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#14
08-22-2019, 07:55 PM
Senior Member
Joined in Aug 2011
5,677 posts
IamAman
Quote:
Originally Posted by PapiChulo View Post
wouldnt think too much about it.. pretty sure all credit card requires that on all apps.

i got Costco, Southwest, etc.. pretty sure they ask that not for immigration purposes but for information/verification and mailing purposes

it asked country of citizenship, i put my country of origin... then asked for an SS# then got approved.
I am being vague but I asked some people who know some people in the financial world and it seems that they ask for country of origin in order to be ready to act in case the US imposes sanctions(which disallow money transfers to and from) on that country . It doesn't mean that those US residents whose home country has a sanction against can't get credit cards, but the banks who ask the citizenship question want to have a better way to know who is more likely to be subject to the sanctions and that database is what they will use. Big banks do this to cover their ass and in case the policies change. They are not explicitly required to get this information and they don't care if they lose a few customers like me.

If you're not from any of those countries (at least not yet heh) then you can feel comfortable giving them that information. If you have a green card or are otherwise not worried about being under a microscope and you're from those "bad" countries, you can safely tell them that too but you will either get a call or a letter from their Office of Foreign Asset Controls compliance department wanting more information from you and make you come in to sign an affidavit that you won't be using that account in any way shape or form in your country of origin. Again, if you have a Green Card, you can just march into that bank branch and proudly sign that and be on your way, but for someone with no status or poor status, that is a scary proposition, or at the very least embarrassing.

And not all do. If you look around in smaller banks' credit cards, many don't ask anything other than verifying your address and your identity. That's all "Know your customers" laws require. The one I got didn't and it took a few seconds to get approved as well. We should really support those banks and credit unions instead of the big banks. They're too big and powerful and don't care who they step on.
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Mid-40's dreamer (yeah, time flies), aged out of original DACA and didn't have a chance to apply for extended DACA after Republicans killed it on the vine. Have family petition that is now officially current but with past skeletons, is risky to move forward with AOS. Life is on hold for now until laws and/or government becomes more friendly. Life kind of sucks at the moment but like Al Bundy and the mighty cockroach, I survive.
Last edited by IamAman; 08-24-2019 at 10:30 AM..
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