U.S. credit is gated by two facts the bureaus can see: a Social Security number tied to a long history of on-time payments, or a tradeline that has been open long enough to score. Most recent immigrants have neither. The Credit CARD Act and Reg Z require that issuers verify identity and ability to pay — but they do not require a U.S. credit history to open a deposit-secured line. That distinction is the whole game.
Why an ITIN alone rarely works
An ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number) lets you file taxes and open a bank account, but most card issuers will not issue a credit card against an ITIN alone. The underwriting models want an SSN, a U.S. file, or both. A few banks and credit unions will take an ITIN with a deposit, but the product is narrow and the underwriting is slow. A secured card through an issuer that asks for an SSN and a U.S. bank account is the path most people land on.
How the secured-deposit workaround works
The secured-deposit card sidesteps the history problem cleanly. The deposit is the limit, and the issuer's credit risk on a one-month cycle is bounded by the deposit. Most issuers will approve a recent immigrant with a verifiable SSN, a U.S. bank account in good standing, and a deposit between $200 and $2,500. The deposit is held in a custodial account at the partner bank; it is not a fee; it returns in full when the line graduates.
Features that actually matter on a starter card
The features that matter on a starter card for a new arrival: no annual fee, reports to all three bureaus, network breadth that matches where you actually shop. Visa and Mastercard cover >200M merchants globally; American Express covers wherever Amex is taken. A card that reports to only one bureau — most store cards — leaves a one-eyed file, and the score will suffer for it. A card without a foreign transaction fee matters if you travel or send money home. A card without an annual fee matters because a fee can quietly outpace the deposit economics in year one.
How underwriters read the secured case
Underwriting reads the deposit and the bank account first, the SSN second, the credit file third. A new immigrant with a thin file is a normal case for a secured product, not an exception. The issuer is not doing you a favor; they are pricing the risk exactly the way the deposit makes possible. The graduation loop at 6–8 months is the same automatic review it runs for everyone — on-time payment history, no past-due balance, account age. If you hit those, the deposit returns and the line becomes unsecured.
Products to skip
What to skip: prepaid debit cards marketed as "credit-building" that do not report to bureaus, closed-loop store cards that report to only one bureau, and any "ITIN credit card" that requires a separate monthly "subscription" payment — those are payday-style products dressed as credit. The card you want is a real revolving line that reports to all three bureaus, charges no annual fee, and lets you put down a deposit that becomes your starting limit.