Home Loans for Visa Holders and Expats

Home Loans for Every Visa Type

MAP Home Loans specialises in Australian mortgages for visa holders and expats — 482/TSS, 485, 491, 494, 461 NZ, 309 and 820 partner visas, bridging visas, and permanent residents. Our 31+ lender panel includes banks and non-bank lenders who assess visa income properly, without the punishing haircuts that kill most applications at the big four.

If you’ve been declined by your bank or told you don’t qualify because of your visa, that usually means the wrong broker asked the wrong lender. We know which lenders approve which visa types — and we’ve done this for hundreds of clients in your situation.

Put simply: don’t give up until you’ve contacted a specialist who works in this space every day.

How Much Deposit Do You Need?

How much you can borrow — and therefore how much deposit you need — depends on your visa and residency status. Here’s a summary of what’s available at different deposit levels.

Stamp Duty and Purchasing Costs

The LVR above reflects what banks will lend against the property. You’ll also need funds for stamp duty, government fees, legal costs, and lender fees on top of your deposit. In most states these total 3–7% of the purchase price.

Temporary visa holders purchasing with FIRB approval face an additional foreign buyer stamp duty surcharge — typically 7–8% of the purchase price in NSW, VIC, QLD, WA and SA. ACT and the Northern Territory have no surcharge. Buying jointly with an Australian citizen or permanent-resident partner as joint tenants can remove the surcharge entirely.

FIRB Approval for Visa Holders — 2025 Rule Changes

Temporary visa holders generally require FIRB (Foreign Investment Review Board) approval before committing to an Australian property purchase. From April 2025 through March 2027, the rules have tightened: temporary residents can only buy new dwellings — off-the-plan apartments, newly built houses, or vacant land to build on. Established homes are not available to this audience during the two-year window.

Permanent residents, Australian citizens, and NZ citizens on a 461 visa are not affected by the ban — established dwellings remain available to these buyers, and most don’t need FIRB approval at all.

For temporary visa holders, FIRB applications are usually a technicality once your lender and visa are aligned. We handle the paperwork as part of your application.

Declined Before? Here’s What Changes With MAP

Being declined usually comes down to one of three things: your visa wasn’t properly understood, your foreign income was haircut incorrectly, or your broker sent the application to the wrong lender. Each is solvable.

MAP’s advantage is specialisation. We work only with visa holders, expats, and non-residents — so we know which lenders accept foreign income without standard discounts, which approve 482/TSS sponsorships, which approve 461 NZ partner visas, and which require specific employment tenure for partner visa applicants.

If you’ve been declined elsewhere, contact us. The conversation is free and often the answer is “yes, we can do this” — it just takes the right broker.