Temporary Resident Mortgages: Visa and Lender Rules

Yes, a temporary resident can get a home loan in Australia when the lender accepts the visa and the applicant structure, and the purchase passes foreign investment rules. A temporary resident mortgage is harder to place than a citizen’s loan. Lenders such as Macquarie accept a temporary visa holder only alongside a citizen or permanent resident co-applicant, and only when the temporary visa holder isn’t the main income.

The purchase rules narrow the choice further. Treasury treats temporary residents as foreign persons, and its policy generally bans foreign persons from buying established dwellings from 1 April 2025 to 30 June 2029. A temporary resident buying alone usually needs a new dwelling or vacant land, plus foreign investment approval, before any lender’s answer matters.

Residency and Visa

Start with the visa, because its subclass, expiry and the other people on the application decide which lender rules and government rules apply. Record the visa details before you compare lenders, so each lender’s residency rule can be applied to the same facts.

Who Counts as a Temporary Resident

A temporary resident holds a temporary visa and isn’t an Australian citizen or permanent resident. Treasury’s Key Concepts guidance, last updated 12 December 2025, treats someone as ordinarily resident only when their continued presence in Australia isn’t limited. A temporary visa limits that presence, so years in Australia don’t change the client’s status.

Australian citizens and permanent residents living overseas follow different rules, covered in the Australian expat home loan guide. A foreign buyer with no Australian visa pathway is a non-resident borrower, which the non-resident home loan guide covers.

A client who has applied for permanent residency is still a temporary resident until the visa is granted. State Revenue Office Victoria says this directly in its 29 September 2026 foreign purchaser duty guidance. Assess the loan on the visa the client holds now.

Bridging Visa Home Loans

A home loan on a bridging visa is assessed as a temporary visa home loan. Home Affairs describes Bridging visa A (subclass 010) as a temporary visa that lets the holder stay lawfully until their substantive visa application is finally determined.

Lenders whose residency rules name temporary visa holders, such as Macquarie, apply those rules to a bridging visa holder. Revenue NSW’s 27 May 2026 guidance also treats bridging visa holders as foreign persons for surcharge purchaser duty. Record the substantive visa the client has applied for, because a grant of permanent residency before the loan application and the contract date changes both answers.

What to Record Before Comparing Lenders

Record these facts for every applicant and owner, using the client’s Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO) record and passport.

1. Visa subclass and name, such as a Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482) or a Partner visa (subclass 820).
2. Each visa holder, because a couple can hold different visas.
3. The grant date and expiry date, or that a bridging visa lasts until a decision.
4. Visa conditions, including any work limit or “no further stay” condition shown in VEVO.
5. The citizenship combination, such as one temporary resident with an Australian citizen spouse.
6. The relationship between applicants, because spouse and non-spouse co-applicants fall under different rules.
7. Whose income services the loan, and which applicant earns the most.
8. Intended occupancy, whether the client will live in the property or rent it out.
9. The property type (new dwelling, established dwelling or vacant land) and how the buyers will hold title.

Applicant Combinations

The applicant combination decides most outcomes. Buying alone exposes a temporary resident to the most lender exclusions and to the foreign investment ban on established dwellings. Adding an Australian citizen or permanent resident spouse can remove both.

In the table, the predominant servicer is the applicant whose income services most of the loan.

Combination	Macquarie’s 10 September 2026 guidelines	Foreign investment approval
One temporary resident applying alone	Outside guidelines	Required, and the established dwelling ban applies
Temporary resident spouse with a citizen or permanent resident, where the temporary resident isn’t the predominant servicer	Standard loan parameters apply	Not required when they buy as joint tenants
Temporary resident spouse with a citizen or permanent resident, where the temporary resident is the predominant servicer	Outside guidelines	Not required when they buy as joint tenants
Non-spouse temporary resident co-applicant whose income isn’t needed	Standard loan parameters apply	Required for the temporary resident’s interest
Non-spouse temporary resident co-applicant whose income is needed	Outside guidelines	Required for the temporary resident’s interest
Two temporary residents	Not among the accepted combinations	Required

The foreign investment column comes from Treasury’s residential exemption table. Joint tenants buying with an Australian citizen spouse, an Australian permanent resident spouse or an eligible New Zealand citizen spouse need no residential application. Buying as tenants in common doesn’t fit that exemption.

Lender Conditions

Lender conditions for temporary residents start with whether the lender accepts the visa at all. Then they turn on whether an Australian citizen or permanent resident must apply too, and how high the loan-to-value ratio (LVR) can go. Compare residency rules first, because a lender that excludes the visa makes its LVR and income settings irrelevant.

Residency Requirements by Lender

Residency rules differ widely between lenders, so no single lender’s rule describes the market.

Lender	Residency requirement	Source date
Macquarie	A temporary resident applying alone is outside guidelines. A temporary resident spouse is accepted when they aren’t the predominant servicer, and a non-spouse temporary resident only when their income isn’t needed.	Credit guidelines, 10 September 2026
NAB	Home loan products aren’t available to applicants who require Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) approval to buy residential property.	Refinance page, correct as at 28 September 2026
CBA	A temporary visa holder books a Home Lending Specialist to check whether their visa classification is eligible.	As at October 2026
Westpac	Online applications are for Australian citizens and permanent residents, including New Zealand citizens living in Australia. Other applicants discuss their options with a lender.	As at October 2026
ANZ	The home loan application page asks applicants to be Australian or New Zealand citizens or permanent residents.	As at October 2026
Pepper Money	Loans go to Australian citizens, permanent residents and New Zealand citizens with a Special Category Visa living in Australia.	As at October 2026

Macquarie’s residency matrix turns on who services the loan, not on the visa subclass. NAB’s exclusion turns on FIRB approval instead. A temporary resident buying as a joint tenant with a citizen spouse doesn’t need FIRB approval, so record the title structure before you rule NAB in or out.

CBA’s page for people moving to Australia assesses temporary visas by classification. Pepper Money’s FAQ lists only Australian citizens, permanent residents and New Zealand citizens with a Special Category Visa as eligible borrowers. A non-bank therefore isn’t automatically the fallback for a temporary resident mortgage.

LVR and Mortgage Insurance

Lenders mortgage insurance (LMI) is usually payable when the loan exceeds 80% of the property value, according to Moneysmart. That makes the insurer’s residency rule part of the LVR answer.

Helia’s 10 August 2026 underwriting guidelines list temporary visa holders as unacceptable borrowers. The exception is a temporary visa holder who is the spouse or de facto partner of an Australian citizen, or of an Australian or New Zealand permanent resident.

At a lender that insures through Helia, a temporary resident without that partner can’t use Helia LMI. The loan then has to stay within what the lender allows without LMI, usually 80% LVR.

Macquarie’s guidelines apply standard loan parameters to an accepted temporary resident structure. For an owner-occupied purchase with principal and interest repayments, that means up to 95% LVR, including the capitalised low deposit fee. Interest-only loans stop at 80%, and the maximum LVR guide compares other lenders’ caps.

A temporary resident can’t use the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme. Its eligibility list requires an Australian citizen or permanent resident.

Income Requirements

Income rules for temporary residents depend on whose income the lender relies on. Under Macquarie’s guidelines, a temporary resident spouse’s income can count, but that spouse can’t be the predominant servicer. A non-spouse temporary resident’s income can’t be required to service the loan at all.

Where a client lives at an Australian address but is paid in foreign currency by a foreign employer, Macquarie uses 80% of the income after conversion. It accepts GBP, EUR, HKD, NZD, SGD, USD, CAD, JPY and CHF. The foreign income home loan guide explains how other lenders treat overseas pay.

A Skills in Demand visa holder is sponsored by an employer, so the employer’s letter and payslips carry the income case. The employment letter guide covers what that letter needs to show. Check the work conditions in VEVO too, because the income has to be earned within them.

Residency, LVR and income rules change the shortlist together. Bulma’s Policy Advisor puts one residency question to 52+ lenders at once. It returns a side-by-side table that names the lenders whose policy doesn’t address the point and quotes each lender’s wording.

Prepare Documents

Prepare documents that prove the visa and the identity behind it, plus each income and funds source the lender will use. Collect them for every applicant, because a citizen partner’s evidence decides the structure as much as the visa holder’s.

Document	What it proves	Check before you submit
Passport for each applicant	Identity and citizenship	The name matches the visa grant and every other document
Visa grant notice and VEVO record	Visa subclass, expiry and conditions	The VEVO record is current and shows the same subclass as the grant notice
Australian citizenship certificate or Australian passport for a citizen partner	The citizen in the applicant structure	VEVO can’t confirm citizenship, so this document has to
Permanent visa evidence for a permanent resident partner	The permanent resident in the applicant structure	The visa is granted, not applied for
Employment contract, employer letter and payslips	Employment, sponsorship and income	The employer matches the visa sponsor where the visa requires one
Foreign income evidence	Income paid in another currency	Documents are in English or carry a certified translation
Bank statements, including overseas accounts	Deposit, genuine savings and funds transferred to Australia	Each large deposit traces back to its source
FIRB approval, or the developer’s exemption certificate	The purchase is approved for a foreign person	The approved value covers the contract price
Translation certificate and independent legal advice	A non-English-speaking borrower understands the loan	The adviser and translator meet the lender’s requirements

Macquarie’s 10 September 2026 guidelines set two translation rules. Income documents must be in English or translated by a registered, licensed translation service domiciled in Australia. A non-English-speaking borrower also needs independent legal and financial advice that goes through the loan contract, plus a translation certificate.

Witnessing and certification apply to the government forms as well as the loan. Revenue NSW’s individuals page, updated 27 May 2026, asks a buyer who doesn’t declare foreign status for certified copies of passports, visas and international movement records. The verification of identity guide covers how lenders confirm identity documents.

Government Approval Questions to Flag

Flag these questions on the file before lodgement, because each one needs an answer from a government source, not the lender.

• Foreign investment approval for each buyer, or the joint-tenant spouse exemption that removes the need for it.
• The dwelling type under the foreign investment rules: new, established or vacant land.
• A developer exemption certificate, if one covers this purchase and price.
• State foreign purchaser surcharge for each foreign buyer, and the share it applies to.
• Occupancy or rental for at least 183 days a year, which avoids the vacancy fee.

Government and Tax Checks

Check foreign investment approval and state foreign purchaser taxes separately from credit policy, because a lender’s approval grants neither. Use the responsible government source for each check, and keep its answer on the file next to the lender’s.

Foreign Investment Approval

Treasury’s Guidance Note 6 on residential land, version 5 dated 1 July 2026, requires foreign persons to get approval before buying residential land, whatever its value. From 1 April 2025 to 30 June 2029, it generally bans them from buying established dwellings. The exceptions cover large redevelopments, commercial-scale housing and employers housing Pacific and Timor-Leste workers, not a temporary resident’s own home.

New dwellings and vacant land stay open with approval. Approval for vacant land generally requires the dwelling to be finished within four years, and the land can’t be sold before then. A developer of 50 or more dwellings can hold an exemption certificate that covers foreign buyers up to $3 million each in that development.

The client applies through the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and can sign a contract conditional on approval. Treasury’s fees page, last updated 18 September 2026, says the fee depends on the value and kind of investment. The FIRB property approval guide walks through the application.

Approval brings ongoing obligations. A foreign buyer must notify the Register of Foreign Ownership of Australian Assets when buying or selling residential land. An annual vacancy fee applies if the dwelling isn’t lived in or genuinely available for rent for more than 183 days a year.

A temporary resident who later leaves Australia needs to rent the property out or plan for that fee.

State Foreign Purchaser Duty and Land Tax

Foreign purchaser surcharges are state taxes on top of ordinary stamp duty, so the state where the property sits sets the rate and the definition of a foreign buyer. Check that state’s revenue office, using the stamp duty guides as a starting point.

Revenue NSW’s surcharge purchaser duty is 9% of the dutiable value, as at its 20 August 2026 update. It applies in proportion to the share foreign persons buy.

Revenue NSW’s individuals page, updated 27 May 2026, treats temporary and bridging visa holders as foreign persons. Partner (provisional) visa holders on subclass 309 or 820 escape the surcharge if they meet its residence tests.

Victoria’s foreign purchaser additional duty is 8%, according to the State Revenue Office’s 29 September 2026 update. A buyer who isn’t an Australian citizen, permanent visa holder or qualifying New Zealand citizen pays it. NSW also charges foreign persons surcharge land tax, under the same foreign person ruling as its duty.

Worked Example: A Skills in Demand Visa Holder and Citizen Partner

This fictional example follows a couple through each check. Priya holds a Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482) expiring in 2028, and her husband Tom is an Australian citizen. They want to buy an established $900,000 house to live in, as joint tenants, in a Sydney suburb that Macquarie classes as metro.

Foreign investment approval isn’t needed, because Priya is buying as a joint tenant with her citizen husband. The established dwelling ban therefore doesn’t stop the purchase. If they bought as tenants in common, Priya would need approval and the ban would block an established house.

Tom earns $120,000 and Priya earns $95,000, so Tom is the predominant servicer. Under Macquarie’s 10 September 2026 guidelines, standard loan parameters apply to the couple. If Priya earned more than Tom, the same couple would fall outside Macquarie’s guidelines.

They have a $90,000 deposit and need an $810,000 loan, which is 90% LVR. Macquarie allows up to 95% for an owner-occupied purchase with principal and interest repayments. Above 80% LVR, its limit for a metropolitan property is $2 million, so the $900,000 house fits.

At a lender that insures through Helia, Priya’s status as a citizen’s spouse makes her an acceptable borrower under Helia’s 10 August 2026 guidelines. The 5% Deposit Scheme isn’t available, because Priya isn’t a citizen or permanent resident.

Priya is a foreign person for NSW surcharge purchaser duty, because her visa isn’t a partner or retirement visa. On a half share, 9% of $450,000 is $40,500, on top of ordinary transfer duty. Budget that amount before you set the deposit, because it comes out of the same funds.

Work through the same order for your own client. Record the visa and title structure, shortlist lenders whose residency rules accept that structure, then confirm the foreign investment and state duty position before the contract goes unconditional.