Alistair

Hi

I moved to New Jersey last month on a K1 visa, and get married at the end of this month. We are trying to buy a house but the mortgage advisor keeps asking for my green card. As I understand it the green card comes with AOS, and current processing times on the uscis website are around 1 year. Does this mean I won't be able to get a mortgage for a year? Any experience of this? We need to include my income to get the mortgage, due to the insane house prices around here...

Also, could someone please explain the EAD process? If I apply for AOS after the wedding, do I need to file for EAD also?

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

DCMark

I am not sure if you need a GC for a mortgage. However, I do know that new Homeland Security rules require ID from all mortgage applicants and the GC is accepted.

One thing to think about. You probably have absolutely no credit record in the US. This may make it very hard to get a mortgage.

sibsie

I'd get a new mortgage advisor. Thousands of people have 2nd homes in the US without a SSN let alone a Green Card.

Alistair

But do they borrow the money from American banks?

My fiancee has good credit and I was hoping that a mortgage in joint names would kickstart my credit rating. Maybe I am being optimistic. Has anyone else managed to get a US mortgage before they get their AOS (and maybe before they get married)?

sibsie

I applied for a mortgage pre-approval last week. It literally took minutes. It was only 20% but they didn't ask for anything other than my passport and banking details from Spain.

Ranjini

I can only talk about our experience. Our mortgage company needed a copy of the front and back of my green card to put me on the mortgage. Whether it's an absolutely a requirement or not I don't know. That's something only your mortgage advisor can tell you. Why not ask? They probably just need to know your immigration status.
As for the mortgage itself, we got it on my USC husband's credit history and income. So I don't believe your credit history really counts since I'm assuming you don't even have one ....

Alistair

I got pre-approval before Christmas - I didn't even have a visa at the time. As you say, all I needed was passport and some copied bank statements. I also gave them details of my house sale in England to show where the quite substantial deposit was coming from. However, pre-approval and actually getting the mortgage are two very different matters... I suspect that you will find that your pre-approval is conditional on various things being completed before you complete the house purchase. I may be wrong, of course, but the mortgage advisor we are using is a friend of my fiancee's family, so I can't imagine she is trying to make things difficult for us.

sibsie

Maybe it is different if you buy in joint names with a USC. I'm buying in my name only and wasn't asked for anything like that. They had three categories on their screen. Domestic, Alien and Foreign. They put me down as Alien.

sibsie

I've a feeling Ray6 might know about this but I don't know why I think that!

I can't see why it would be a prob. People from the UK buy all the time in places like FL and they just use VWP. I'll dig out the mortgage gumpf I brought back with me and see if there's anything useful in it.

mcjimbo

Hi,

Maybe I can offer some insight.

My dad currently lives in New Orleans. He was head hunted for a position paying over $150,000 a year. With a guaranteed 5 year contract.

They used to live in Australia and have propertys and investments there in excess of $2 million.

When my dad first got there he couldn't get anything, he tried to buy a TV on store credit to get himself on the system and got declined when earning in excess of $12,500 a month so he bought it outright. Then he found out that he could transfer his AMEX card from Australia to America. Apparently its the only credit card company that do this. So he did and this got him on the credit system.

Within Six months they got a mortgage approved for $250,000 paying a 20% deposit and had multiple credit cards (visa/mastercard) etc offered to them. But they had to proove income, investments abroad (in Australia) and get a letter from there bank manager in Australia stating there financial situation.

So I guess from their situation its important to get into the credit system fast (apply for any and every credit card and use them for all purchases big or small), be employed with proof of income, have paperwork of any investments you have in America or abroad, then contact a mortgage lender.

My parents ended up using this mortgage company:

http://www.nationalcitymortgage.com/

Hope this insight helps.

James

DCMark

FYI, a pre-approval means just about nothing. They just eyeball your income, assets and selfreported credit history. Rarely do they check your credit (that costs money).

Ray

Exactly right SIBSIE...around 50-100 UK people a month buy property in the hell hole called ORLANDO every month using a mortgage.. I can think of 3 locally in the past few months all without GC or SSN...If the poster care to PM me I will find out the mortgage company used..I think its was something like world saving bank or similar..

sibsie

I knew Ray would know about it. I still don't know how I knew that though.

Andy Platt

First time we got a mortgage I had applied for AOS from H-1B (but based on
marriage); they just took my H-1B and evidence of filing for AOS. We
actually had a 1st and 2nd trust with that mortgage - they were both
submitted with my wife as the prime and me as co; the 1st trust lender
reversed this, the second one didn't. (They were actually the same bank -
Bank of America - but different divisions).

We refinanced while I was still pending AOS and submitted my EAD; market
conditions meant we could go to a single mortgage for that one for which we
submitted me as prime.

I will state that apart from my status, I had no other "issues". In
particular I had been working in the US for three years and had a good
credit rating (my wife had an excellent one).

Really for a co-creditor it shouldn't be a huge issue so, as others
suggested, you might want to find a different broker or bank.

Andy.

--
I'm not really here, it's just your warped imagination
"Alistair" <member18898@british_expats.com> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Hi
    > I moved to New Jersey last month on a K1 visa, and get married at
    > the end of this month. We are trying to buy a house but the mortgage
    > advisor keeps asking for my green card. As I understand it the green
    > card comes with AOS, and current processing times on the uscis website
    > are around 1 year. Does this mean I won't be able to get a mortgage
    > for a year? Any experience of this? We need to include my income to
    > get the mortgage, due to the insane house prices around here...
    > Also,
    > could someone please explain the EAD process? If I apply for AOS after
    > the wedding, do I need to file for EAD also?
    > Thanks for any advice you
    > can offer.
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

Kristin

Alistair - My husband (Canadian citizen) and I bought our house before
he even entered on his K-1 visa. He was the primary on the mortgage,
too. We used his cousin, who is a mortgage broker, so I'm sure that
helped. Our mortgage lender wanted us to get the K-1 visa before
pre-approval, and even though my husband was still a resident of Canada,
that's all we ever needed. My credit, by the way, was okay but not
great and I have a bunch of education loans that count against me.

Bottom line is, the mortgage lender (not the broker) decides what they
will accept to offer a loan. Make a copy of your K-1 visa, your I-94
and give those to your broker, explain that you have nothing else and
won't for awhile. FWIW, my husband didn't even have a social security
number when we closed. I think the bank can do what the bank wants to
do. Our bank was willing to take the K-1 and our combined incomes and
no green card or US credit rating for my husband.

The broker is probably making some $$ on this transaction - put her to
work for you by educating her about your situation (understandably not
many people get the whole K-1 immigration thing and "green card" is all
they really understand) and ask her to convince the lender you are a
worthwhile risk. She should be motivated to make your case to the
lender and get you the best rate possible. Good luck! Kristin

PS - We got our loan through ABN AMRO mortgage company, through Standard
Federal bank.