Buying a House

[comingsoon28 0]

My husband filed in April in Vermont Service Center, and like the rest of you, has not yet received his new green card. We are currently in the process of buying a house and we close next week. I suddenly started freaking out about this affecting our ability to close. Has anyone shown their foreign passport + expired green card + extension letter for something as big as this without a problem? Or does anyone have any experience/advice they can share? Thanks in advance.

[nickbits 43]

Why would you need any of that to close on a house? State requirement? All I've ever needed is basic ID (driver's license).

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

Buying the house will not be an issue- even foreigners living abroad can buy a house in the USA.

Getting a mortgage may be an issue if the bank does not know you as customers, but the extension letter should be ok.

[skiptex 225]

ask your real estate agent or mortgage person..

they are getting paid for this..

make them get the legal information.. its their job.. esp. if it would cause problem and not close..

my 2 cents

[Dave&Roza 748]

Since my wife had her SSN for about 4 months when we bought our house, she is not on the mortgage as she has no credit history and mine allowed us to get the best interest rate at the time. Just remember that the bank is going to look at both credit histories and they might take the lowest credit score when deciding which interest rate you qualify for. Given the cost of houses these days a few points is worth a lot of money to the bank and will cost you a lot in interest payments. For that reason we decided to not put her on the mortgage. WIll it affect ROC? Maybe, but I will not let the USCIS influence me into making a bad financial decision just to show co-mingling of a house when I have other investments that are co-mingled.

As others have stated any valid form of ID should be okay I would just worry about the credit score and how that affects your interest rate.

Dave

Edited October 21, 2011 by Dave&Roza

[rafka23 0]

hey

my wife and i closed on our house in march - my green card was expiring in july

we had no problems, although mortgage company requested a copy of signed ROC form for their records

no worries

good luck

[comingsoon28 0]

Thanks for all the replies. Our lender is asking us to bring driver's license, passport, visa/entry permit, social security, voter registration, and green card to closing. We are hoping they won't give us any issues.

[Barca 10]

Thanks for all the replies. Our lender is asking us to bring driver's license, passport, visa/entry permit, social security, voter registration, and green card to closing. We are hoping they won't give us any issues.

I have never heard of all these requirements!!

[pasaway na angel 2]

My husband filed in April in Vermont Service Center, and like the rest of you, has not yet received his new green card. We are currently in the process of buying a house and we close next week. I suddenly started freaking out about this affecting our ability to close. Has anyone shown their foreign passport + expired green card + extension letter for something as big as this without a problem? Or does anyone have any experience/advice they can share? Thanks in advance.

We just bought a house last month and we were in a similar position because my GC was expiring this month and we haven't even applied yet for ROC at the time of closing because we were wanting to include the "house papers" as evidence. Anyway, one problem we encountered was that I don't have a Credit Score because in my 2 years here, I never wanted to get a credit card or any loan of that sorts, so I have no credit history. However, my husband and I talked to our mortgage broker and she found a way to still put me in the loan and deed of the house by putting my husband as the Primary Borrower and me as a Co-Borrower. So most of the financial requirements are based on my husband's ability to pay, Credit Score/History and others. I have to submit documents too but they are just to satisfy documentary requirements. That said, I think that the best person to consult about this is your mortgage broker or bank representative because they can actually find ways to help you. Just tell them the situation (like we did about my immigration status) and they would surely find a way to help you with the loan and closing.

Good Luck on buying a home!

[Matt & Bing 56]

Thanks for all the replies. Our lender is asking us to bring driver's license, passport, visa/entry permit, social security, voter registration, and green card to closing. We are hoping they won't give us any issues.

That is just crazy!! Why would a lender need to see any of those (other than a picture ID)?? We refinanced in July and they only asked for ID.

[comingsoon28 0]

That is just crazy!! Why would a lender need to see any of those (other than a picture ID)?? We refinanced in July and they only asked for ID.

Yes, it's pretty excessive. We already have the loan commitment so we are hoping they don't have a problem with anything at closing. They have already seen my husband's expired card + extension and they didn't say anything. We will try to speak to our loan officer, b/c it's the underwriter who is asking for all of these ridiculous things!

[skiptex 225]

yes.. you should AHEAD of time.. if you need these documents.. closing should have no suprises.. thats when everything has be checked and doubled checked.. so you get house.. the rest get paid..

[Tricia599 2]

We're closing next week as well, but we weren't asked for anything from my husband, who is in the middle of ROC. We did have to state he was a permanent resident on the loan application though - it was one of the standard questions.

Just a tip, if you add your spouse as an authorized user on your credit cards (get them a card in their name on your account), your credit history will become their credit history. So even though my husband has only been here 2 years and only working a short while, he has my 20 years of credit history on his credit report, so his score is almost as good as mine. Because of that we got a really great rate. So if you have good credit, get your spouse a card on your existing accounts.

[Brit Abroad 166]

We're closing next week as well, but we weren't asked for anything from my husband, who is in the middle of ROC. We did have to state he was a permanent resident on the loan application though - it was one of the standard questions.

Just a tip, if you add your spouse as an authorized user on your credit cards (get them a card in their name on your account), your credit history will become their credit history. So even though my husband has only been here 2 years and only working a short while, he has my 20 years of credit history on his credit report, so his score is almost as good as mine. Because of that we got a really great rate. So if you have good credit, get your spouse a card on your existing accounts.

We did this, too. My credit score (after nearly 3 years of marriage) is barely 100 points behind hubby's. It's definitely the best way to go, rather than one of those prepaid credit cards which takes AGES to accrue a good history.

The only other alternative is to get your prior credit reports from your home country's credit rating agencies and letters from any banks or financial organisations that you used as confirmation that you have good history.

Hubby and I will be closing some time in February, so I'll be interested to hear how you get on, OP, if you'd come back and confirm how it all went.