The SSN myth
US banks and card issuers underwrite people, not citizenship. What they need is a way to identify you in the US system, a history they can read, and a relationship they trust. For a non-US citizen the identifier is the ITIN, the history is built deliberately, and the relationship is opened in a branch. None of it requires a Social Security Number.
What a bank is actually underwriting
When a bank looks at a non-US founder, it is reading a file: who you are (the ITIN and your identification), what you own (a US company in a state banks lend to, with an EIN and a real business address), what you have shown them (documentation and funded accounts), and who vouched for you (the relationship banker). The card decision sits on top of that file. Change any layer and the decision changes.
That is why pieces on their own do not work. An LLC and an ITIN are not a credit profile. A fintech balance is not a banking relationship. Our clients who arrived with pieces already in place were still stuck, because the file had never been assembled in the order a banker reads it.
The order that does not lock you out
- Identity first: the ITIN, filed and issued.
- Structure second: the company, the EIN, the business address, the compliance to keep it clean.
- Presence third: the documentation packet and local identification.
- Relationship fourth: personal and business accounts opened in person, with bankers who know your file.
- Credit last: a personal and business profile built in the right order, then card applications sequenced bank by bank.
The sequencing is not decoration. An application submitted too early is declined, and a decline can lock a profile out of that bank for six months. Nothing is submitted before the profile can support it.
What our clients were approved for
Kevin, an Amazon business owner from Italy, walked into Chase and left with a Sapphire Reserve: "To my European mind, to go in a bank and walk out with a $35,000 credit card… I just walked in, applied for a credit card, and went out on my Apple Pay with a $35,000 credit line." Richard, a UK software founder, was approved for a $150,000 Chase credit line the day after his Miami trip. Jack opened three banking relationships in one day.
These are individual results from recorded interviews, shared with permission. They are not typical, and they are not a promise of your result. The limit is always the bank's decision.
Personal and business credit
Founders who spend heavily through a business card infrastructure often discover that none of it built their own US credit path. Partner cards and employer cards do not build your personal profile. The base we build puts both a personal and a business profile in your own name, so the spend your business already generates starts working for you.
What a card-approval guarantee means
We guarantee the credit card approval. If it does not land, you get your money back. We do not guarantee a specific limit, a specific date, a specific card product or bank, or the value of your points. The guarantee is conditional on completing every step set out in the client agreement, which is not limited to making the trip, running an active business and funding your own accounts; the business, the funding and the source of funds all have to meet the banks' requirements.
We are not a bank and not a lender. We build the file, make the introductions and sit beside you at the bank. This guide describes how the US system works for non-US founders and how we build within it. It is not tax, legal or immigration advice; your CPA or attorney answers those questions for your situation.