October 5, 2015
In our comments section, a reader asked if citizenship is a necessity in order to get an FHA home loan. The reader mentioned that he was in the process of getting a Green Card, and that he had a valid Social Security Number.
Do FHA loan rules as published in the new HUD 4000.1 permit this reader to apply for a new FHA mortgage loan even though he is not a United States Citizen?
The answer is yes–citizenship is NOT a requirement to apply for an FHA mortgage. Proof of a valid Social Security Number is, and since the reader indicated that he had a valid SSN, the only thing needed to move forward is to find a participating FHA lender and fill out the loan application paperwork.
Assuming, of course, that the applicant is ready to do so at this time, and assuming the applicant is financially qualified.
The rules for basic eligibility for an FHA mortgage can be found in HUD 4000.1, Section II Part A, which in addition to what’s already been stated above, adds:
“The Mortgagee must determine the residency status of the Borrower based on information provided on the mortgage application and other applicable documentation. In no case is a Social Security card sufficient to prove immigration or work status.”
You can infer from the above that there is a U.S. residency requirement for FHA loans for non-citizens with Social Security Numbers. According to Section II Part B:
“A Borrower with lawful permanent resident alien status may be eligible for FHA-insured financing provided the Borrower satisfies the same requirements, terms and conditions as those for U.S. citizens.”
Furthermore, “The mortgage file must include evidence of the permanent residency and indicate that the Borrower is a lawful permanent resident alien on the URLA. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) within the Department of Homeland Security provides evidence of lawful, permanent residency status.”
And what about non-permanent resident aliens? We’ll cover that issue in another blog post.
Do you work in residential real estate? You should know about the free tool offered by FHA.com–a widget designed especially for real estate websites. It displays FHA loan limits for the counties serviced by those websites.
It is simple 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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