Home loans for visa holders: what you can buy, and what lenders look for

Can you get a home loan on a temporary visa?

Yes, you can get a home loan on a temporary visa, with some lenders. Lenders that consider temporary visa holders usually want a larger deposit than they'd ask of a resident, time left on your visa, and stable work in Australia or a clear path to permanent residence [10].

What you can buy is the bigger limit. The government treats temporary residents as foreign persons when they buy a home. That means FIRB approval before you buy, and, while a temporary ban runs, no established homes at all [1][3]. A new home or vacant land to build on is still open to you, with approval [2].

So there are two questions, and they're separate: what the law lets you buy, and which lender will lend on your visa. This guide answers both, in that order.

Temporary, permanent, or applying: which rules are yours?

Your residency status, not your visa number, decides which buying rules apply to you. There are three positions:

**Permanent resident or New Zealand citizen.** You're not a foreign person for buying a home. You can buy an established home without FIRB approval, and lenders often treat you much like a citizen [1][2][10].

**Temporary visa holder.** You need FIRB approval to buy, and established homes are off limits while the ban runs [1][3].

**Applying for permanent residence.** Until it's granted, you're usually treated as a temporary resident. If the grant is close, waiting can open more options (see buy now or wait, below).

482, 485, 491 and other visas: what each one can buy

The buying rules are the same for every temporary visa: a 482, a 485, a 491 or any other temporary visa puts you in the same position under the foreign investment rules [1][2]. What differs from visa to visa is how a lender reads it: how long it has left to run, your work, and your path to permanent residence [10].

If you hold a 482, the rules on this page apply to you, whatever name you've seen it called. The old 457 visa no longer exists.

Why can't temporary residents buy an established home?

Temporary residents can't buy an established home because the government has banned foreign persons, temporary residents included, from buying established dwellings for a set period [1]. Permanent residents and New Zealand citizens aren't covered by the ban [1].

The ban is temporary, with a start and an end date set by the government. Both dates are in source 1 at the foot of this page.

The exceptions are narrow and written for developments that add to housing supply, not for one buyer's home [1]. There's no workaround for a temporary resident who wants an established home, and Money Brain won't suggest one. What we can do is show you what is open: a new home, land to build on, or buying with a partner who isn't covered by the ban.

Do you need FIRB approval to buy a home?

You need FIRB approval to buy a home in Australia if you're a temporary resident, and you need it before you buy [3]. Permanent residents and New Zealand citizens don't need it, because they aren't foreign persons for buying a home [1][2].

FIRB is the Foreign Investment Review Board. Applications for residential property are lodged with the ATO, which also sets out the fee [3]. A lender's approval and FIRB's approval are two different things, from two different places.

What does FIRB cost, and how long does it take?

FIRB costs a fee that you pay when you apply, and the amount depends on the price and type of property you're buying [3]. We don't print a figure here because the schedule changes, and the ATO's own fee page is the one to read on the day you apply.

On timing, the government says it can take up to 30 days to consider an application once the full fee is paid [3]. Count that into your search: a contract with a short finance date and no FIRB condition is the wrong contract for a temporary resident.

What this means for you: the fee and the wait are costs of buying, like stamp duty. Put both in your budget and your timeline before you make an offer, not after.

The vacancy fee: what happens if the home sits empty

The vacancy fee is a yearly charge on a foreign buyer whose home isn't lived in, or genuinely available for rent, for more than 183 days in a year [2].

It matters most if your plans might change: a posting interstate, a long trip home, or a visa that ends. If you move out, keeping the home lived in or genuinely on the rental market helps keep you clear of the fee.

Buying vacant land to build on

A temporary resident can buy vacant residential land with FIRB approval, on condition that building is finished within four years [2].

That condition is a deadline on you, not only on the builder. Before you buy land, line up a builder, a construction loan and a realistic build time, so the four years is comfortable rather than tight. Construction loans pay out in stages as the build goes up; see construction loans.

What do lenders look for on a temporary visa?

Lenders look at four things on a temporary visa: how long the visa has left to run, your work in Australia and how stable it is, your path to permanent residence, and the size of your deposit [10]. Lenders that consider temporary visa holders usually want a larger deposit, and lend a smaller share of the value, than they would for a resident [10].

Which visas a lender accepts is that lender's own policy, not a government list [10]. So one lender's no is not every lender's no.

What this means for you: on a visa, the choice of lender does more work than usual. Two lenders can give the same person a different answer on the same day, because each reads the visa, the job and the deposit its own way.

How much deposit do you need on a visa?

The deposit you need on a visa depends on the lender: each sets its own limit on how much of a property's value it will lend to a temporary visa holder, and those limits are usually lower than for a resident [10]. Lenders call that share the LVR, the loan as a share of the property's value.

Here's what the deposit looks like at three LVRs on a $600,000 new home. These are illustrations of the arithmetic, not any lender's limit for your visa.

Above an 80% LVR, lenders mortgage insurance (LMI) usually applies: insurance the lender takes out when you borrow more than 80%, and you pay for it. At 80% or below, there's no LMI.

On top of the deposit you'll need stamp duty, the FIRB fee, legal costs, and in some states extra duty for foreign buyers [12]. See the stamp duty calculator for the standard rate in your state.

How lenders count your income on a visa

Pay you earn in Australia is usually assessed much like a resident's, once a lender has accepted your visa [10]. Your payslips, your hours and your time in the job matter in the same way they would for anyone else.

If you're an overseas-trained nurse working here, the lender rules on overtime, penalties and salary packaging on our nurse home loans page apply to you as well. If you're self-employed, see self-employed home loans.

Foreign income and foreign currency

Income from overseas, or paid in another currency, is often counted at less than its full value [10]. How much less is each lender's own rule, and some lenders count it more readily than others [10].

What this means for you: if part of your income is paid offshore, don't plan on the full amount. Work out what you can borrow on your Australian income first, and treat any foreign income as a possible extra rather than the base.

What if your visa ends before the loan does?

Most home loans run far longer than a temporary visa, and lenders know that. It's why they look at the time left on your visa, your work history and your path to permanent residence [10].

A loan doesn't usually end just because a visa does, but a lender will want confidence that you can keep paying it, and an expiring visa is one of the things it weighs. A visa with little time left, and no clear next step, is harder to lend on than one with years to run or a permanent application under way.

Applying for permanent residence: buy now, or wait for the grant?

If you're applying for permanent residence, you're usually treated as a temporary resident until the grant. Whether to buy now or wait depends on how close the grant is and what you want to buy.

What this means for you: waiting for the grant opens established homes, removes the FIRB step, opens the 5% Deposit Scheme, and lenders often treat permanent residents much like citizens [1][2][4][10]. Buying now limits you to a new home or vacant land, with FIRB approval and its fee [2][3]. If the grant is close and the home you want is established, waiting can be worth more than the time it costs.

Buying with a partner who is a citizen or permanent resident

Buying with a partner who is an Australian citizen, permanent resident or New Zealand citizen can change both what you're allowed to buy and how lenders see the loan. The rules can depend on how the two of you hold the title, so check your position with FIRB or a property lawyer before you sign a contract.

On the lending side, a joint application with a resident partner is often assessed more like a resident's, and can bring a higher LVR and standard pricing within reach [10].

Your partner's status can also open state help that your own visa doesn't. Queensland's first home grant, for example, is open to an Australian citizen or permanent resident, or someone applying with one [7].

New Zealand citizens and the Special Category visa

New Zealand citizens aren't treated as foreign persons for buying a home, so you don't need FIRB approval, and the ban on established homes doesn't cover you [1][2].

Government help is a different test. The 5% Deposit Scheme guide's test names Australian citizens and permanent residents and doesn't name New Zealand citizens, so check before you plan on it [4]. Help to Buy is for Australian citizens only [5]. How a lender treats a New Zealand citizen is that lender's own policy, and it's one of the things we check for you.

Can visa holders use the 5% Deposit Scheme, Help to Buy or First Home Super Saver?

The government's three first home schemes each have their own residency test, and they're not the same:

The 5% Deposit Scheme guide doesn't set out how a joint application with a temporary resident is treated, so if you're buying with a citizen or permanent-resident partner, that's a question to settle before you count on the scheme [4]. The 5% Deposit Scheme and Help to Buy can't be used together [4].

The First Home Super Saver scheme's eligibility list has no citizenship or residency condition on it, but the ATO doesn't say that a non-citizen can use it either, so check with the ATO before you plan on it [6]. See the 5% Deposit Scheme, Help to Buy and First Home Super Saver.

First home grants and stamp duty concessions on a visa

State first home grants and duty concessions have their own residency rules, and they're written state by state. Here are the ones we've read at source:

**Queensland's first home grant** is $30,000 on a new home valued under $750,000, for an Australian citizen or permanent resident, or someone applying with one [7].

**Queensland's first home concession on transfer duty** needs you to be an Australian citizen, permanent resident or specified foreign retiree. It also asks that you've never held an interest in any other residence, in Australia or overseas [8]. If you owned a home before you moved here, that counts.

**Victoria's first home buyer duty exemption** (no duty up to $600,000, reduced duty to $750,000) needs at least one purchaser to be an Australian citizen or permanent resident, and every purchaser to be enrolled to vote in Victorian elections [9].

What this means for you: a resident partner can meet a residency test that your visa doesn't, but not every test is met by one of you. Victoria's enrolment rule applies to every purchaser, so check that you can meet it before you count on the exemption.

Some states also charge foreign buyers extra duty on top of the standard rate, and first home relief doesn't always cover it. We hold that from our research notes rather than a fresh read of the state pages, so check the current rule in the state where you're buying [12]. See first home grants by state.

How much can you borrow on a visa?

What you can borrow on a visa comes down to what a lender counts of your income, your debts, your living costs, and the share of the value it will lend on your visa [10]. Banks then check you could still make the repayments if rates were 3 percentage points higher, the buffer APRA has set [11].

On a visa, the lender's limit on the LVR often matters more than the income test: you may earn enough to repay a larger loan, but the lender caps the share it will lend. That's why the deposit and the lender come first. See how much can I borrow.

Do visa holders pay a higher interest rate?

Visa holders don't always get a lender's standard rate. Our research found that buying jointly with a resident partner can bring standard pricing within reach, which tells you pricing on a visa alone isn't always the standard rate [10].

Rates are set lender by lender and change often, so we don't print one here. What we can do is compare the lenders that will look at your visa, side by side, on the same loan.

What does a broker cost you?

How a broker is paid, and the rule Money Brain holds against it, is set out in full on its own page: what a mortgage broker costs.

Your first move

You've read the rules. Now there's one question left: which lender will lend on your visa, for the home the law lets you buy, at the deposit you have? That depends on your visa, the time it has left, your job, your partner and your savings, and it's what Money Brain works out before anything goes to a lender or to FIRB.

When you're ready, the closing section below is the simplest way to start.