, then you don't even need proof of address. Anyway there is also the option to go for REAL ID with proof of address. What I found is following: What does "TEMPORARY VISITOR" mean? A Temporary Visitor is defined as anyone who is not immigrating to or not permanently residing (living) in the United States. These visitors have US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) documentation that supports their legal status in this country. If you have DHS documents that identify you as a Temporary Visitor and have a REAL ID; your New York State driver license, permit or non-driver ID card will have: - "TEMPORARY VISITOR" on it - Your DHS document expiration date Please note that your DMV document does not expire on the Temporary Visitor expiration date, nor will your privilege to drive in New York. https://dmv.ny.gov/driver-license/resources-for-non-us-citizens It just says temporary visitor on the REAL ID thing, not for the standard. Does someone have a standard Non-Driver ID and can confirm it also has temporary visitor flag?

Most ITIN holders assume they can't see their Experian credit file online without a Social Security Number. You can. Sometimes. Shoutout to @momo for surfacing this method here first. Here's the updated standalone guide. Go to Nav.com, sign up for the free plan. You'll enter your name, DOB, address, and ITIN. Nav runs an Experian soft pull for identity verification and you're in immediately. If not, you can always retry. Once you're in, here's what Nav shows you: - VantageScore 3.0 from Experian - Score Factors - Payment History - Debt Usage - Credit Age - Account Mix - Debt vs Income - Hard Inquiries count - Current Address - Former Addresses Debt Usage drill-down: revolving credit limit, usage percentage, total revolving debt. Account Mix drill-down: split into mortgage, auto, revolving, and other accounts. Inquiries drill-down: total inquiries vs how many actually impact your score. Summary page: date of your first credit account, total balance across all accounts, total minimum monthly payments. Downloadable full report in PDF. This is genuinely useful if you're building US credit remotely and want to see where Experian has you — especially before applying for new cards. Now the caveats, because this matters. Nav's ITIN access for Experian is hit or miss. Some get through on the first try. Others don't, no matter what. If Nav doesn't work for you, alternatives exist: - Experian credit report by mail - Experian through Equifax Complete Premier - Experian FICO 9 through the Bilt app One more thing: VantageScore is not FICO. Almost all lenders pull FICO models when you apply. Nav's VantageScore 3.0 is directionally accurate, but don't treat a 720 VantageScore as a guarantee you'll get approved. Use it to track trends, not to predict underwriting decisions. If you try Nav with your ITIN - drop a comment below.

Got approval for my second credit card - this time AMEX, new ITIN, applied as a non resident - online from outside of US with US proxy. First time I was denied for this card around 5 times, luckily they doing only soft pull, so no credit score hurt. History: 1) auto rejection - ITIN too new 2) auto rejection 3) additional auto review: connect bank accounts to check if you will be approved, then rejection - ITIN too new, no FICO score 4) additional auto review: connect bank accounts to check if you will be approved, then rejection - ITIN too new. no FICO score 5) then I finally tried again after 6 months of ITIN: manual review > approved

The 4 credit cards that actually make sense for most people You don't need 12 cards in your wallet. You need 4 - one for each job. Here's the kit 1. The Everyday Card → Chase Freedom Unlimited / QuickSilver No annual fee. 1.5% back on everything, plus 3% on dining and drugstores, 5% on travel booked through Chase. The card you tap without thinking - gas, Amazon, the random brunch. 2. The Travel Card → Chase Sapphire Preferred Skip the $895 Amex Platinum. The Sapphire Preferred costs $95/year and quietly carries the same trip protections: - Luggage gets lost → you're covered - Flight delayed 12+ hours → check in the mail - Rent a car → primary insurance built in (confidently decline the rental company's $25/day add-on) One-tenth the fee. Same coverage where it actually matters. 3. The Food Card → Capital One Savor or Amex Gold You eat every single day. The numbers compound fast. Two paths depending on how much you spend: Capital One Savor: - $0 annual fee. - 3% cash back on dining, groceries, entertainment, and streaming. Amex Gold: - $325/year. - 4X points at restaurants worldwide and U.S. supermarkets (capped at $50K and $25K/year). Rule of thumb: under ~$1K/month on food → Savor. Above that → Gold starts pulling ahead. 4. The Last Resort Card → A Credit Union Card High limit. Low APR. From a CU like Navy Federal - not a big bank. This one lives in your drawer. But if life ever forces you to float a balance - busted car, emergency, surprise tax bill - credit union APRs (typically 11–14%) won't bleed you out the way big bank cards (27%+) will. The goal is to never use it. But if you have to, this is the one you reach for. That's the full kit. Anything beyond this is optimization on top. What's in your wallet right now? Drop yours in the comments

Got approval for my first credit card - $500 limit, new ITIN, applied as a non resident - online from outside of US with US proxy. First time I was denied, but tried again 25 hours later and this is the result.