ACL 390611 | MFAA Member | Established 2005
Expat and Non-Resident Home Loans.Buy in Australia From Overseas.
An Australian citizen living overseas can buy Australian property without foreign investment approval. A non-citizen generally cannot buy an established home at all before 30 June 2029. Which of those two sentences applies to you decides almost everything that follows, and plenty of people are told the wrong one.
15 minutes, booked in your time zone. No paperwork, no credit check, no obligation. Our 1800 number cannot be dialled from outside Australia. If you are overseas, book a time and we will call you. Lenders pay us a commission on settlement and we disclose it in writing before any work begins.
Intellect Finance – Expat and Non-Resident Lending
Independent since 2005 | ACL 390611What Is an Expat or Non-Resident Home Loan and Who Can Get One?
An expat or non-resident home loan is an ordinary Australian mortgage arranged for a borrower who lives overseas and is usually paid in a foreign currency. Australian citizens abroad are exempt from foreign investment approval. Non-citizens generally need it, and are banned from buying established dwellings until 30 June 2029.
Three separate authorities decide what you are, and they do not use the same test. The Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Regulation 2015 decides whether you need foreign investment approval. Revenue NSW decides whether you pay surcharge duty and surcharge land tax. The Australian Taxation Office decides whether you are a foreign resident for tax, which governs your capital gains position. It is entirely possible to be exempt under the first two and caught by the third.
The lending itself is the smaller problem. Australian lenders will consider foreign income, but they differ on which currencies they accept, how far they discount that income before it counts, whether they will lend to a non-citizen at all, and what deposit they want. Working out which lenders read your file favourably is the job, and it happens before anything is lodged.
Common Situations
Six Positions That Are Not Treated the Same
Almost everyone who contacts us from overseas is in one of these. The differences between them are legal rather than financial, and they are decided before any lender is approached.
Australian citizen on a posting buying a home to come back to
No foreign investment approval needed and no NSW surcharges, because citizenship settles both. The live questions are how your foreign salary is assessed and whether the property will be rented until you return, which changes how lenders classify the loan.
Australian citizen overseas buying an investment property
Same exemptions, different loan. It is assessed as an investment purchase and the tax treatment follows the use of the borrowed money rather than your address. See investment loans for how the structure affects deductibility.
Australian citizen buying with a foreign spouse
The most commonly misunderstood case. Your citizenship does not automatically carry across to a partner who is not a citizen or permanent resident, and how the purchase is held can change both the approval position and the surcharge position. See joint home loans.
Permanent resident who has been out of the country
Permanent residence usually keeps you out of the foreign investment rules, but the NSW surcharge test is stricter and separate. Revenue NSW asks whether you were in Australia for at least 200 days in the year before the transaction. Time abroad can move you across that line.
Temporary visa holder already living in Australia
Temporary residents are named in the established dwelling ban. Do not assume the older rule that allowed one established home as your residence still applies. The current exceptions are narrow, published, and worth checking before you sign anything.
Non-resident foreign investor buying new
New and near-new dwellings and vacant residential land remain open, subject to notification, fees and conditions. Vacant land carries a build clock, which is why this route usually leads to construction and renovation loans rather than a standard purchase.
Social Proof
120+ Five-Star Google Reviews
First home buyers, upgraders, investors and clients buying from overseas. Pulled live from Google, not curated by us.
Joseph Sukkar
Principal Broker · ACL 390611
Who You’re Dealing With
Built on 25 Years in Australian Finance
Joseph Sukkar started in finance in 2000 and founded Intellect Finance in Penrith in 2005. Since then the team has arranged more than 6,500 loans for clients across Australia, from first homes to complex commercial and asset finance.
Residential lending sits with Moufid, our Head of Residential Lending, who works in it every day. On a cross-border file the useful work happens before anything is lodged. Your foreign investment position, your state surcharge position and your tax residency question are settled first, because two of the three can rule out a purchase outright. Only then is it worth working out which lenders will read an overseas payslip favourably.
100+ Lenders Including
Accreditation with a lender is not an endorsement by it. Which lender suits you is decided by your file, not by who is on this list.
Not Sure Which of the Six You Are?
Fifteen minutes settles it, in your time zone. No credit check.What Actually Decides It
Your Status Is Decided Three Times by Three Different Agencies
An expat or non-resident home loan is not really a lending problem. Foreign investment law, state revenue law and tax law each run their own test on the same person, and the three tests do not agree. Being exempt under one says nothing about the other two, and the six facts below are where the money actually sits.
Citizenship rather than residence settles foreign investment
The Act defines a foreign person by residence, so an Australian citizen living overseas can fall inside that definition. Regulation 35 then exempts their acquisitions outright. The practical result is that an Australian citizen abroad buys without approval, and most of the confusion on this point comes from reading the definition and stopping there.
Established dwellings are closed to foreign persons until mid 2029
Foreign persons, including temporary residents and foreign-owned companies, cannot buy an established dwelling unless an exception applies. The ban ran from 1 April 2025 and has been extended to 30 June 2029. The published exceptions are narrow and specific. Check yours against the current list rather than against advice you were given in 2024.
Approval is a fee and there is a second one every year
Foreign persons notify the Australian Taxation Office before acquiring residential land, whatever it costs. Fees are tiered by property value. They start at $4,600 for the 2026-27 fee year on a new or near-new dwelling, and are tripled on an established one. Then, if the property sits vacant 183 days or more in a vacancy year, an annual vacancy fee applies at double the application fee.
Vacant land comes with a build clock attached
Buy vacant land for residential development and the approval generally comes with two conditions. Construction must be completed within four years, and the land cannot be sold until it is. A new or near-new dwelling usually carries no such condition. If you are buying land, that four-year clock starts at approval, not when you are ready to build.
New South Wales runs its own foreign person test
Surcharge purchaser duty is 9 per cent of the dutiable value, which is the greater of the price or the value. It sits on top of ordinary transfer duty. Surcharge land tax is 5 per cent of land value, with no tax-free threshold. An Australian citizen is outside both. A permanent resident is outside them only if they were in Australia at least 200 days in the preceding year.
The tax office is the one that catches Australian expats
Foreign residents cannot claim the main residence exemption on property sold after 30 June 2020, unless they meet the life events test. What counts is your residency at the time of the sale, not during the years you lived there. Since 1 January 2025 a buyer must also withhold 15 per cent of the price from a foreign resident vendor, from the first dollar, unless a clearance certificate is produced. Foreign residents get no tax-free threshold on Australian income either.
Checked 31 August 2026. Sources: the exemption for Australian citizens is regulation 35 of the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Regulation 2015, and the Australian Taxation Office confirms it, stating you are not a foreign person if you are a citizen of Australia. The established dwelling ban and its dates are published by the Australian Taxation Office. The approval requirement, the application fees and the vacancy fee come from the Australian Taxation Office and foreigninvestment.gov.au. Surcharge figures are New South Wales positions from Revenue NSW and its surcharge purchaser duty guidance for individuals. The main residence and withholding positions are from the ATO. Best Interests Duty is set out in ASIC Regulatory Guide 273. Fees, caps and surcharge rates change. Nothing here is tax or legal advice. Everything else on this page is described in the important information at the foot of the page.
The three tests should be run before you look at a single property, because two of them can rule out a purchase entirely and the third can change what it is worth to you after tax. Ask us to run all three.
The Honest Comparison
Buy Now From Overseas or Wait Until You Are Back?
For Australian citizens abroad this is the real question, and it is not the one most pages answer. Here are both sides properly.
Buy after you move back
- Your income is assessed in Australian dollars, by every lender on the panel rather than the subset that takes foreign currency
- No currency risk between approval and settlement, and no exchange rate buffer applied to your salary
- Your tax residency question resolves itself, which matters more on the way out than on the way in
- You are out of the market for however long the posting runs, and prices do not wait for you
- No rental income in the meantime, and no equity building against the deposit you are saving
Buy while you are still overseas
- You are in the market, and for an Australian citizen the foreign investment position does not improve by waiting
- Rent can carry part of the holding cost until you return and move in
- Overseas salaries are often higher in nominal terms, and some lenders will assess that favourably
- Fewer lenders, larger deposits, and foreign income discounted before it counts toward serviceability
- Currency movement between approval and settlement is a real risk and it is entirely yours
If you are moving home within the next twelve months, in most cases you should wait. The narrower lender panel, the discount applied to foreign income and the larger deposit usually cost more than a year out of the market does. All three disappear the month you land.
We would rather arrange the loan once, at resident pricing, than write a smaller loan now and refinance you out of it later. That is the smaller transaction for us, and we are telling you to take it.
There is a second timing question, and it is worth more than any rate we could find you. It belongs to your accountant rather than to us. If you own an Australian home and you are thinking about selling it, the main residence exemption is tested against your tax residency at the time of the sale, not during the years you lived in it. A fifteen per cent withholding applies to foreign resident vendors from the first dollar.
Ask a registered tax agent before you list. We have seen that one question change the answer by more than every rate comparison we have ever run.
Ask Us If You Should Wait Until You Land
We will price the narrower panel, the foreign income discount and the larger deposit against a year out of the market. Fifteen minutes, in your time zone.The Difference
Cross-Border Files Fail on Status Rather Than Servicing
Most declined applications from overseas were never going to work, and the reason was knowable on day one. That is the part we do before anything reaches a lender.
We Establish Your Status First
Foreign investment position, state surcharge position and tax residency question, worked through before a property is shortlisted. Two of the three can rule out a purchase outright, and finding that out after you have paid a deposit is an expensive way to learn it.
Foreign Income Policy Is Where the Spread Is
Accepted currencies, the discount applied before income counts, minimum deposits and whether a non-citizen is considered at all. These differ more between lenders than pricing does, and the lender that suits your file is rarely the one at the top of a comparison table.
No Fee. Not Even Clawback.
We do not charge you for the comparison, the structuring or the application, on any loan type, wherever you are living. If you discharge the loan early we wear the clawback ourselves rather than invoicing you for it, which plenty of brokers do. Lenders pay a commission on settlement, disclosed to you in writing before any work begins.
Legally On Your Side
A loan for a home you will live in, or for a residential investment property, is regulated consumer credit whatever country you apply from. Best Interests Duty applies, so we must act in your interests and give them priority where they conflict with ours. Those obligations have applied to mortgage brokers since 1 January 2021.
The Process
How an Expat Home Loan Comes Together
Four steps, and the first two happen before you look at property rather than after.
-
15 minutes
Your status in all three senses
Citizenship or visa, how long you have been out of Australia, who is buying with you and which state you are buying in. No documents and no credit check. You finish the call knowing whether foreign investment approval applies to you, whether surcharges apply, and what kind of property is open to you.
-
Before you shop
Which lenders will actually read your file
Your currency, your employer, your visa and your deposit narrow the panel before anything else does. We work out where the file fits and what it is likely to support, so you are not shortlisting properties against a number no lender will fund.
-
You gather
Documents
There is more here than on a domestic application, and some of it takes weeks to obtain from overseas. We confirm exactly what your chosen lender wants before you start chasing any of it.
- Passport and current visa
- Recent overseas payslips
- Employment contract or letter
- Overseas tax returns or assessments
- Six months of overseas bank statements
- Certified translations where needed
- Evidence of your deposit and its source
- Foreign investment approval, where it applies
-
We manage
Submission and settlement across time zones
We handle the lender, the valuation and the conditions, and coordinate with your conveyancer or solicitor in Australia. Signing documents from overseas usually needs planning around witnessing and courier time, so we build that into the settlement date rather than discovering it in the last week.
Track Record
Independent Since 2005
Joe Sukkar started in finance in 2000 and founded the practice five years later. Residential lending sits with Moufid, who works in it every day. Most of the process runs by email and video, which is why the client can be anywhere.
Related Options
Other Home Loan Options Worth Checking
Buying from overseas usually overlaps with one of these. Each is a different structure rather than a different rate.
Investment loans
Where the property will be rented rather than lived in, and the structure decides the tax position.
Construction and renovation loans
The route that stays open to foreign persons, since new dwellings and vacant land are outside the ban.
Joint home loans
Buying with a partner whose citizenship or visa position differs from yours.
Mortgage pre-approval
Worth more from overseas than at home, because every application marks your Australian credit file.
Refinance home loan
The first thing to review once you have moved back and are assessed as a resident again.
Every home loan we arrange
Back up to the full residential range if none of these is quite it.
Settle Your Status Before You Shortlist.
Book a time in your own time zone and we will call you.Questions Answered
Expat and Non-Resident Home Loan FAQs
The questions Australians abroad and overseas buyers ask us most often before getting in touch.
Can an Australian citizen living overseas buy property in Australia?
Yes, and without foreign investment approval. Regulation 35 of the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Regulation 2015 exempts acquisitions by an Australian citizen who is not ordinarily resident in Australia. Citizenship settles the foreign investment question. It does not settle your tax position, which is decided separately.
Can a non-resident buy an established home in Australia?
Generally no, not until 30 June 2029. The Australian Taxation Office states that foreign persons, including temporary residents and foreign-owned companies, cannot buy an established dwelling in Australia unless an exception applies. The ban began on 1 April 2025 and has been extended to 30 June 2029. New and near-new dwellings and vacant residential land are not covered by it.
What does foreign investment approval cost, and is there an ongoing fee?
Foreign persons must notify the Australian Taxation Office before acquiring residential land, regardless of value. Application fees are tiered by property value and start at $4,600 for the 2026-27 fee year on a new or near-new dwelling. Fees on established dwellings are triple that. Separately, an annual vacancy fee applies where a property is vacant for 183 days or more in a vacancy year, at double the application fee. See the current fee schedule.
Do foreign buyers pay extra stamp duty and land tax in New South Wales?
Yes. From 1 January 2025 Revenue NSW charges surcharge purchaser duty of 9 per cent of the dutiable value, on top of ordinary transfer duty. Surcharge land tax is 5 per cent of land value from the 2025 land tax year, with no tax-free threshold. An Australian citizen is not a foreign person for either. Other states and territories set their own surcharges.
Will I lose the main residence exemption if I sell while I am living overseas?
Possibly, and this is the one that catches Australian expats. The ATO states that foreign residents cannot claim the main residence exemption for property sold after 30 June 2020 unless they satisfy the life events test. What matters is your residency for tax purposes at the time of the sale, not during the years you lived in the home. We are not tax agents. Ask one before you list.
What is foreign resident capital gains withholding?
It is an amount the buyer must withhold from the sale price and pay to the ATO when the seller is a foreign resident. From 1 January 2025 the rate is 15 per cent and it applies to the value of all property, with no minimum value threshold. An Australian resident seller avoids it by obtaining a clearance certificate at or before settlement.
Can I get an Australian home loan if my income is in a foreign currency?
Often yes, but the field narrows sharply. Lenders differ on which currencies they accept, how heavily they discount foreign income before it counts, whether they will lend to a non-citizen at all, and what deposit they want. Two lenders reading the same overseas payslip can land a long way apart. That spread is the whole reason to compare before anyone applies, because every application leaves a mark on your Australian credit file.
Does Best Interests Duty apply to an expat or non-resident home loan?
Yes. A loan to buy a home you will live in, or to buy or improve a residential investment property, is regulated consumer credit under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009. Where you are living when you apply does not change that. So we are legally required to act in your best interests and, where interests conflict, to give priority to yours. Those obligations have applied to mortgage brokers since 1 January 2021.
Visit Us
Penrith Based.Clients Australia-Wide.
Penrith is our head office and the one you can walk into without an appointment. We also meet clients at Parramatta and in the Sydney CBD by arrangement. Most of the process runs by phone, email and video, so we settle loans in every state and for clients living overseas.
Parramatta
Suite 23, Level 1, 181 Church St, Parramatta NSW 2150
Mortgage broker Parramatta →Ready When You Are
Find Out Where You Actually Stand.
Fifteen minutes with a residential specialist, booked in your time zone. Tell us your citizenship or visa, how long you have been away, and where you want to buy. We’ll tell you whether foreign investment approval applies, whether surcharges apply, and which lenders will read your file. If waiting until you are home is the better answer, we’ll say so.
Our 1800 number cannot be dialled from overseas, so book a time and we will call you. No credit check, no paperwork, no obligation. Penrith based, clients Australia-wide and abroad. Intellect Finance Pty Ltd, ACL 390611.
A loan for a home you will live in, or for a residential investment property, is regulated consumer credit, so Intellect Finance is legally required to act in your best interests under the Best Interests Duty in the National Consumer Credit Protection Act. Foreign investment, state surcharge and tax positions described on this page are set by government authorities, change over time, and depend on your individual circumstances. Surcharge figures are New South Wales positions. Nothing on this page is credit assistance, legal advice, migration advice or tax advice, and no outcome is guaranteed.
Intellect Finance Pty Ltd | Australian Credit Licence 390611 | MFAA Member | AFCA Member
Important information General information only. Not credit assistance, legal, migration or tax advice. We charge you no fee. Every caveat and source on this page is collected here. Tap to read.
General information only. The content on this page is general in nature and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. It is not credit assistance, financial advice, legal advice, migration advice or tax advice, and it is not an offer of credit. You should consider whether it is appropriate for you and seek your own advice before acting on it.
Your status is a legal question, and it is yours. Whether you are a foreign person for foreign investment purposes, a foreign person for state surcharge purposes, and a foreign resident for tax purposes are three separate determinations made by three separate authorities under three separate tests. We can tell you what the published rules say and we can tell you which lenders will consider your file. We cannot determine your status for you, and nothing on this page should be read as doing so. We are not solicitors or migration agents. Get it confirmed by the issuing authority or a licensed adviser before you sign a contract.
Tax positions are not ours to give. The main residence exemption, foreign resident capital gains withholding, deductibility and your residency for tax purposes are matters for a registered tax agent and the Australian Taxation Office. The consequences of getting them wrong are borne by you and can be substantial. We are not registered tax agents and we do not provide tax advice.
State based figures. Surcharge purchaser duty and surcharge land tax figures on this page are New South Wales positions published by Revenue NSW. Every other state and territory sets its own surcharges, thresholds and exemptions, and they differ. Confirm the position for the state you are buying in.
Nothing here is a guarantee. Loan approval, borrowing capacity, accepted currencies, loan to value ratios, timeframes and eligibility are determined by individual lenders and government bodies, not by us. They differ between lenders and change over time. Document requirements and lending policy for overseas borrowers vary significantly between lenders, and timeframes also depend on the valuer and on international document handling. Any figure or timeframe on this page is indicative and is not a quote, an offer, or a prediction of your outcome.
Best Interests Duty. A loan for a home you will live in, or for the purchase or improvement of a residential investment property, is regulated consumer credit under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009, regardless of where you are living when you apply. When providing credit assistance in relation to these products, Intellect Finance is required to act in your best interests and, where there is a conflict of interest, to give priority to your interests. These obligations have applied to mortgage brokers since 1 January 2021.
How we are paid. Intellect Finance does not charge borrowers a fee for arranging finance, and does not charge a clawback fee where a loan is discharged early. Lenders pay us a commission on settlement. The basis of that commission is disclosed to you in writing in our Credit Guide before any credit assistance is provided.
Third-party information. Where this page refers to foreign investment rules, state revenue settings, tax treatment or lender policy, that information is sourced from the relevant authority and was correct to the best of our knowledge at the date shown on this page. Those rules change, sometimes without notice. Fee schedules change annually and surcharge rates have moved twice since 2016. Always confirm the current position with the issuing authority or with us before relying on it.
Found something wrong? If you believe anything on this page is inaccurate or out of date, tell us at joe@intellectfinance.com.au and we will review and correct it.
Intellect Finance Pty Ltd | Australian Credit Licence 390611 | MFAA Member | AFCA Member