Can I Get a Mortgage Without Permanent Residency?

You can get a mortgage in the United States without permanent residency, though the path narrowed in 2025 when the FHA stopped insuring loans for borrowers who don’t hold a Green Card. Conventional loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac remain fully open to non-permanent resident aliens on valid work visas, and a separate group of lenders offers mortgages to borrowers who have only an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number. Qualifying rests more on your work authorization, income stability, and credit profile than on your immigration category.

Conventional Loans Are the Main Route

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac both allow non-permanent resident aliens to qualify for conventional mortgages on the same basic terms as U.S. citizens.¹ Freddie Mac’s guidelines mirror this, stating that a non-citizen lawfully residing in the country as a permanent or nonpermanent resident is eligible on the same terms as a citizen.² Same rates, same down payment structures, same underwriting standards as any other borrower with a comparable financial profile.

You’ll need a valid Social Security Number and documentation of your legal authorization to live and work in the country. Lenders also look for a reasonable expectation that your authorized status will continue. If your visa expires within the next twelve months, expect a request for evidence that renewal is likely, such as an employer letter confirming intent to sponsor you or a USCIS receipt showing a pending renewal.

Down payments for conventional loans start at 3% for certain programs and rise to 20% depending on credit score and loan terms. On debt-to-income ratios, the ceiling is higher than many borrowers expect. Loans run through Fannie Mae’s automated underwriting system can be approved with a total DTI ratio up to 50%, while manually underwritten loans cap at 36%, rising to 45% for borrowers with strong credit and cash reserves.³ Reserves covering several months of mortgage payments should also be on hand.

FHA Loans Are No Longer Available to Non-Permanent Residents

This is the biggest recent change for this group of borrowers. In May 2025, HUD issued Mortgagee Letter 2025-09, which removed the non-permanent resident sections from FHA policy entirely. For FHA case numbers assigned on or after May 25, 2025, only U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents with Green Cards (along with citizens of a few Pacific compact nations) remain eligible for FHA-insured loans.⁴

Before this change, FHA loans were popular with visa holders because of the 3.5% minimum down payment and flexible credit rules. That door is now closed. If you’re on an H-1B, L-1, O-1, or similar work visa without a Green Card, conventional financing is your route through a traditional lender. Older articles and even some loan officers may still reference FHA eligibility for visa holders, so confirm this directly before assuming an FHA loan is available.

ITIN Mortgages If You Don’t Have a Social Security Number

Some lenders run mortgage programs designed for borrowers who hold an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number rather than a Social Security Number. These loans are not backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or FHA. They are portfolio loans or non-qualified mortgage products that lenders keep on their books or sell through private channels.⁵

The trade-off is cost. ITIN mortgages generally require down payments between 10% and 20% and carry higher interest rates than conventional loans. Requirements vary, but most lenders want to see at least two years of U.S. tax filings, stable income history, and either a credit score of 620 or above or an alternative credit profile built from rent and utility records. Because terms differ substantially from one lender to another, comparing offers from several institutions is worth the time. The CFPB notes that while lenders may evaluate your ability to repay, they cannot discriminate based on national origin.⁵

Building Credit History as a Newcomer

A thin U.S. credit file trips up otherwise strong borrowers. If you arrived recently, you may not have the two to three years of domestic credit history lenders prefer. Fannie Mae addresses this by allowing a nontraditional credit history built from payment records that don’t normally show up on a credit report.⁶

Acceptable references include documented rent payments over the most recent twelve consecutive months, utility accounts where payment history can be independently verified (electricity, gas, water, phone, internet, or television), and insurance premiums such as auto, renter’s, or medical policies (excluding payroll deductions). For loans underwritten through Fannie Mae’s automated system, at least one nontraditional reference must be a housing payment such as rent. Each reference must cover twelve consecutive months, and every reference gets included in the file whether the payment history looks good or bad.⁶

Practical takeaway: start documenting your payments from day one. Pay rent by bank transfer rather than cash, and put utilities in your own name. Those records become your credit history when you’re ready to apply.

Documents You’ll Need

Assembling the right paperwork before you meet a loan officer saves weeks of back-and-forth. Plan to bring:

Work authorization. Your Employment Authorization Document (Form I-766) from USCIS, or for visa holders whose status itself authorizes employment (H-1B, L-1, O-1, and similar), your visa approval notice (Form I-797) and passport with visa stamp.⁷
Federal tax returns (Form 1040) for the most recent two years, showing consistent earnings.
Pay stubs covering at least the most recent 30 days.
USCIS receipts for any pending renewal of your work authorization.

Not every worker needs an EAD. H-1B and L-1 holders, among others, have employment authorization tied to their immigration status itself, without any separate EAD application.⁷ In those cases, your visa documentation and I-94 arrival record serve as your proof.

If You Earn Foreign Income

If part of your pay comes from a foreign employer or arrives in a foreign currency, Fannie Mae requires signed federal tax returns for the most recent two years that include the foreign income. Foreign-language documents need a full English translation, and all figures must be converted to U.S. dollars.⁸ A salary from a foreign parent company that lands in a foreign bank account needs to appear on your U.S. tax returns before a lender will count it. Income that isn’t on a 1040 is essentially invisible to the underwriter.

Tax Angles That Matter for Non-Permanent Residents

Mortgage Interest Deduction

You can deduct mortgage interest on your primary residence, but the form you file matters. The standard deduction requires filing Form 1040 or 1040-SR and itemizing on Schedule A.⁹ Nonresident aliens who file Form 1040-NR face different rules and may not be able to claim the same deduction. Whether you file as a resident or nonresident for tax purposes depends on the substantial presence test or an election to be treated as a resident alien. A tax professional experienced with international clients can help you sort out which form applies.

FIRPTA Withholding When You Sell

This is where non-permanent residents face a cost that catches many homeowners off guard. Under the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act, when a foreign person sells U.S. real estate, the buyer must withhold 15% of the sale price and remit it to the IRS.¹⁰ This is not a tax on your profit; it’s a withholding against the total amount realized, and you reconcile it when you file your return for that year.

Two exceptions reduce the hit if the buyer will use the property as a residence:

Sales of $300,000 or less: no withholding is required if the buyer intends to use the home as a residence and will occupy it for at least half the days it’s in use during each of the first two years after purchase.¹¹
Sales between $300,001 and $1,000,000: the rate drops from 15% to 10% if the buyer will use the property as a residence.¹⁰

The IRC Section 121 exclusion for gain on a personal residence can also apply to nonresident aliens who meet the ownership and use tests, potentially letting you exclude up to $250,000 in gain. If the exclusion eliminates your tax liability, you can apply to the IRS for a withholding certificate that reduces the amount the buyer must withhold at closing.¹² Plan for FIRPTA before you list the property, or the cash flow at closing will surprise you.

What Happens If Your Visa Status Changes

A mortgage is a contract between you and a lender. Losing your visa or work authorization does not automatically trigger a default or let the lender call the loan due. Your obligation is to keep making payments. As long as the money arrives on time, most lenders have no mechanism and no incentive to check on your immigration status.

The real risk is practical. If losing work authorization means losing your income, sustaining the payments becomes the problem. And leaving the country doesn’t erase the debt. Renting the property out is possible, but converting a primary-residence mortgage to an investment property may violate the occupancy clause of your loan. If your immigration situation feels uncertain, holding six or more months of reserves gives you room to sell the home or resolve your status without falling behind.

1
Fannie Mae. Non-U.S. Citizen Borrower Eligibility Requirements
2
Freddie Mac. Guide Section 5103.2
3
Fannie Mae. Debt-to-Income Ratios
4
HUD. Mortgagee Letter 2025-09 – Revisions to Residency Requirements
5
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Can I Get a Mortgage With an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) Instead of a Social Security Number?
6
Fannie Mae. Number and Types of Nontraditional Credit References
7
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-766 Employment Authorization Document (EAD) History
8
Fannie Mae. Standards for Employment-Related Income
9
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 936, Home Mortgage Interest Deduction
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 1445 – Withholding of Tax on Dispositions of United States Real Property Interests
11
Internal Revenue Service. Exceptions From FIRPTA Withholding
12
Internal Revenue Service. FIRPTA Withholding