Are there any American credit cards that I can use with a foreign billing address?
Specifically, if I have the card now, with an American billing address, and if I move abroad, will I have to give it up or is there a way to keep one?
Given that everything is online anyway, there are no practical reasons why it should not work. I am wondering about legal or contractual reasons.
(I'd like to keep a dollar denominated card and the move might be temporary anyway [a few years]).
You can have an american credit card with a foreign billing address. I had two credit cards (USAA and Chase) with billing addresses in the UK. I already had both cards while living in the US (not sure about setting up cards with the original address out of the country) and then just updated my billing information online.
If you can, I would also recommend keeping a card with a US billing address, as mentioned previously, since quite a few websites won't allow you to enter a non-US address at all. This depends on having somebody (parents? friends?) with an address in the states. Also, you can use sites like amazon.com instead of amazon.co.uk to get better deals and / or send gifts home without having to do any currency conversion.
Check for foreign transaction fees and try to find a card that has no (or very small) fees.
While the answer might vary from bank-to-bank, I suspect that if you have a card and pay it on time, they won't really care where you live.
If you have a card already, or a relationship with a bank, talk to someone there. They'll know for sure.
Not sure legally. But I know several of my friends who have kept the US credit card long after they have moved out of US. The primary reason was for online payments to certain sites that require an US address.
The payment would normally be done online so there was no need for the physical statement.
