Yes, H1B visa holders can buy a house in the United States. Nothing in federal immigration or property law ties homeownership to citizenship, and your visa category doesn’t limit where you can buy or what you can own. What changes on an H1B is the paperwork your lender wants, the tax rules that apply when you sell, and the contingency planning you should do in case your job ends. Get those three things right and the purchase itself looks much like anyone else’s.
Mortgages You Can Actually Qualify For
Most H1B buyers use the same conventional and government-backed loans citizens use. Fannie Mae’s underwriting rules, which most conventional lenders follow, allow loans to non-permanent resident aliens who can show lawful residency and meet the other eligibility requirements.1Fannie Mae. Non-U.S. Citizen Borrower Eligibility Requirements A valid H1B status and I-94 clear that hurdle.
FHA loans are available too. HUD eliminated the requirement that H1B applicants obtain a separate Employment Authorization Document; you now qualify with your I-94 showing H1B status and proof of at least one year of employment with your H1B-sponsoring employer.2Department of Housing and Urban Development. Mortgagee Letter 2021-12 – Eligibility Requirements for Certain Non-Permanent Resident Borrowers FHA down payments start at 3.5%, which helps if you haven’t had many years in the U.S. to save.3Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. FHA Loans
You may see ITIN mortgages advertised for borrowers without a Social Security Number. As the H1B worker you’ll have an SSN through your employment authorization, so ITIN loans are more relevant to a spouse or dependent than to you. They also tend to carry higher rates and stricter terms.4Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Can I Get a Mortgage With an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) Instead of a Social Security Number?
Credit Score and Down Payment
Your credit score drives your rate. Fannie Mae removed its longstanding 620 minimum for loans run through its Desktop Underwriter system, effective November 16, 2025, but individual lenders still set their own floors, and a score in the mid-600s or higher opens up meaningfully better options.5Fannie Mae. Selling Guide Announcement SEL-2025-09 If you’ve been in the U.S. less than two years, your file may be too thin. A credit card kept in good standing, with low utilization and on-time payments, is the fastest way to build a usable score.
Conventional down payments typically run from 3% to 20%. Some lenders require non-permanent residents to put 20% down even where their rules allow 3% for citizens. That’s not universal, but budget for the possibility. FHA still allows the 3.5% minimum regardless of visa status, which is one reason it’s popular among H1B buyers.3Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. FHA Loans
If any part of your down payment is coming from an overseas account, keep the paper trail. Lenders will trace the source of funds, and wire records plus foreign bank statements need to line up cleanly.
Documents Your Lender Will Ask For
Expect to hand over more paperwork than a citizen would. The lender is verifying two things a citizen never has to prove: your legal right to be in the country and the likelihood your income will continue.
For status, lenders typically want:
- Your I-94 arrival/departure record, showing current H1B status and authorized stay
- Your I-797 approval notice from USCIS
- A valid passport
- Your H1B visa stamp, if you have one (people who adjusted status inside the U.S. often don’t)
For income, plan on recent pay stubs, W-2s or tax returns for the last two years, and an employer letter confirming your position and salary.6Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Can a Lender Make Me Provide Documents Like My W-2 or Pay Stub in Order to Give Me a Loan Estimate? If your H1B expires within the next year, many lenders want a letter from the employer stating they intend to file for an extension. That’s the lender gauging whether your paycheck survives the early years of the loan, not an immigration requirement.
You’ll also need bank statements documenting the down payment, closing costs, and several months of reserves.
How Taxes Work Once You Own
Resident Alien vs. Nonresident Alien
The IRS doesn’t classify you by visa. It classifies you by whether you’re a resident alien or nonresident alien for tax purposes, and that classification decides which homeowner deductions and exclusions you can use. Most H1B holders become resident aliens under the substantial presence test after their first full calendar year in the country.7Internal Revenue Service. Taxation of Alien Individuals by Immigration Status – H-1B
The test counts days of physical presence over three years: all days in the current year, one-third of the prior year’s days, and one-sixth of the days two years back. If that weighted total hits 183 and you were present at least 31 days in the current year, you’re a resident alien.8Internal Revenue Service. Substantial Presence Test An H1B worker who spends at least 122 days in the U.S. each year meets that threshold by their third calendar year.7Internal Revenue Service. Taxation of Alien Individuals by Immigration Status – H-1B
Once you’re a resident alien, the IRS treats you like a U.S. citizen for income tax.9Internal Revenue Service. Publication 519 – U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens That means the mortgage interest deduction and the deduction for state and local property taxes are yours if you itemize, subject to the same $10,000 SALT cap everyone else lives with.
Selling: Section 121 and FIRPTA
If you sell a primary residence you’ve owned and lived in for at least two of the last five years, you can exclude up to $250,000 of capital gains from income, or $500,000 if you file jointly.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 121 – Exclusion of Gain From Sale of Principal Residence Resident aliens qualify, so if you’re still working on H1B and meeting the substantial presence test when you sell, the exclusion is available.
The trap sits on the other side. If you’ve left the U.S. and are no longer a resident alien at the time of sale, FIRPTA requires the buyer to withhold 15% of the total sale price and send it to the IRS.11Internal Revenue Service. FIRPTA Withholding That’s 15% of the gross price, not 15% of your profit, so the withheld amount can far exceed what you actually owe. You can file a return to claim the excess back, but the refund takes months.
Two exceptions matter. FIRPTA withholding doesn’t apply if the buyer intends to use the property as a personal residence and the sale price is $300,000 or less.12Internal Revenue Service. Exceptions From FIRPTA Withholding You can also apply for a withholding certificate that trims the withholding down to your actual expected tax, which helps if you still qualify for the Section 121 exclusion as a nonresident.11Internal Revenue Service. FIRPTA Withholding Selling while you’re still in the U.S. and passing the substantial presence test is far cleaner than selling after you’ve moved abroad.
Foreign Account Reporting
If your combined foreign bank balances top $10,000 at any point during the year, you have to file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) with FinCEN.13FinCEN. Report Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts The requirement isn’t new when you buy a house, but a large wire from a home-country account often pushes the balance over the threshold or draws attention to accounts you hadn’t reported. Penalties for missing the filing are steep, so handle this before closing, not after.
What Happens If You Lose Your Job or Leave
This is the risk worth thinking about hardest before you sign. If your H1B employment ends, federal rules give you a grace period of up to 60 days to find a new sponsor, change status, or depart.14eCFR. 8 CFR 214.1 – Requirements for Admission, Extension, and Maintenance of Status The 60 days can’t run past the end date on your I-94, so if your authorized stay ends in 30 days, that’s what you have. You cannot work during the grace period unless a new employer files an H1B transfer for you.
Losing the job doesn’t force you to sell. No law requires you to divest real estate when your status changes. You can keep the house, rent it out, or leave it empty. The complications are practical: managing a property from another country, paying the mortgage without U.S. income, and running into FIRPTA if you sell later as a nonresident. Rental income is reportable to the IRS regardless of where you’re living.
A common cushion among H1B owners is six months or more of mortgage payments held in reserve for exactly this scenario. If you’re early in your H1B and don’t yet have a green card petition moving, weigh that risk before buying.
State Laws That Can Restrict the Purchase Itself
A growing number of states have passed laws restricting property purchases by nationals of countries designated as foreign adversaries. These laws focus on agricultural land in some states and extend to all real estate in others. As of 2025, roughly a dozen states had such restrictions in place, with more considering similar bills. The lists commonly include China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and a handful of others tied to federal national security determinations.
These laws generally hinge on nationality or country of origin, not on visa type. An H1B holder from a listed country could be barred from buying certain property even with valid work authorization, and penalties in some states include mandatory divestiture and civil fines. If you’re a national of one of the commonly restricted countries, check your state’s rules before making an offer, and consider paying a real estate attorney familiar with the local law to review the deal.