Another CC rejection question

I have a credit card from the US and my US federal student loan.  In the UK, I have an overdraft with my current account, but that's about it in regards to any kind of credit here.  I certainly don't need a credit card, but I saw it as a proactive way to start building credit here as DH really wants to get on the property ladder one day and I would like to have a positive history by then.

I've just looked at your timeline, when I was given my credit card the man processing it said that he wasn't sure why I was being approved for one as I didn't have ILR yet and they are only supposed to offer them to people with permanent residency. If I were you I may hold off on trying to get a credit card again until I had ILR in October.

One other thing that I've seen recommended here for getting credit is to get a pay-as-you-go phone for a few months and once you have proven to the carrier that you will pay regularly you can ask to upgrade to a contract, although I have never tried this myself.

Good luck!

You don't have to have ILR to get a credit card. It can be very random whether or not you get approved. I wouldn't worry about it, to be honest.

Last time I changed my overdraft amount, the teller told me that I actually stood a better chance if I wasn't doing as well financially.  She confided that if I was making a good extra income and stayed out of the overdraft, it may not get approved.  If I did a bit worse financially, it looked like I "needed" it more (her words).  The implication being they would make more money off me, so I was more likely to get it, as long as I wasn't too big a risk.

Last time I changed my overdraft amount, the teller told me that I actually stood a better chance if I wasn't doing as well financially.  She confided that if I was making a good extra income and stayed out of the overdraft, it may not get approved.  If I did a bit worse financially, it looked like I "needed" it more (her words).  The implication being they would make more money off me, so I was more likely to get it, as long as I wasn't too big a risk.

Widely held misconception. If you are using credit responsibly then your credit score will go up, well in the UK it's more of a credit "Risk" indicator goes down, so if you dip in your overdraft but pay it off and you manage the credit you do have  properly, then your risk goes down. If you never need credit then suddenly apply for loads, you have no risk history so they don't know what you're like with credit (which in itself is a risk) or it flags up as a weird thing that you never needed any credit and suddenly you need some (like you've lost your job or something).
It's nothing to do with whether or not you "need" it, computers don't work that way.

Has anyone tried to get a "credit builder" credit card within a year or so of arriving on a settlement visa? They have insanely high interest rates, but say it's a good option for people with bad credit or no credit due to being young or new to the UK.

It sounds good to me, but I'd hate to apply only to be rejected.

Here's some information I found about it:

http://www.financechoices.co.uk/credit-builder-credit-cards/

Has anyone tried to get a "credit builder" credit card within a year or so of arriving on a settlement visa? They have insanely high interest rates, but say it's a good option for people with bad credit or no credit due to being young or new to the UK.

It sounds good to me, but I'd hate to apply only to be rejected.

I applied, and was rejected. I don't know if I would be successful if I applied again. I have two credit cards currently, that I use regularly and pay in full each month, so I'm hoping that's enough for now.

Have you tried getting a joint credit card account with your husband?