In short: Once your permanent residency is granted, Victoria treats you like any other first home buyer. You can buy an established or new home with a 5% deposit and no LMI under the First Home Guarantee (Melbourne and Geelong cap $950,000), pay no stamp duty up to $600,000, and claim the $10,000 First Home Owner Grant on a new home up to $750,000.
Key takeaways
- PR holders are exempt from the federal ban on foreign persons buying established dwellings. Temporary residents (482, 485, 491, student visas) are not, and need FIRB approval to buy new property.
- The First Home Guarantee has no income cap. Victoria's price cap is $950,000 in Melbourne and Geelong, $650,000 elsewhere.
- Victoria's first-home-buyer duty exemption runs to $600,000, with a sliding concession to $750,000.
- The $10,000 FHOG is for new homes up to $750,000, with 12 months' residence required.
- Lenders want a documented, lawful deposit source. Money sent out of Nepal to buy property is not one, so do not plan around it.
The PR grant email usually arrives after years of study, sponsorship, points tests and paperwork. It is also the day the property rules change in your favour. Here is what changes, what Victoria gives first home buyers, and how a lender reads a newly permanent household.
What changes the day your PR is granted
The foreign-buyer rules stop applying: no FIRB application or fee, no 8% foreign purchaser additional duty, no 4% absentee owner land-tax surcharge. You become eligible for the Home Guarantee Scheme, which is limited to citizens and permanent residents. And most lenders move you onto standard policy, with the same maximum LVR and rates as a citizen, where a temporary visa often meant an 80% or 90% cap. Our guide to home loans for new migrants covers the before-PR picture.
Victoria's first home buyer schemes at a glance
| Scheme | Rule at the time of writing | Who qualifies |
|---|---|---|
| First Home Guarantee | 5% deposit, no LMI, no income cap; price cap $950,000 Melbourne and Geelong, $650,000 rest of Victoria | Citizens and PRs, 18+, owner-occupiers, no property owned in Australia in the last 10 years |
| Stamp duty (land transfer duty) | Full exemption up to $600,000; sliding concession $600,001 to $750,000 | First home buyers living in the home for 12 months |
| First Home Owner Grant | $10,000 for a new home valued up to $750,000 | First home buyers of a never-occupied home; 12 months' residence |
| Help to Buy (federal shared equity) | Government contributes up to 40% (new) or 30% (existing); 2% deposit; income caps $100,000 single, $160,000 couple; VIC price cap $950,000 | Citizens and PRs under the income caps |
| Foreign purchaser additional duty | 8% on top of ordinary duty | Foreign persons only; PR holders are exempt |
| Established-dwelling ban | Foreign persons cannot buy established homes until at least 30 June 2029 | Does not apply to PRs, NZ citizens or spouses of citizens and PRs |
Duty rules sit with the State Revenue Office of Victoria and the Guarantee with Housing Australia.
Worked example: a $600,000 house in Lalor
Suppose a couple, both on PR since April, buy an established three-bedroom house in Lalor for $600,000 using the First Home Guarantee.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Purchase price | $600,000 |
| Deposit (5%) | $30,000 |
| Loan | $570,000 |
| Stamp duty | $0 (first-home-buyer exemption) |
| LMI | $0 (Guarantee covers the lender) |
| Conveyancing, inspections, registration fees | Roughly $3,000 to $5,000 |
| Monthly repayment, for illustration at 6.00% p.a. over 30 years | About $3,417 |
Without the Guarantee the same purchase needs a $120,000 deposit or LMI well above $20,000 on a 95% loan. That is the scheme's real value for a family that has been paying rent and remittances rather than saving.
If the couple chose a $700,000 house-and-land package in Mickleham instead, the $10,000 FHOG would apply, duty would be assessed on the land contract alone (usually under $600,000, so nil), and the build would run through a construction loan. Run your numbers with the stamp duty calculator and the mortgage repayment calculator.
Where Nepali families in Victoria are buying
Melbourne's north is the heart of the Nepali community in Victoria. Craigieburn, Epping, Wollert, Lalor and Thomastown have Nepali grocers stocking Wai Wai, gundruk and spices, momo and thakali restaurants, and weekend Nepali language classes. Hindu temples and Buddhist gumbas host Dashain, Tihar and Teej gatherings, and the community associations' cultural programs double as the best informal source of suburb advice. The west (Tarneit, Truganina) and south-east (Clyde North, Dandenong) have growing pockets. Geelong shares Melbourne's $950,000 Guarantee cap; Ballarat and Bendigo sit under the $650,000 regional cap.
How lenders look at a household that just got PR
Lenders ask whether the income is stable, the deposit is genuine and the credit file is clean, not how long you have held PR.
- Identification. Passport, PR visa grant notice (the lender runs a VEVO check), Medicare card and driver licence.
- Employment. Permanent full-time or part-time is simplest; several lenders accept probation. Casual work usually needs 6 to 12 months. Many Nepali households have a second income (cleaning, rideshare, aged-care shifts, a small business); some lenders count it and others do not.
- Genuine savings. Usually 5% of the price held for three months. Rent paid on time can substitute with some lenders. See genuine savings explained.
- Gifted deposits. A gift from family already in Australia is fine with a gift letter and bank trail. Funds from Nepal are a problem: Nepal Rastra Bank does not permit capital transfers to buy property abroad, and a lender needs a lawful, documented source. Australian savings, Australian gifts and NRN-compliant funds are the safe options; get legal advice on anything else.
- Credit file. Your Nepali history is invisible here. Keep phone plans, bills and buy-now-pay-later accounts paid on time for six months before applying.
- Serviceability. Lenders test at your rate plus 3 percentage points; regular remittances count as living expenses.
The full list is in our home loan documents checklist, and pre-approval before inspecting is the best habit a first home buyer can have.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use the First Home Guarantee the week my PR is granted?
Yes. Eligibility turns on your residency status when you apply, not how long you have held it. You also need to be 18 or over, intend to live in the home, and not have owned property in Australia in the last 10 years. A panel lender reserves the place when your application is lodged, so have your documents ready before you sign.
Does my partner on a temporary visa affect the purchase?
If one of you is a PR and the other holds a temporary visa, you can still buy an established home without FIRB approval because spouses of PRs are exempt. For the Guarantee, both borrowers must be citizens or PRs, so a mixed couple may need the PR partner to borrow alone, which limits borrowing power. We can model both structures.
Can my parents in Nepal send money for the deposit?
Do not plan on it. Nepal's Foreign Exchange (Regulation) Act does not allow capital transfers out of Nepal to buy property abroad, and Australian lenders must see a lawful source for every deposit dollar. Gifts from family already in Australia, your own Australian savings, or NRN-compliant funds are accepted. Speak to a lawyer before moving any money held in Nepal.
Do I have to live in the home to get the concessions?
Yes. The duty exemption, the FHOG and the Guarantee all require you to move in and stay for at least 12 months (for the FHOG, starting within 12 months of settlement). Buying as an investment from day one forfeits all three. Renting a room to a relative while you live there is generally fine; renting out the whole house is not.
Talk to GNT Finance
GNT Finance is a Nepali-speaking mortgage broker in Mickleham working with families across Melbourne and Victoria. Gorakh Timilsina spent years as a senior credit officer and knows how a lender reads a new-PR application. Book a free consultation or call 0426 403 703 and we will map your deposit, grants and lender options in one conversation, at no cost to you for our home-loan service in most cases. Elsewhere in Australia, our Australia-wide service works by phone and video.
This is general information, not migration, legal, tax or credit advice. Migration rules change often — confirm with a registered migration agent (MARA) or the Department of Home Affairs. Grant, duty and Guarantee figures are as at the time of writing; confirm them with the State Revenue Office and Housing Australia.
Written by Gorakh Timilsina
Founder, CEO & Senior Mortgage Consultant at GNT Finance. Gorakh started as a broker assistant, spent years as a senior credit officer assessing loan applications, and now helps Melbourne families get the right loan approved. English, Nepali and Hindi spoken.