The American Banking Experience as a Foreigner
leif.io"Foreigner" = risk to most banks. They'll leave, they'll take advantage of us, they'll have no income... I would think pretty much every country feels this way (Canadian banks are conservative). Trying to convince them to look at your original countries credit history for anything short of a mortgage is a problem. You can give them 1.25x your credit limit as a savings account and they'll probably give you a card. It's a start. Or you can choose a bank that has operations in your initial country as they're more willing to check the credit history.
It's a different country with different rules. Part of the fun of switching. Far worse it trying to go from the US into a different country due to the IRS/Annual filing requirements and how this tangles up foreign banks in US Tax-agency operations and reporting.
Having lived as a foreigner in other countries I can say: The US is worse than most of them. In other countries you at least get a bank account without the equivalent of an SSN.