For visa & green card holders
You do not need a green card to buy a house here.
You need a valid SSN, work authorisation that hasn't expired, and income someone can verify. That's it. Most families I talk to in Frisco and Plano have been renting for years on advice that was simply wrong.
Happy to walk through it in Hindi or Telugu.
Status by status
Where you stand, specifically
Guidelines differ by lender far more than by visa type. That difference is the entire reason to use a broker rather than whoever holds your checking account.
Specialty occupation
The most common file I see. A valid SSN, an unexpired visa or I-797 approval, and a US employer is generally enough. Time in country matters far less than people assume.
Intracompany transfer
Treated much like H-1B by most lenders. Transfer letters and continuity of employment with the same company usually work in your favour, not against you.
Canada & Mexico
Technically non-immigrant, so underwriters look hard at employment continuity. The file is framed around job stability in three-year increments rather than intent to stay.
Work authorisation
Including adjustment-of-status applicants. An expired card with a timely-filed I-797C receipt is often still workable — this is precisely where lenders differ most.
Treaty investor
The visa is rarely the obstacle here; self-employment income is. If you have not filed two years of US returns yet, bank statement programs solve it.
Everything else
Less common statuses need a lender who has actually done one before. Ask me before you assume the answer is no.
What people are told
Four things that keep families renting
All four come up constantly in this corridor. All four are wrong.
You need 20% down because you're on a visa.
False. Visa status does not change the down payment. Conventional financing starts at 3–5% down for a primary residence, exactly as it does for a citizen.
You need a green card, or at least three years of history.
False. What you need is a valid SSN, unexpired work authorisation, and income a lender can verify. Plenty of my conversations are with people who landed eighteen months ago.
You should wait until your green card comes through.
Usually expensive. Waiting two years in a market appreciating even 4% annually costs more than the rate difference you're hoping for — and you pay rent the entire time.
Your parents can't help with the down payment from India.
They can. Gift funds from abroad are allowed and routine. They have to be documented correctly — donor letter, source of funds, and a clean transfer trail — which is the part people get wrong.
If you're new here
No US credit score yet? That's a four-month problem, not a four-year one.
Conventional financing generally wants two scores. If you arrived recently and have none, the fix is mechanical:
- 1Open two secured credit cards today. Not three, not one.
- 2Use them for small, ordinary purchases — petrol, groceries.
- 3Pay the statement balance in full, every month, without exception.
- 4Keep utilisation under 30% of the limit at statement close.
A qualifying score typically appears in four to six months. If you want to buy next spring, the right day to start is today — and it costs you nothing to do it while you keep renting.
Get ahead of it
What I'll ask you for
Scan these into one folder now and pre-approval becomes a day, not a fortnight. Nothing here is unusual — it's the same list for everyone, plus your status documents.
- Passport with your current visa stamp
- I-94 — most recent printout
- EAD card, front and back, if you have one
- I-797 approval notice, if applicable
- Two most recent pay stubs
- Two years of W-2s, or your most recent tax returns
- Two months of bank statements — all pages
- Employment verification letter from HR
Don't leave this on the table
You qualify for the Texas homestead exemption — visa or not.
If the home is your primary residence, you can file. It caps how fast your taxable value can rise and discounts your school tax. In a market like Collin County, that cap is worth real money within a couple of years.
You generally need a Texas driver's licence or state ID matching the property address to file. I remind every client at closing, because the county will not.
Let's find out what you actually qualify for.
Seven questions, no credit pull, and a real number at the end. If the answer is “not yet,” I'll tell you that too — along with exactly what to fix.
Also worth reading: the full 2026 outlook for visa buyers in Texas.