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Opening American credit cards while residing in the UK
To build a US credit record, you need a Social Security Number (SSN), which is now not available for most non-residents.   An alternative is an ITIN number, which is now available to non-residents only if they have US income giving a reason to file a US tax return (do you really want to get into all that...). Assuming you did have a reason to get a ITIN (one reason would be if you sold some ebooks via Amazon US, and need a withholding refund under the tax treaty), then recent reports on Flyertalk give mixed results on whether it's possible to get a credit card with an ITIN, and whether that would build a credit record.  It does sound possible in some cases.   A credit record in any other country would not help.  You would certainly need a US address, and banks are increasingly asking for a physical address, rather than just a mailbox. Regardless, building this history would be of limited benefit to you if you later became a US resident, at that point you would be eligible for a new SSN (different from the ITIN) and have to largely start again. If getting a card is the aim, rather than the credit record, you may find some banks that will offer a secured card (or a debit card), to non-residents, especially in areas with lots of Canadian visitors (border, Florida, Arizona).  You'd find it a lot easier with a US address though, and you'd need to shop around a lot of banks in person until you find one with the right rules.  Most will simply avoid anyone without an SSN.