I am currently on F1 visa with it expiring in 2 years but will stay for another 2-year degree and looking to lease a 36months/10K Audi. Experian show my Fico8 score as 749 and Auto Lending FICO® Auto Score 8 as 715.
I only have 12 credit cards with a total credit limit of $45K with oldest account 2 and half years old (Had AmEx charge cards with statement balance about $30K before, which is more than the total leasing cost, idk if this will help). What is the likelyhood that I can get a leasing deal at Audi without a co-signer? Thanks!
I read the past posts on this. It looks like if you have a good enough credit score, the bank won’t bother to ask for additional documents e.g. visa status. I am just wondering if mine is considered good enough.
How did you manage to get 12 credit cards and $45k limit in 2.5 half years? Did you start working at the university book store the day you stepped in the US?
I have credit cards mainly from Chase, AmEx and one Discover. Just have a good habit and keep the credit utilization low. You usually won’t get declined on a credit card application. For example, I pay off balance before the statement generates to keep my overall credit utilization around 2%.
I think I can add some perspective as I am in a similar situation as you and thought it would be an issue (not with Audi, but BMWFS) but it wasn’t.
-When I applied, I was on F1 that was expiring in 6 months (!) and the lease would be 36 months. I was eligible to renew the visa of course but they didn’t know that, neither could I somehow prove it at the time.
-I had 6 years credit history and my fico was 800+ and auto fico 750+. Had 4 CCs, not many
Result: They didn’t ever ask for immigration status and just approved me no questions asked
While I was waiting for the result panicking, I looked for information on this topic and here are my findings from various sources:
-Generally the problem that triggers further investigation is the “short” credit history because the bank (Audi/BMWFS/etc.) doesn’t want to loan you as they see you as a potential risk due to short history. There’s no info on what they consider “short” history.
-If there is a further investigation triggered then: if your visa expiration is shorter than the lease duration you are asking for, there is an issue. They won’t approve you past that expiration date for F1. You could do a 2 year lease in this case and that would be ok. If you were H1B then you can give a letter from your employer that they will renew your visa and they would accept that, but for F1 there’s nothing you can do.
-If you look at it from their perspective it makes sense: You are a student and you have 2 years left before you have to leave the US, and you want them to finance an expensive car for you for 3 years. They don’t know about your OPT etc. they are not immigration lawyers, all they see is the expiration on F1.
-Here is my advice: give it a shot and apply without mentioning immigration stuff, with your high score its possible you get approved. If they reject you due to the F1 expiration: try getting a loan through your bank and go with your own financing instead of through Audi, its likely you miss out on some incentive but heh what can you do. Your bank (that you have your checkings/savings with) won’t care about the status and just approve you for a 6 year loan. Or you can try credit unions which are a lot more flexible.
Well, I was a graduate student, meaning that I work for the university that paid me and covered my tuition so no debt + income to show. I bet that would be a different case for an undergraduate degree with the high debt.
Technically he can’t work with F-1 visa so I’m guessing he is showing the money coming from his parents as income. Or he might have property out of the US and gaining rental income from those.
I follow blogs like OneMileAtATime, PointsGuy, etc. So 12 cards isn’t really that many.