Loan option
Foreign national financing
Foreign national programs serve borrowers who do not have the residency status, Social Security number or U.S. credit history that standard programs require. These buyers purchase for many reasons — a primary home, a second home, or an investment — and the program should not be assumed to be an investor product.
How it works
How foreign national financing works
Where a borrower cannot be underwritten under standard programs, foreign national programs substitute other documentation: a credit reference from the home country or an international credit report, verification of employment or business ownership abroad, and documentation of assets held outside the United States.
Requirements differ more between lenders here than in almost any other category. Accepted countries, documentation standards, translation and certification requirements, visa status treatment, down payment, reserves and permitted occupancy all vary by lender, and so does whether a lender participates at all.
The purpose of the purchase is a borrower-level fact, not a program assumption. A foreign national buyer may be purchasing a primary residence, a second home or an investment property, and the right program depends on which it actually is.
What to weigh up
- Tax and estate consequences of U.S. property ownership for non-residents are significant and sit outside mortgage advice. Independent tax and legal counsel is genuinely necessary here.
- Documentation often takes longer to assemble, particularly where translation or certification is required.
- Lender participation in this segment changes with market conditions.
Set by the lender, not by us
These vary between lenders and change over time. Nothing on this page is a quote, an approval, or a commitment to lend.
- Which countries and which visa or residency statuses are accepted
- What substitutes for U.S. credit history, and how it must be documented
- Translation, certification and asset-sourcing requirements
- Down payment, reserves and permitted occupancy
- Whether title may be held in an entity
Nothing on this page is a rate quote, an approval, or a commitment to lend. Figures and requirements change, and they depend on your file.
Terms used on this page
- Foreign national financing
- Programs for borrowers who do not have the residency status, Social Security number or U.S. credit history that standard programs assume, using other documentation instead.It describes the borrower's status, not the purpose of the purchase. Foreign national buyers purchase primary residences and second homes as well as investment property.
- Underwriting
- The lender's assessment of whether to make the loan: the borrower, the property, the documentation and the risk, measured against the program's guidelines and the lender's own overlays.No mortgage program skips underwriting. Programs described as "no income verification" change what is documented, not whether the file is reviewed.
- Reserves
- Funds you still hold after closing, usually expressed as a number of months of housing payments, which a lender requires as a cushion.Funds counted as reserves generally cannot also be counted as qualifying income under an asset depletion calculation.
Questions about this program
- Do I need a Social Security number?
- Not for these programs, which exist precisely because standard programs assume one. Other identification and documentation requirements apply instead, and they are set by the lender.
- Are these loans only for investment property?
- No. Foreign national buyers purchase primary residences, second homes and investment property. The program is defined by the borrower's status, not by the use of the property.
Official sources
Program rules are set by these organizations and are updated periodically. Where this page and an official source disagree, the official source is correct.
- Explore loan options (opens in a new tab) — Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
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Bring your situation, not your paperwork. A first conversation is about which programs actually fit and what the numbers look like — no documents, no credit pull, no commitment.