We all know it’s hard to get a credit card as a foreigner, not just because of banks not trusting us, but because the requirements are all over the place, and vary wildly branch to branch.
To better help everyone understand the requirements and timeline for different credit cards, I made this thread so we can share which banks have accepted us, and what info we supplied.
Company: American Express
Card applied for: Amex Bronze card
Credit score/history before applying: Zero credit history
Date of application: April 2021
Date of follow up call: forgotten
Date of credit report check: unsure
Date of approval: April 2021
Date of arrival: shortly after approval
Guarantor required? No
Secured deposit required? No
Apply where? Online
Credit limit given: $60,000NTD 13.99% interest
Supporting documents:
ARC
Passport
Salary summary from Taiwanese employer
Savings in Taiwanese bank account
Superannuation statement from Australian super fund.
Company: Cathay United
Card applied for: Costco Royal Seal (blue)
Credit score: 710/800
Date of application: 8 May 2022
Date of follow up call: 10 May 2022
Date of credit report check: unsure
Date of approval: 10 May 2022
Date of arrival: 12 May 2022
Guarantor required? No
Secured deposit required? No
Apply where? Costco, Hsinchu
Credit limit given: $30,000 NTD 15% interest
Supporting documents:
ARC
Passport picture
(Already had a Cathay account history, i believe this was taken into account)
Credit limit given: Same as my SCSB credit card (with guarantor) about 1.5x monthly salary
Supporting documents provided:
Scan of ARC (front and back)
Scan of passport
Scan of tax statement showing 2021 earnings
Three months of payslips (non stamped)
FYI: The lady that called spoke Chinese with me first (I can speak decent Chinese) but could switch easily to English when I wasn’t sure about something during the call.
Thanks @meishijia for all the valuable info you are sharing especially regarding credit cards/banks
They didn’t ask me but I didn’t want to provide my bank statement.
It’s a document from the labour insurance bureau that proves your income. You can print it from their portal if you have a Citizens Digital Certificate or you can just ask your local labour insurance office for it.
Company: first bank
Card applied for: JCB icash Lulu
Date of application: November 2022
Date of follow up call: November 2022
Date of approval: November 2022
Date of arrival: November 2022
Time from application to card recieved: About 3 weeks
Guarantor required? No
Secured deposit required? No
Apply where? by post, but had to visit a branch to resubmit the application form for some issues as advised during the followup call
Credit limit given: $50,000
Supporting documents provided:
Scan of ARC (front and back)
Scan of passport
Scan of driving licence (front and back)
Scan of 3 most recent bank statements (HSBC TW does not have passbooks)
Copy of employment letter
The process was reasonably smooth, and besides the branch visit, uneventful. I could check the progress online
Applied using the Gold Employment card “special” form in English.
Company: CTBC
Card applied for: Line Pay JCB card
Date of application: October 2022
Date of approval: october 2022
Date of arrival: October 2022
Time from application to card recieved: About 2 weeks
Guarantor required? No
Secured deposit required? No
Apply where? by post
Credit limit given: $20,000
Supporting documents provided:
Scan of ARC (front and back)
Scan of passport
Scan of driving licence (front and back)
Scan of 3 most recent bank statements (HSBC TW does not have passbooks)
Scan of the front of my CTBC NT passbook
Copy of employment letter
The process was reasonably smooth, too bad I couldn’t check the application progress online since CTBC does not recognise ARC numbers
Company: Cathay United
Card applied for: Eva Air Visa Infinite card
Date of application: September 2022
Date of approval: September 2022
Date of arrival: October 2022
Time from application to card recieved: About 5 business days
Guarantor required? No
Secured deposit required? No
Apply where? by post
Credit limit given: $400,000
Supporting documents provided:
Scan of ARC (front and back)
Scan of passport
Scan of driving licence (front and back)
Scan of 3 most recent bank statements (HSBC TW does not have passbooks)
Scan of the front of my Cathay United NT passbook
Copy of employment letter
The process was incredibly smooth, could check the progress online but took so little I checked only once
Company: Cathay United
Card applied for: Costco Visa Signature
Date of application: May 2022
Date of follow up call: May 2022
Date of approval: May 2022
Date of arrival: May 2022
Time from application to card recieved: About 2 weeks
Guarantor required? Yes
Secured deposit required? No, but left 20k on the account just in case
Apply where? At Costco Neihu store
Credit limit given: $60,000
Supporting documents provided:
Scan of ARC (front and back)
Scan of passport
Scan of the front of my Cathay United NT passbook and foreign currency passbok
Copy of employment letter
The process was smooth, had to use the guarantor since I bad no history and no 3 months salary paid into any TW account (I moved to TW in Apr 2022), so it was critical to get the first card for
Company: Fubon
Card applied for: TW mobile Open Possible Visa Signature Card
Date of application: Aug 2022
Date of approval: Aug 2022
Date of arrival: Aug 2022
Time from application to card recieved: About 1 week
Guarantor required? No
Secured deposit required? No
Apply where? By post
Credit limit given: $60,000
Supporting documents provided:
Scan of ARC (front and back)
Scan of passport
Scan of my driving licence (front and back)
Scan of my most recent 3 bank statements
Copy of employment letter
The process was very smooth, and I could check the status online
Company: American Express
Card applied for: Eva Air Gold Charge card
Date of application: May 2022
Date of follow up call(s): May 2022
Date of approval: May 2022
Date of arrival: May 2022
Time from application to card recieved: About 3 weeks
Guarantor required? No
Secured deposit required? No
Apply where? Online
Credit limit given: N/A, charge cards do not have credit limits
Supporting documents provided:
Scan of ARC (front and back)
Scan of passport
Scan of my most recent 3 bank statements from HK
Scan of my Amex card from HK for reference
Copy of employment letter
The process was very smooth since even foreigners can apply online, but can’t check the status online (no one can, not provided), but the hotline is impressive and the English of the customer support is very decent. First card ever obtained in Tw, so bad the accrual rates are not as good as the cathay United’s one and the acceptance of Amex in tw still not very widespread outside main cities and fancy shops/restaurants. They deserve more accolades since they are the most foreign friendly financial institution here
Got a call a day or two after they received my application, during which they asked me to confirm all the info provided. Then a text 3 working days later saying that they are sending my application for final approval. Card arrived 2 days later.
Not sure I need such a high credit limit, but glad to see they offer that to foreigners.
As I said, it is my job😂 I want to see how the industry works here, so need to apply to as many cards as I can. Now Mega bank is reviewing, next one will be a taishin, then a xin kong.
Shinkong requires a guarantor and won’t budge, taishin does too but they are hit and miss, sometimes they will pass it without. And Mega used to require either a guarantor or a secured deposit however they have removed that requirement a few years ago from the website so maybe it changed.
Will try nonetheless, for science! Like for Citibank I cannot apply at the branch since they cannot identify my account at HSBC as mine since… The account number is partially masked on the statement BEARING MY NAME. Will try again via post.
So far the only bank with which I tried twice and twice didn’t go anywhere is HSBC. They require a guarantor even for premiere customers unless you have at least 3M NT in deposits… Useless
