October 5, 2015
In our previous post we discussed the fact that United States citizenship is not required for borrowers who want to apply for an FHA home loan. A valid Social Security number is required, and there is a U.S. residency requirement that also needs to be met.
That means that a variety of people who are not or are not yet citizens have a chance for an FHA home loan if they meet certain requirements (including proof of a valid SSN).
The FHA loan rules for non-permanent resident aliens can be found in HUD 4000.1 Section II Part A, which lists the following instructions to the lender:
“A Borrower who is a non-permanent resident alien may be eligible for FHA insured financing provided:
–the Property will be the Borrowers Principal Residence;
–the Borrower has a valid SSN, except for those employed by the World Bank, a foreign embassy, or equivalent employer identified by HUD;
–the Borrower is eligible to work in the United States, as evidenced by the Employment Authorization Document issued by the USCIS; and
–the Borrower satisfies the same requirements, terms and conditions as
those for U.S. citizens.”
FHA loan rules in this section also add:
“The Employment Authorization Document is required to substantiate work status. If the Employment Authorization Document will expire within one year and a prior history of residency status renewals exists, the Mortgagee may assume that continuation will be granted. If there are no prior renewals, the Mortgagee must determine the likelihood of renewal based on information from the USCIS.”
“A Borrower residing in the U.S. by virtue of refugee or asylee status granted by the USCIS is automatically eligible to work in this country. The Employment Authorization Document is not required, but documentation substantiating the refugee or asylee status must be obtained.”
As you can see, with the right documentation, and assuming the borrower is otherwise financially qualified, an FHA mortgage loan is not out of reach for those who are non-permanent resident aliens.
However, FHA loan rules also add a line addressing the eligibility of non-U.S. citizens without lawful residency in the United States, stating, “Non-U.S. citizens without lawful residency in the U.S. are not eligible for FHA-insured Mortgages.”
Do you work in residential real estate? You should know about the free tool offered by FHA.com–a free widget designed especially for real estate websites. The widget displays FHA loan limits for the counties serviced by those websites.
It is quick and easy to spend a few seconds customizing the state, counties, and widget size for the tool; you can copy the code and paste it into your website with ease. Get yours today:
http://www.fha.com/fha_loan_limits_widget
Joe Wallace has been specializing in military and personal finance topics since 1995. His work has appeared on Air Force Television News, The Pentagon Channel, ABC and a variety of print and online publications. He is a 13-year Air Force veteran and a member of the Air Force Public Affairs Alumni Association. He was Managing editor for www.valoans.com for (8) years and is currently the Associate Editor for FHANewsblog.com.
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