Yes, a lot of non-citizens can get a mortgage in Texas, but which loan you can use depends on your status. If you hold a green card, you're generally treated like a U.S. citizen on conventional, FHA, and USDA loans. If you're here lawfully on a temporary basis, like a work visa or an Employment Authorization Document, conventional loans through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are still open on the same terms as citizens, but FHA isn't: HUD ended FHA eligibility for non-permanent residents for case numbers assigned on or after May 25, 2025. USDA follows its own federal definition, and some files fit better outside the agency box entirely.
Below I'll walk through how each program treats residency, what the underwriter actually looks at, and how to set up your file so status questions don't surface the week before closing. This isn't immigration advice. A mortgage file reads the documents you already have. It doesn't create or change a status, and for questions about your status itself, an immigration attorney is the right person.
A lawful permanent resident holds a Permanent Resident Card, Form I-551, usually called a green card. On conventional, FHA, and USDA loans, a permanent resident qualifies on the same terms as a citizen, with the card documented in the file. For FHA, HUD says the file must include evidence of lawful permanent residence and must show you as a lawful permanent resident on the loan application (HUD 4000.1 II.A.1.b.ii(A)(9)(a)). U.S. citizenship itself isn't required for FHA (HUD 4000.1 II.A.1.b.ii(A)(8)).
A couple of practical points:
A non-permanent resident is someone lawfully in the United States on a temporary basis. That can include people on work visas, people in other visa categories with work authorization, and people with an Employment Authorization Document, Form I-766. Here's how the programs treat that group today.
Fannie Mae buys loans made to non-U.S. citizens who are lawful permanent or non-permanent residents on the same terms as loans to U.S. citizens. Fannie doesn't list the exact documents. The lender decides what documentation shows you're legally present, and by delivering the loan, the lender warrants that you are (Fannie Mae Selling Guide B2-2-02). Freddie Mac's rule is similar: a non-U.S. citizen lawfully residing in the U.S. as a permanent or nonpermanent resident alien is eligible on the same terms as a citizen, and a borrower with no lawful residency status isn't (Freddie Mac Guide 5103.2).
That's why, for most work-visa and EAD borrowers, a conventional loan is the first place I look. HomeReady and Home Possible are conventional programs too, so the same residency rule applies to them.
Non-permanent residents are no longer eligible for FHA. HUD Mortgagee Letter 2025-09 removed the non-permanent resident section from the handbook entirely. Lenders could apply it right away, and it became mandatory for FHA case numbers assigned on or after May 25, 2025 (HUD ML 2025-09). The same letter applies the residency rules to FHA Streamline Refinances. The current handbook lists two eligible groups besides citizens: lawful permanent residents, and citizens of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau (HUD 4000.1 II.A.1.b.ii(A)(9)).
One detail people miss: HUD says a Social Security card isn't enough to prove immigration or work status. Having a Social Security number doesn't settle the FHA question on its own.
If you read an older article saying FHA works with an EAD, it was written before this change. That's not a lender being difficult. It's HUD's current rule.
For a USDA guaranteed loan, each applicant must be a U.S. citizen, a U.S. non-citizen national, or a qualified alien as federal law defines it (7 CFR 3555.151(b); 8 U.S.C. 1641). Lawful permanent residents are qualified aliens. USDA Rural Development also ended a temporary waiver, effective Mar 18, 2025, that had let some applicants qualify with a Social Security number and work authorization such as an EAD (USDA notice on non-citizen eligibility). USDA's handbook covers applicant documentation in Chapter 8 (HB-1-3555, Chapter 8). If your status is temporary, assume USDA is a hard question and let me read your actual documents against the current rule.
VA home loan eligibility comes from qualifying military service and your Certificate of Eligibility (VA home loan eligibility; VA Lenders Handbook M26-7). If you're a veteran who isn't a citizen or permanent resident, I'm not going to guess how your file would be treated. Ask me, and I'll confirm how it applies to your specific situation before you count on it.
On top of the ordinary credit, income, and asset review, expect the underwriter to look at:
Lenders can still ask for more on an individual file, especially when an authorization expires soon after closing and there's no renewal filed. A history of renewals and a filed renewal with the receipt notice in hand both make the file easier to read.
Credit can be thin when you haven't been here long. A credit history from another country generally doesn't move onto a U.S. credit report. The usual paths are:
Which of those is available depends on the program, so it's worth sorting out before you shop for homes.
A paycheck from a U.S. employer, backed by pay stubs, W-2s, and U.S. tax returns, is ordinary income and is documented like anyone else's. On an employer-sponsored visa, the underwriter may ask how long the sponsorship runs, sometimes through a letter from your employer or your immigration documents.
Income from a foreign employer or foreign sources is harder. It typically needs U.S. tax returns showing it, translation where needed, and proof that it's stable and likely to continue. Cash income from abroad is very hard to document.
If you're self-employed on a temporary status, you face two sets of questions at once: the normal self-employment documentation rules, and whether your status allows that business income.
Funds from a foreign account can sometimes be used if they're documented, converted to U.S. dollars, and moved into a U.S. account, with statements showing the source and the transfer. Each guide sets its own documentation. Move the money early and keep the paper trail clean. My article on large deposits explains why the lender asks about money that shows up in your account.
If you file U.S. taxes with an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number and don't have a Social Security number, you're generally outside standard agency loans. ITIN mortgages are offered through non-QM investors, written to that investor's own guide, usually with tax returns filed under the ITIN. Requirements vary by investor and loan structure, so I don't publish minimums for them. I'd rather look at your actual file.
If you live outside the United States and want to buy here without U.S. residency, that's a foreign national program, which is a different product from a residency-based loan.
Renewals and status changes often overlap with a home search. A few things help:
Give me those dates on our first call so we can set the closing date around them instead of finding a conflict in the last week.
These two files are made up to show how the rules play out.
Priya works for a Fort Worth engineering firm on a work visa. She has two years of U.S. tax returns, a U.S. credit file, and a history of renewals. A conventional loan fits: her file is underwritten like anyone else's, plus her status documents. She asked about FHA because a friend used it in 2023, but FHA isn't available to her today because she's a non-permanent resident.
Marco in Arlington has income from a company abroad, no U.S. credit, and work authorization that expires soon with no renewal filed. A bigger down payment alone doesn't fix that. His next step is getting the renewal filed and the income documented, or looking at whether an investor program fits.
Send me what you hold today, green card, visa, or EAD, and I'll tell you which programs are open to you before you write an offer and what extra paperwork each one will want. Schedule a call, or when you're ready, start an application.
Links checked Oct 21, 2026.
About the author: McKade Lively, NMLS 2704474, American Pacific Mortgage Corporation dba True North Home Loans, NMLS 1850.
Equal Housing Opportunity.
Last reviewed: Oct 2026