Mortgage Basics: Information for First Time Home Buyers
What are the criteria to qualify for a VA home loan?
Individuals who have served in the military are eligible for VA home loan benefits after meeting certain minimum service requirements:
90 days of active duty during wartime periods
181 days of continuous active duty during peacetime periods
In the VA's General Rules of Eligibility, wartime and peacetime refer to the following eras:
What criteria must veterans meet
to qualify for a VA home loan? Individuals who have served in the military are eligible for VA home loan
benefits after meeting certain minimum service
requirements:
90 days of active duty during wartime periods
181 days of continuous active duty during peacetime
periods
In the VA's General Rules of Eligibility,
wartime and peacetime refer to the following eras:
Era
Dates
Length of Service For
Eligibility
World War
II
9/16/40-7/25/47
90 days
Peacetime
7/26/47-6/26/50
181 continuous
days
Korean
6/27/50-1/31/55
90 days
Post-Korean
2/01/55-8/04/64
181 continuous days
Vietnam
8/05/64-5/07/75
90 days
Post-Vietnam
5/08/75-9/07/80
181 continuous
days
Enlisted
9/08/80-8/01/90
2 years
Officers
10/17/81-8/01/90
2 years
Persian
Gulf
8/02/90-undetermined
2 years or period
called to active duty not less than 90 days
You may also be eligible under the following
conditions:
You were discharged for a service connected disability.
You were discharged for the convenience of the
government.
You were discharged because of a hardship.
You were discharged or released for a medical condition
which pre-existed service and has not been determined to be
service connected.
You are an unremarried spouse of a veteran who died
while in service or from a service connected disability.
You are a spouse of a serviceperson missing in action or
a prisoner of war.
Other eligibility requirements:
Active duty service members are eligible only
while on active duty and after having served on continuous
active duty for at least 181 days (90 days during the
Persian Gulf War) unless discharged or separated from a
previous qualifying period of active duty service.
Reserves or National Guard members who are not
otherwise eligible for VA loan guaranty benefits are
eligible upon completion of 6 years service (or upon
discharge from the Reserves or National Guard because of a
service-connected disability before completing 6 years).
Other individuals may meet eligibility criteria ,
including Public Health Service Officers, cadets/midshipmen
at service academies, officers of National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, merchant seamen with WWII
service, and others.
What if .gif"m not sure whether .gif"m
eligible? If you have questions about your eligibility,
contact your nearest VA Regional Office.
If you live in
the eastern half of the United States, contact:
