Andpatt Posted June 28, 2018 Report Share Posted June 28, 2018 We are emigrating to Sydney in the next month or two. I have signed an employment contract and will need cash when I arrive for rental deposit and the like. Is it possible to get a credit card from any of the banks before arriving in Sydney? Or do any of the banks at least pre- approve you for a credit card? The most I can give a bank at this stage is a signed employment contract. Which banks should I approach? thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vitchie Posted June 28, 2018 Report Share Posted June 28, 2018 It might be easier to get a loan from your South African bank while you are still there. It's easy to open a bank account before or upon arrival, but I think unsecured credit will be a bit more challenging without any payslips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RYLC Posted June 28, 2018 Report Share Posted June 28, 2018 I’d be very surprised if any bank would issue a new migrant with a credit card. People usually come over with enough cash for the first few months or they book accommodation from RSA and pay in rand in advance to minimize the amount of immediate cash needed here. Maybe you can delay your move until you have some cash saved up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisH Posted June 28, 2018 Report Share Posted June 28, 2018 Once you've had a payroll run into your account I'm sure they would look at giving you a credit card. In some cases they might need 3 payroll runs, luckily I get paid weekly so that doesn't take long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vitchie Posted June 28, 2018 Report Share Posted June 28, 2018 24 minutes ago, RYLC said: Maybe you can delay your move until you have some cash saved up? I don't agree. If you have a signed employment contract I would not forfeit that to save for a few more months. A little bit of debt with a job is better than the cash you can save in a few months and no job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duggen Posted June 28, 2018 Report Share Posted June 28, 2018 (edited) I may be recalling this incorrectly, but I'm pretty sure I got a credit card with in a couple of weeks of arriving. Your contract/a letter of employment may be enough to get one. That being said if you are unable to get a credit card in Aus at the start, get one in South Africa and pay it all off again as soon as you can get one in Aus. Edited June 28, 2018 by Duggen 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RYLC Posted June 28, 2018 Report Share Posted June 28, 2018 (edited) 3 hours ago, Andpatt said: We are emigrating to Sydney in the next month or two. 2 hours ago, RYLC said: Maybe you can delay your move I suggested this because Andpatt said "in the next month or two" giving the impression that there is not a definite start date. Maybe Andpatt can ask for a wage advance from his employer? Some will do it to help out (I work in payroll so have seen it offered/requested). Edited June 28, 2018 by RYLC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wessmuts Posted November 21, 2018 Report Share Posted November 21, 2018 (edited) On 6/28/2018 at 2:15 PM, Andpatt said: We are emigrating to Sydney in the next month or two. I have signed an employment contract and will need cash when I arrive for rental deposit and the like. Is it possible to get a credit card from any of the banks before arriving in Sydney? Or do any of the banks at least pre- approve you for a credit card? The most I can give a bank at this stage is a signed employment contract. Which banks should I approach? thanks! Do you have an American Express in SA? We opened a new Qantas AMEX in AUS with no financials because of our long amex history in SA. It is not a given but possible. We got a smallish $7k limit, but was more than enough. Now two month later we only got VISA/Mastercard sorted and it is only 2k each until we have PR. Also I lived on my SA Investec credit card for the first month basically, because not everywhere takes amex and we just paid it back off after the first Aus salary came in. It is painful to pay R150 for eggs and toast, but you get used to it. Edited November 21, 2018 by Wessmuts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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