Just sharing my experience and some tips on leasing a BMW while on H1B / TN visa

Signed Deals & Tips
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I’m a Canadian living in the USA with H1B visa. Just leased a 2020 BMW 3 series for 36 months from a dealer whom I connected from here. I will focus on the things that should interest other H1B / TN people.

I’m in Georgia working as H1B past ~9 months (started with TN in 2017 October). My first lease was a 2017 Genesis G80 through their “Foreign Professional Program / FPP”, which at the time was told that I would get a standard tier (Tier 2) rate. I was honestly just grateful that this program was available.

Fast forward to 2020 summer, when my wife and I began searching for our next lease, these were my assumptions / background / goals regardless of the brand:

  1. My H1B would only qualify for Tier 2 / Standard rate. So I chose to ignore the money factor that I get from Edmunds. A reasonable discount + rebates / incentives as per Edmunds.com on the car my wife and I chose was all I asked. This means 10% or more discount on the MSRP, $1000 conquest and $750 lease cash on a new 2020 BMW 3 series.
  2. My H1B visa has about 2.5 years remaining. So I assumed I’d only be able to get a lease for 2.5 years.
  3. My credit score, according to mint.com, noting my short history, is paltry 698 / Tier 3 on the FICO scale where 800+ is Tier 1 and 740 - 799 is Tier 2. I would definitely be better off using the FPP again.

Fast forward, my experience in the sales office was smooth. Checked the car, checked the numbers, and I signed. And then I went to the back office to meet the finance manager to complete the deal. No surprise there either honestly. If anything, he was really nice and didn’t push too hard on the extras. Before we parted, I asked him a question:

Q. Did you run into trouble getting me approved through the FPP? I was expecting to get an approval for 30 months only (remainder of my H1B visa).
A. He looked at me funny and blurted out - you have a great credit! He went on to explain that BMW Finance approved / processed me with Tier 1 rate for 36 months, despite I’m H1B with 2.5 years remaining, since:

  • I have a perfect payment history from Genesis Finance.
  • shocker #1 My credit score is 712 according to BMW Finance. He showed me 3 scores ranging 690 - 712. He says BMW Finance only uses the best one.
  • shocker #2 Sometimes BMW Finance gives out Tier 1 rate (which I believe is only awarded to extremely financially responsible people with 800+ FICO) to everyone from time to time and today was my lucky day.
  • shocker #3 He didn’t even put me through the FPP, which apparently was his back-up plan for me. WTFFFF!

In short, I leased my new vehicle just like anyone else on this forum. This alone is an achievement for a person like me with a short US credit history. Of course I cried a little bit later that evening because my financial self-fulfilling prophecy manifested in the form of a full dealership markup on the MF (0.0009 + 0.0004 = 0.0013). Oh well, I could have done way worse I suppose :slight_smile: .

TLDR;

So if you have H1B or TN and have a 2-3 years of credit history regardless of the score, don’t get nervous and assume you are at the mercy of the financial institution. Chances are you won’t even have to bring up your visa situation.

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Would love to know the terms of you deal.

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It’s amazing how many dealers don’t even know about this program and just accept a credit app denial.

Thanks for sharing!

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Thanks for sharing! Glad to hear things worked out. Every person’s situation is so unique that it’s hard to say with any certainty until you actually apply for it… enjoy the ride!

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Thanks for sharing that!

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Thanks for sharing… by the way, are you my long lost twin brother? (Kidding)

FYI , Tier 1 credit in the US is usually 720 and up (not 800 and up). 800 and up is the rare few who have exceptionally perfect credit, myself included.

So what were the final numbers on your G20?

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Congrats! Honestly, it depends really on the captive/bank offering the lease. TFS/BMWFS have both approved loans/leases greater than my visa period while Chase captives(JLR/Subaru others I might have missed) are much more difficult both in terms of approval and lease length even with good credit.

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I’ve leases two BMWs while I was on my H1b visa. The sales never asked me about it. Congrats & enjoy your new ride!

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I generally don’t like wordy posts but this one was worth it. @824 :point_up:

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Also why do Canadians need H1b? Can’t they just work on TN?

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That’s exactly right. However, my employer offered it and I took it. I wouldn’t mind having a dual citizenship :).

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Tuna! We probably are twins, but you’ve done a lot better when it comes to credit score. I’m sure it’s somewhere in my lease agreement, but does BMW actually publish the exact credit eligibility? Also… with a perfect credit score of 800, do you get better than the standard MF 0_0?

I was looking for a new 3 Series with X-Drive / Drive Assist / Park Assist / Premium Package / 36m / 12k a year. Mine had 11 miles on the odo and I got 11.4% discount off the MSRP as well as all the incentives I qualified for ($1000 conquest + $750 lease cash). Here is the calculator. It’s only at 7.9, but I don’t see myself getting a 10 without loyalty credit / MSD / loaner vehicle. Next time :smile:

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I posted my calculator. Scroll down! It’s basically the same as some of the offers from the brokers from NY region.

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Yes, not bad at all. I was honestly expecting something horrific.

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Thanks. Considering how little time I spent, it turned out well. Hopefully next time I qualify for more incentives.

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I think TN is only good for one year, you’ll have to renew it every year I think.

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I’m also on H1B, and leased 5 cars from BMW for me and my brother (who is F1 visa holder) so far and also financed some before. I was never asked my status, nor my brother as well. From my experience one time you’re approved with BMW finance and don’t miss any payments, you’re automatically approved for the next transactions. They only ask my driver’s license, pay stub, and college degree if I use college grad incentive and nothing else.

BMW finance is fairly easier compared to others IMO.

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leased and financed with BMW, Nissan, with f1 and h1b before. No problem at all. They only care about the credit score. Mazda is a different story, the mazda dealer refused to use mazda’s finance, saying they dont finance to f1 visa, and trying to push me to use a local bank with a laughable 7.99 apr. No mazda anymore!

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Car is like a house, they are worried about you stealing it as long as you have good credit history. BMW can’t wait for people to lease that’s how they make money. They don’t sell as many brand new as lease and CPO used.

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From the risk profile perspective, I think H1B folks have less risk compared to non-h1b’s given everything else being equal. It is smart for those banks to extend credit to them and those don’t are missing out on the opportunity.

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