Today, when KUKU applied again for the AMEX Green, he noticed that AE has improved its application system. Applicants with domestic credit history in Australia, Canada, India, Mexico, and the UK can now apply online for US credit cards directly through American Express official public or referral links. After looking into it, I found that Doc wrote about this on the 28th. However, it seems the application interface itself was only updated in the past 1-2 days, so here is a detailed overview:

New application interface

From the new application page, it appears that American Express will pull international credit records from these countries to verify the identity of applicants without an SSN. At the moment, this is only supported for 5 countries: Australia, Canada, India, Mexico, and the UK. The screenshot below is from my application through a referral link on the 101 site:

This is required to verify your identity. It also expedites the processing of your application.

If you have had a credit card or loan in Australia, Canada, India, Mexico or the United Kingdom, American Express can access your foreign credit report through our partnership with Nova Credit, a third-party vendor.

In other words, American Express can use an international credit report provided by a third party to decide whether to approve you for a US credit card. Other than that, the rest of the application is the same. The current partner providing these reports is Nova Credit.

About Nova Credit

The credit report comes from Nova Credit, a company that specializes in international credit history services. On Nova Credit's own site, it says you can apply for US credit cards using cross-border credit history, including from China.

Within the application, you will be directed to Nova Connect, an interface where you can access your credit report in the credit bureau from your prior home country. Nova Credit then takes on the task of translating and transferring your international credit data to businesses to get you the credit you’ve earned. Nova Credit is free to applicants when applying for credit cards because our business partners pay for the service!

For reference: the officially supported countries are still limited and do not include China; it shows "Comming soon". (Personally, I think China's credit reporting system is unlikely to be integrated anytime soon, since the systems are quite different.)

Countries on Nova Credit that support applications for US AMEX credit cards (not recommended to apply through these links):

At present, Nova Credit's website supports applications only for some American Express-issued personal cards, including:

Although Nova Credit's website does not support applying for the AMEX Hilton Aspire, which offers Hilton Diamond status, or the AMEX Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant, AMEX official and referral links fully support using international credit history from the 5 countries above to apply for all AE-issued personal cards, including Hilton Aspire and Marriott Brilliant. This may, to some extent, make Aspire's Hilton Diamond status even more common.

How to apply

You can start from any AMEX application link (excluding certain co-branded cards and business cards). You can use a referral link from your LD or a friend (and if you'd like to support us, feel free to use this site's application links). Also, if AE is offering an all-time-high welcome bonus, or if you can pull up a better offer in incognito mode, use that instead. I tested it and found that the application links inside Nova Credit do not show the higher incognito-mode offers.

  • In short, it is still better to apply through a referral link or after finding an all-time-high offer yourself (or use this site's links to support us).

When filling out the SSN section, simply select that you do not have an SSN; everything else is filled out the same way as in the application flow for people with an SSN. Nova Credit even provides instructions for this, so I'll quote the official guidance here:

Go directly to an AE application link, and remember to check the option indicating that you do not have an SSN:

After checking that box, the SSN field will become Optional, as shown below:

After you complete the application, you will be redirected to Nova Credit for identity/information verification. I did not personally test the exact registration and verification process.

  • Please note: if you already have a US credit history, AMEX will check your US credit history first and will no longer review your international credit history. After all, if you already have a US file, you do not really need this route to get your first card; a phone call should be enough.
  • Therefore, this method is only for getting your first AMEX credit card.
  • Hard Pull situation: the official website is not very clear at the moment. Possibly none.

Other ways to apply for an AMEX card without an SSN

Before this, if you did not have an SSN and wanted to apply for a US AMEX credit card, your only options were to call in with your passport or use Global Transfer. With this new option added, there are now three paths in total (not discussing the now-dead 0-1 method):

Build credit history, then apply by phone

  • If you have US credit history, you can call and apply with your passport, but you can only get the Public offer. Phone: 1-800-223-2670.

You can build credit history by being added as someone else’s authorized user (just provide your passport number by phone), paying rent, paying your cell phone bill, and so on. Once you have built some history, your credit report can be pulled using your name and address. It is probably best to wait until you have at least six months of history before applying.

Global Transfer

  • AMEX Global Transfer is not strictly a new application path (and it is unclear whether the same rewards apply). It simply lets you transfer over based on an overseas AE credit card. See here. After building some credit history, you can continue applying for more AE credit cards using your passport.

Note: the official AMEX application page also appears to have a hidden Global Transfer application path. There are not many DPs, so it is unclear whether it works:

Choose Sing in for a simpler application process, then select credit card verification and choose a non-US credit card:

FAQ

Q: Can this get around the Lifetime restriction?

A: Based on Nova Credit’s description, AMEX first checks whether the applicant has a US credit history (just your name and date of birth may be enough for them to track your US credit file). Only if you do not have one will they move on to your international credit history. So most likely, no.

Q: Can you apply for credit cards from other banks without an SSN?

A: Policies vary by bank, and for most banks the answer is no. BofA is an exception and tends to like international customers. Some banks let you apply with an ITIN, but the premise is still that you need some credit history, such as Capital One and the like.

Q: If I use a referral link, can the referrer still get the referral bonus?

A: I think that should be completely fine! Feel free to use our 101 site link!

Q: In the future, could Chinese credit history also be used to apply for an AMEX credit card?

A: Nova Credit says it is working to connect to China’s credit system, so it is possible that once connected, it may allow applications for AMEX cards.

Q: Do you need any US credit history to apply?

A: No.

Q: If you apply using the methods above, is there any chance of getting hit with an AMEX FR (Financial Review)?

A: FR does not depend on SSN, but if you get FR’d, you will need to provide Form 4506-T so they can review your tax records. Without an SSN, that becomes unusually troublesome.

Conclusion

Hopefully AMEX continues expanding its international card application services and brings in more opportunities from Europe and other Western countries.