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Wife with no US credit history, Verizon iPhone deposit amount?

P

puma1552

Suspended
Original poster
Nov 20, 2008
5,559
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My wife and I are coming to America later this fall, right when the iPhone 5 should be good and ready.

My credit score is close to 790, but she will be entering on an immigrant visa and getting a green card, in other words, she has zero credit history/ties to the US whatsoever.

So we know she will need a deposit. As this whole process of obtaining her visa and moving overseas and getting setup/reestablished is a very expensive and hectic time for us, we are kind of curious to know about how much we can expect to pay for a deposit for her? $125, $500, $1000?

Or, alternatively, given that I have really excellent credit, could we avoid a deposit altogether if we got some sort of two line family plan under my name?

TIA.
 
puma1552 said:
My wife and I are coming to America later this fall, right when the iPhone 5 should be good and ready.

My credit score is close to 790, but she will be entering on an immigrant visa and getting a green card, in other words, she has zero credit history/ties to the US whatsoever.

So we know she will need a deposit. As this whole process of obtaining her visa and moving overseas and getting setup/reestablished is a very expensive and hectic time for us, we are kind of curious to know about how much we can expect to pay for a deposit for her? $125, $500, $1000?

Or, alternatively, given that I have really excellent credit, could we avoid a deposit altogether if we got some sort of two line family plan under my name?

TIA.
Click to expand...

Family plan, under your name, no deposit (because it's your credit).

My little brother (18, not an immigrant) tried when Verizon first dropped the ip4 and it was $750. Also, I wouldn't assume Verizon will get the ip5 right away (AT&T will though).

Edit: little brother had no credit too.
 
iFiend said:
Because they got the iPhone 4 later then its normal release. I'm sure it's a possibility, but I wouldn't count on it, IMO.
Click to expand...

Pretty flawed assumption there. VZW only got the iPhone 4 late because apple was still under contract with AT&T. When the iP5 is released it will be released for both carriers.
 
icstars989 said:
Pretty flawed assumption there. VZW only got the iPhone 4 late because apple was still under contract with AT&T. When the iP5 is released it will be released for both carriers.
Click to expand...

And why exactly is your assumption, which it is an assumption also, any better than mine?

Let me guess, you have Verizon, right?
 
iFiend said:
Because they got the iPhone 4 later then its normal release. I'm sure it's a possibility, but I wouldn't count on it, IMO.
Click to expand...

It would make no sense to fragment the release schedules of the same product to two different carriers.

The next iPhone will most likely be a "World Phone" meaning it will have 1 chip that supports CDMA & GSM.

so every iPhone sold would be capable of either carrier.

therefore it would be available to both carriers at the same time.

Not only that, if they release the next gen iPhone on att first, the verizon model sales would suffer because who would buy the iphone 4 fully knowing what the next model is going to be and that it would be released for them in a few months.


Just does not make sense and I would like to know what you are basing that presumption on?


Also, I believe this is why this years iphone will be delayed by a few months.
 
jfyrfytr25 said:
It would make no sense to fragment the release schedules of the same product to two different carriers.

The next iPhone will most likely be a "World Phone" meaning it will have 1 chip that supports CDMA & GSM.

so every iPhone sold would be capable of either carrier.

therefore it would be available to both carriers at the same time.

Not only that, if they release the next gen iPhone on att first, the verizon model sales would suffer because who would buy the iphone 4 fully knowing what the next model is going to be and that it would be released for them in a few months.


Just does not make sense and I would like to know what you are basing that presumption on?


Also, I believe this is why this years iphone will be delayed by a few months.
Click to expand...

I am not basing it on anything. We do not have anything other than the original VZW release of an iPhone to go off of so I will assume it isn't coming at the same time as the AT&T release, because that is what has happened previously.

All of your thoughts are based purely on rumors and are no better than mine. Actually worse, because mine has precedent.
 
Last edited:
To the OP, your best bet would be to open a family plan under your name, and have your wife under your plan. You would then avoid worrying about how much the deposit would be if she got a separate account.
 
iFiend said:
I am not basing it on anything. We do not have anything other than the original VZW release of an iPhone to go off of so I will assume it isn't coming at the same time as the AT&T release, because that is what has happened previously.

All of your thought are based purely on rumors and are no better than mine. Actually worse, because mine has precedent.
Click to expand...

you have no precident. you have one release, the initial one.

Mine is not based in rumor it is based in logic.
even if they dont make a world phone, what would they gain by having the releases staggered?

all they would do is piss off verizon people. show me where your assumption is logical..


if you look at precident, you will see that the new ipad was released on both carriers at the same time this year why would the iphone be different.


in an effort to keep the thread on topic, if you would like to continue this debate we should probably do it in a PM...
 
jfyrfytr25 said:
you have no precident. you have one release, the initial one.

Mine is not based in rumor it is based in logic.
even if they dont make a world phone, what would they gain by having the releases staggered?

all they would do is piss off verizon people. show me where your assumption is logical..


if you look at precident, you will see that the new ipad was released on both carriers at the same time this year why would the iphone be different.


in an effort to keep the thread on topic, if you would like to continue this debate we should probably do it in a PM...
Click to expand...

I have no desire to "debate you", sorry to hijack your thread OP. Your thoughts are no better than mine. To the contrary, I think yours are skewed. What on earth does the iPad release have to do with the iPhone 5?
 
While the rest of you kids argue over the release date I'll just ask this to the OP. Did you consider calling VZW and/or AT&T to ask them what their policy was? If you did then you would also know that there is a family plan, which I would think you would know about already considering the site you frequent. Otherwise, you can expect to have to pay a deposit due to lack of credit history. The amount would be unknown to all without access to the carrier's system and your wife's credit report (not an invite to post it). Either way, family plan, two phones, no deposit due to your obvious stellar credit history and general awesomeness.
 
nburwell said:
To the OP, your best bet would be to open a family plan under your name, and have your wife under your plan. You would then avoid worrying about how much the deposit would be if she got a separate account.
Click to expand...

Or have her open the account and you can co-sign.

Since she has no credit record you probably want to help her build it up. Only way to do that is to have her start getting a credit record by putting her name on accounts.
 
I did mention the possibility of the family plan in my OP...wasn't sure if it was an option (or a good one), as I've never had a family to bother looking into a family plan with.

The family plan is an option, but both of us also would like to get her started with proper credit history for herself as well. Two people in a marriage with stellar credit are better than one person with stellar credit. Therefore, if the deposit isn't heinous, it may be a fairly easy way to get her started with credit, in addition to joining my credit union and getting an American credit card.

As it is we will probably put her first car loan in my name, since there would be a pretty big difference in interest over the life of the loan if it was in her name with me cosigning, so if we can use a few other smaller areas to build her credit (credit card, cell phone, maybe even a small personal loan for the hell of it just to build credit as I did when I was 17), we would like to do that, but given everything that goes along with the process of moving overseas and all the legal aspects, and impending unemployment, a $1k deposit may not be the best idea.

As for calling VZW/ATT, if this were 1950 and I could talk to a human being, I probably would, but in this era I'd rather avoid a lengthy hold period on low audio quality Skype just to hear what's likely no better than what I can find on the internet by asking around/googling.

What I have found on google, at least for the IP4--subject to change for the IP5, of course--is that it looks like we can get a two-line family plan on Verizon with 450 minutes of voice for $70 (I'm assuming this is not per phone, but $70 for both combined), 500 texts for $10 (the 500 being for both phones combined I'm assuming), and then two unlimited data plans for $30 each, so it looks like we are looking at about $140 total for both phones, which isn't too bad.

EDIT: And I'm assuming the general rule is that you pay for the phones up front, so in theory if there is no deposit we would only be out the price of the two phones+tax+activation on the day we go to get them?
 
Last edited:
Hello OP,
I work for AT&T so i can shed a little bit of light on this subject (although obviously don't take it to heart because it may be different for verizon)

If you come in to start new service and you DO NOT have a SSN you pull an automatic $500 deposit! It's kind of funny because people who do have an SSN and horrible credit will pull either a $750 or $1000 deposit. But again, this may be different on VZW! (oh and the deposits are PER LINE...not sure if its the same for VZW though)

If your looking to avoid a deposit a family plan in YOUR name is the way to go! But obviously if you want to help her establish credit then you might want to pay the deposit and go from there.

FYI on AT&T your deposit IS returned to you after 12 months as long as you pay your bill every month and do not get suspended for non payment (then they keep it)

hope this helps!
 
iFiend said:
I have no desire to "debate you", sorry to hijack your thread OP. Your thoughts are no better than mine. To the contrary, I think yours are skewed. What on earth does the iPad release have to do with the iPhone 5?
Click to expand...


jfyrfytr25's assumptions are much more sound. Your assumption is based solely on the fact that because verizon received the iphone 4 late in the game, it should follow suit with the iphone 5. Att and Apple had a contractual agreement that dissolved which finally gave way to Verizon finally being able to carry it. Focus on this fact. A contractual agreement was in place preventing Verizon from distributing the Iphone.

jfyrfytr25's use of the ipad 2 was to make you logically understand that at this point Apple isn't discriminating against users from either carrier. Why would they? If you want another example of a simultaneous release by Apple to both Att and Verizon, think White Iphone 4. It doesn't make sense from a purely logical and business perspective to alienate one provider over the other when prospects for profit are clearly there.
 
puma1552 said:
I did mention the possibility of the family plan in my OP...wasn't sure if it was an option (or a good one), as I've never had a family to bother looking into a family plan with.

The family plan is an option, but both of us also would like to get her started with proper credit history for herself as well. Two people in a marriage with stellar credit are better than one person with stellar credit. Therefore, if the deposit isn't heinous, it may be a fairly easy way to get her started with credit, in addition to joining my credit union and getting an American credit card.

As it is we will probably put her first car loan in my name, since there would be a pretty big difference in interest over the life of the loan if it was in her name with me cosigning, so if we can use a few other smaller areas to build her credit (credit card, cell phone, maybe even a small personal loan for the hell of it just to build credit as I did when I was 17), we would like to do that, but given everything that goes along with the process of moving overseas and all the legal aspects, and impending unemployment, a $1k deposit may not be the best idea.

As for calling VZW/ATT, if this were 1950 and I could talk to a human being, I probably would, but in this era I'd rather avoid a lengthy hold period on low audio quality Skype just to hear what's likely no better than what I can find on the internet by asking around/googling.

What I have found on google, at least for the IP4--subject to change for the IP5, of course--is that it looks like we can get a two-line family plan on Verizon with 450 minutes of voice for $70 (I'm assuming this is not per phone, but $70 for both combined), 500 texts for $10 (the 500 being for both phones combined I'm assuming), and then two unlimited data plans for $30 each, so it looks like we are looking at about $140 total for both phones, which isn't too bad.

EDIT: And I'm assuming the general rule is that you pay for the phones up front, so in theory if there is no deposit we would only be out the price of the two phones+tax+activation on the day we go to get them?
Click to expand...
You seriously don't want to build your credit with a phone company. Why on earth would you want to pay about 50% more for phone service with 2 accounts? Just add a second line to your plan and go from there.

If you really want to build her credit get a credit card in both your names. Use it sparingly and pay it off every month.
 
Jonathan77 said:
jfyrfytr25's assumptions are much more sound. Your assumption is based solely on the fact that because verizon received the iphone 4 late in the game, it should follow suit with the iphone 5. Att and Apple had a contractual agreement that dissolved which finally gave way to Verizon finally being able to carry it. Focus on this fact. A contractual agreement was in place preventing Verizon from distributing the Iphone.

jfyrfytr25's use of the ipad 2 was to make you logically understand that at this point Apple isn't discriminating against users from either carrier. Why would they? If you want another example of a simultaneous release by Apple to both Att and Verizon, think White Iphone 4. It doesn't make sense from a purely logical and business perspective to alienate one provider over the other when prospects for profit are clearly there.
Click to expand...

LOL

I am just trying to prove a point. The fact of the matter is that no one knows for sure as it's all rumor and interjection at this point.

I answered the OP in the first post to the thread, trying to be helpful to him and him only. Everyone else is jumping in on what I said unnecessarily.

iFiend out.
 
jfyrfytr25 said:
It would make no sense to fragment the release schedules of the same product to two different carriers.

The next iPhone will most likely be a "World Phone" meaning it will have 1 chip that supports CDMA & GSM.

so every iPhone sold would be capable of either carrier.

therefore it would be available to both carriers at the same time.

Not only that, if they release the next gen iPhone on att first, the verizon model sales would suffer because who would buy the iphone 4 fully knowing what the next model is going to be and that it would be released for them in a few months.


Just does not make sense and I would like to know what you are basing that presumption on?


Also, I believe this is why this years iphone will be delayed by a few months.
Click to expand...

+1

It would create a lot of unnecessary headlines to do a fragmented release, when almost certainly the chipset will support both CDMA and GSM.
 
edk99 said:
You seriously don't want to build your credit with a phone company. Why on earth would you want to pay about 50% more for phone service with 2 accounts? Just add a second line to your plan and go from there.

If you really want to build her credit get a credit card in both your names. Use it sparingly and pay it off every month.
Click to expand...

I haven't got my social security number - I'm doing basically what your wife will be doing...

In terms of building credit, yes, I think if you already have a US credit card, it won't hurt to add her to the credit card (not as an authorized user though, as that won't mean any liability for her, hence no credit history). Another thing people seem to do is make their existing bank account a joint account.
Using a cell phone as a tool to build credit isn't great, Capital One do an immigrant's credit card, which has a low limit, but if she uses it and repays it, they report this to credit agencies every month, which is more often than most other lenders (and phone companies).

http://www.capitalone.com/creditcards/newcomer-credit-card/
 
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