Access to credit makes life in the US easy and comfortable. Without credit, life can be rather inconvenient, whether you'd like a loan to buy a car, or a house, or obtain a credit card. And credit cards are key components of personal identity in the US. You will have difficulty renting a car or buying a plane ticket without a credit card. You will need to establish credit to rent an apartment, begin telephone or utility service without a deposit, and for many other purposes. With credit cards, you won't have to carry cash around. Take excellent care of your credit rating, or you could be financially handicapped for years.

Almost every major bank, retail chain, or other credit issuer, checks your record held in the databases of the three central credit bureaus to determine if lending to you is a good investment. Credit issues also send data on your credit and payment history — as it accumulates — back to the credit bureaus. The information is not 100 percent accurate, but you can force the credit bureaus to correct errors, as there are many strict national laws protecting your rights on this count.

Of course, when you first arrive, you will have no credit history and therefore no record. It certainly will not hurt to bring a printout of your home country credit rating but, unfortunately, this is not likely to help you much. You have no history here and the statistics say you are too risky to be trusted with credit. Unfair? Perhaps. But the sooner you learn to deal with the system, the sooner you will overcome the problem.

The tricky part is that it is rather difficult to obtain credit without any credit history. But you cannot build up a credit history without credit. So, what to do?

You'll have to start small and proceed with care. (Beware of sleazy mail or Internet offers promising you easy access to credit.) You will need to open bank accounts, preferably both savings and checking. Wherever you apply for credit, the lender will want to know where you live, work, and bank. The longer you have worked for the same employer, the better. (When calculating credit risk, banks find stability of employment and on-time payments are far more important than salary and bank account levels.)

Start building up a good credit rating by getting a secured credit card with your bank or credit union and credit accounts at local department stores and other retail chains. Make sure you pay all bills on time, especially minimum payments on your credit accounts.

You can also build your credit history by making secured purchases or loans. Often these will come at a high interest cost and at the risk your assets being seized if you fail to make payments, so be careful.

Once you build up your first few credit accounts, you are ready to build credit solid enough for a home loan using national credit cards. (You'll know you're ready when you start getting offers from reputable banks in the mail.) The most important thing is to always pay at least your minimum payments on time. If you have a problem or grievance with the credit issuer, be sure to make your payments while you are in dispute unless there is no alternative. As you build your credit history, you will be able to obtain more credit with higher limits and lower rates.