[patio11]

Also it would have been nice if VISA had a global "credit rating" instead of a separate one for each country. Unfortunately, I now have zero credit in my new country, which is painful when I have amazing credit in my previous country. (all VISA cards)

Pro-tip: if you deal with a bank that has branches in both countries, and you're sufficiently good of a customer that they can justify an hour of work for you, you can get around not having a credit history in your newest country of residence. CitiBank, for example, has an employee in Tokyo whose only job is being attached to an Experian terminal to make credit decisions for American expatriates. (It is highly likely that branch level employees at most CitiBanks are unaware of his existence, so the high-percentage plays are either speaking to their wealth management group, speaking to their "executive relocation" group, or sending the bank a letter.)