You do not need to be a U.S. citizen or a green card holder to buy property in the United States. A foreign national loan is built for buyers who live abroad or are here temporarily, and it opens the door to U.S. real estate without a Social Security number, without U.S. credit, and without U.S. tax returns.
Who counts as a foreign national
A foreign national is a non-U.S. citizen authorized to be in the country on a temporary basis who does not meet the definition of a permanent or non-permanent resident alien. In practice, that covers a lot of people: business visitors, cultural exchange participants, temporary workers, family members of U.S. citizens or residents waiting on status, and buyers who simply live in another country and want to own here.
Your down payment is not one fixed number
Twenty-five percent is the common starting point, but the actual requirement moves with three things: the loan amount, the rate structure you choose, and the property type.
Larger loans require more down. A file in the $1M range may work at 25% down, while loans climbing toward the $10M to $20M tier can require 45% to 65% down. Property type matters too, since 2 to 4 unit properties, condos, co-ops, and condotels each carry their own limits, and condotels in particular sit far lower than a standard single-family home.
This is why a quick conversation beats a published number. The right figure for your purchase depends on the combination, not on any single line in a matrix.
Which visas qualify
Eligibility runs off your visa classification, and the list is broader than most buyers expect. Common categories treated as foreign nationals include:
You will need a copy of your passport and an unexpired visa, and the visa has to be active as of the note date. Acceptable substitutes include an I-797 Notice of Action with valid extension dates or an I-94 arrival and departure record. An EAD card is not required if the visa is active.
No visa? You may still qualify
Buyers from countries in the State Department's Visa Waiver Program do not need a visa at all. An unexpired ESTA authorization is enough. If it expires within 60 days of application, you will need an updated one before closing.
Citizens of Canada and Bermuda do not need an ESTA either.
The Visa Waiver Program, in detail
Because this is the path a large share of international buyers use, it is worth understanding properly. The VWP lets citizens and nationals of participating countries travel to the U.S. for tourism or business for 90 days or less without a visa. For a foreign national loan, that ESTA approval takes the place of the visa in your file.
The participating countries
Source: U.S. Department of State. British citizens must have the unrestricted right of permanent abode in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands, or the Isle of Man to qualify.
What your passport has to look like
This is where files get held up, and it is entirely preventable. Two requirements:
Travel history that disqualifies you from the VWP
Under the Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of 2015, you must obtain a visa instead of using the VWP if you fall into any of these categories:
You have traveled to or been present in North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, or Yemen on or after March 1, 2011, with limited exceptions for diplomatic or military service.
You have traveled to or been present in Cuba on or after January 12, 2021, with the same limited exceptions.
You are a dual national of Cuba, North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, or Syria.
None of this blocks you from buying. It simply means your file needs a visitor (B) visa rather than an ESTA, which you apply for at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate.
What to give your lender
If you are buying under the VWP, the documentation is short and specific:
- Your unexpired ESTA authorization from CBP, printed or as a PDF from esta.cbp.dhs.gov.
- A copy of your e-passport, including the page showing the chip symbol.
- If your ESTA expires within 60 days of the application date, an updated authorization before closing.
Check your ESTA before you go under contract
ESTA approvals are generally valid for two years or until your passport expires, whichever comes first. Confirm the expiration date at the start of the process rather than during underwriting. Renewing is quick, but discovering it lapsed a week before closing is not.
One more thing worth knowing: an approved ESTA authorizes travel, it does not by itself grant entry. CBP officers at the port of entry make that call. That distinction has no bearing on your loan, but it matters for planning your closing trip.
What you can buy
This is the part that surprises people most often, so let's be precise. Foreign national financing is available for second homes and investment properties. It is not a primary residence program.
Within those two occupancy types, the eligible property types are broader than most buyers expect:
Single-family (1 unit)
The most common purchase and the type that generally allows the highest loan-to-value.
2 to 4 unit properties
Small multi-family. Eligible, though typically with a lower LTV than a single-family home.
Condominiums
Warrantable condos are eligible. The project itself gets reviewed alongside your file.
Co-ops
Eligible on certain portfolio programs, generally limited to New York.
Condotels
Condo-hotel units are allowed on some programs, but at a significantly reduced LTV, often capped near 50%.
Mixed-use and 5 to 8 units
Available on DSCR programs, where the property's rental income carries the loan.
Each type carries its own loan-to-value limit, which is exactly why your down payment moves with the property you choose. A single-family second home and a condotel are not the same transaction, even at the same purchase price.
Two ways to qualify
This is the choice that shapes your whole file. On a foreign national purchase you either show foreign income or you use a DSCR loan. Pick the right one and the process is straightforward. Pick the wrong one and you end up gathering documents you never needed.
Show foreign income
You document what you earn abroad. Salaried borrowers provide an employer letter on company letterhead with current monthly salary and year-to-date earnings, or two months of pay stubs, plus two years of earnings history. Your employer gets independently verified.
Self-employed borrowers with two or more years in business qualify with a letter from a foreign CPA covering the last two years and year-to-date, with the business and the CPA license independently verified.
DTI applies here. Maximum debt-to-income for foreign nationals on this path is 43%.
Use a DSCR loan
For investment property, the rental income on the property itself carries the loan. The calculation is simply gross rental income divided by the proposed PITIA payment.
No employment verification. No income documentation. No foreign CPA letter chasing.
DTI does not apply here. Your personal debt-to-income ratio is not part of the calculation at all. The property qualifies, not you.
The distinction that matters most
The 43% DTI ceiling only exists on the foreign income path. If you are buying an investment property and the rent supports the payment, DSCR removes your personal debt load from the equation entirely.
That is why a borrower who would fail on DTI can still close comfortably on DSCR. Same buyer, same property, different structure.
A third option, asset utilization, is also available: your qualifying assets are divided by 60 months to produce a monthly income figure, with no employment verification required.
Reserves, and where your money can sit
Foreign national borrowers must hold 12 months of PITIA reserves on the subject property. That is principal, interest, taxes, insurance, and HOA dues, times twelve, sitting in verifiable accounts after you close.
Here is the good news, and it is the question I get asked most:
Foreign accounts count for reserves
Assets held in foreign bank accounts are eligible for both reserves and cash to close. You do not need to move your entire portfolio to the United States.
They must be verified in U.S. dollar equivalency at the current exchange rate, using either xe.com or the Wall Street Journal conversion table. Funds also need 30 days of seasoning.
But you still need a U.S. bank account
A U.S. bank account is required prior to clear to close for every foreign national borrower. There is no exception to this one.
Your down payment and closing costs need to be in that established U.S. account, and those funds must be OFAC cleared by the title or escrow company's bank before they count as cash to close. Wires arriving from abroad at the last minute are the single most common cause of delayed closings in this program.
Open the account early. Fund it early. This is the one step that derails otherwise clean files.
Every document must be in English
If a document is in another language, it must be translated into English, and the original untranslated version has to be provided alongside the translation. That applies to employment letters, CPA letters, bank statements, proof of residence, and anything else in your file.
Start translations early. It is routine, but it takes time, and underwriting will not proceed on an untranslated document.
Credit, without U.S. credit
You do not need a U.S. credit score. If you have an SSN or ITIN, a U.S. credit report will be pulled and used. If you have neither, you can still proceed.
In place of a score, most borrowers provide a bank reference letter from a financial institution, dated within 90 days of the note date. It must show an account open and active for two years with no derogatory history, be in your name rather than your business's, and appear on the bank's letterhead with full contact details.
If you already hold qualifying U.S. credit, meaning at least one active tradeline open 24 months with clean history, the reference letter requirement can be waived.
A $700,000 second home, in practice
On top of that, 12 months of PITIA reserves must be verifiable. Those reserves can stay in your foreign accounts. The $210,000 cannot.
A few Florida-specific and country-specific notes
- Florida purchases by foreign principals, persons, and entities require a signed Buyer's Affidavit published by the Florida Land Title Association.
- Venezuela: assets held in Venezuelan financial institutions cannot be used at all. Funds to close and reserves must be verified outside the country.
- Russia and Ukraine: borrowers not on the OFAC list can qualify using assets held in the U.S. or another international bank account.
- Residents of any country not permitted to transact business with U.S. companies are ineligible.
The bottom line
Foreign national loans let non-citizens buy U.S. second homes and investment property with a down payment starting around 25% and 12 months of reserves, without a U.S. credit score, SSN, or U.S. tax returns. You qualify one of two ways: show foreign income (43% DTI cap) or use a DSCR loan, where DTI does not apply at all. Loan amounts reach up to $20 million, and the exact down payment depends on your loan size, rate structure, and property type. A wide range of visas qualify, and Visa Waiver Program countries need only an ESTA.
The two details that decide whether your closing is smooth: your down payment and closing costs must be sitting in an established U.S. bank account before clear to close, and every foreign-language document needs an English translation with the original attached. Reserves can stay abroad. Cash to close cannot.
Buying in the U.S. from abroad?
Let's confirm your visa status, map out the reserves, and get your U.S. account funded on the right timeline so nothing stalls at closing.