In short: In the 90 days after a PR grant, enrol in Medicare, confirm your tax file number and update the ATO, pull your credit report and fix errors, open a dedicated savings account for the deposit, consolidate superannuation, set a written budget, and check First Home Guarantee eligibility. Done in that order, these steps turn a visa grant into a lender-ready file within a season.
Key takeaways
- Permanent residents are eligible for Medicare; enrol early and tell your private health insurer.
- Your credit file, not your visa, is what a lender reads first; check it and repair it before you need it.
- One savings account, fed automatically every payday, builds the genuine savings history lenders want.
- Lost or duplicated super from casual jobs during student years is common; consolidate it.
- First Home Guarantee eligibility starts on day one of PR; know the cap for your city and whether you qualify.
The grant email arrives, the family group chat explodes, and someone books tickets to Nepal for Dashain. Enjoy it, then work through this list. Every item saves money now or shortens the road to a home loan, and most take an hour. Gorakh Timilsina built it from what he saw as a senior credit officer: the files that failed were rarely short of income; they were short of paperwork and habits.
The 90-day checklist
| When | Action | Why it matters for the loan |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Enrol in Medicare and update Services Australia | Health cover changes your budget; lenders see health insurance as a living expense |
| Week 1 | Confirm your tax file number and update residency details with the ATO | Notices of assessment are core loan documents |
| Week 2 | Order your credit report from the credit reporting bodies | Errors, old defaults or unknown accounts must be fixed before applying |
| Week 2 | Open a dedicated high-interest savings account and set an automatic transfer | Creates the three-month genuine savings record |
| Week 3 | Find and consolidate superannuation through myGov | Reduces fees; lenders may ask about super for some loan types |
| Week 4 | Write a household budget and cancel unused subscriptions and cards | Lenders assess living expenses line by line |
| Week 8 | Check First Home Guarantee eligibility and the price cap for your area | Sets the deposit target: 5% of the price |
| Week 12 | Get a borrowing capacity assessment from a broker | Tells you the realistic price range before you start inspecting |
Medicare
Most Nepali families arrive on visas that do not attract Medicare, so PR is the first time the public system is open to you. Enrol, get the card, and review your overseas student or visitor health cover, which may no longer be needed in its current form. The ATO explains the Medicare levy and surcharge.
Tax file number and the ATO
You almost certainly already have a TFN from work on earlier visas. Log in to myGov, confirm your details, and make sure your tax returns are lodged and up to date. Lenders ask for the last two notices of assessment, and an unlodged year is a red flag in credit assessment.
Credit file
Order a free copy of your report from each credit reporting body. Look for accounts you do not recognise, a default from a phone plan you thought was closed, or a forgotten buy-now-pay-later account, and dispute errors in writing. If the file is thin, a small credit card paid in full each month for six months builds it. Read credit score and home loans for what lenders weigh.
Savings account
Open one account for the deposit and nothing else. Set the transfer for payday. Lenders want to see at least 5% of the purchase price held or accumulated over three months, and they prefer the account to grow steadily rather than jump. Our guide on genuine savings covers what counts, including rent history at some lenders.
Superannuation
Student and 485 years often leave super scattered across several funds from cafe, warehouse and aged care jobs. Use the ATO's lost super tool through myGov and roll everything into one fund. Get advice before moving any Nepali provident fund savings across borders.
Budget
Write it down. The Australian Government's Moneysmart budget planner is free and lenders use similar categories. Remittances to family in Nepal belong in the budget as a regular line; lenders treat a consistent monthly amount as a living expense.
First Home Guarantee eligibility
You are eligible from day one of PR if you are 18 or over, will live in the home, have not owned property in Australia in the last 10 years, and buy within the cap for your area: $950,000 in Melbourne and Geelong, $650,000 in the rest of Victoria, $1,500,000 in Sydney, Newcastle and the Illawarra, with other caps by state. There is no income cap and no limit on places at the time of writing. Check the rules on Housing Australia and run our eligibility checker.
Worked example: a family in Craigieburn
Kiran (aged care, $62,000) and Anju (registered nurse, $88,000) receive their 190 grants in September. Combined net income is about $9,600 a month.
| Item | Monthly |
|---|---|
| Rent, Craigieburn three-bedroom house | $2,250 |
| Groceries, utilities, transport, phone | $2,300 |
| Childcare (one child, after subsidy) | $700 |
| Remittance to parents in Nepal | $400 |
| Health insurance after Medicare enrolment | $180 |
| Automatic savings transfer | $2,800 |
| Discretionary | $970 |
They already hold $28,000. After 90 days of saving they have $36,400. Their target is a $650,000 established house in Craigieburn: a 5% deposit of $32,500, first-home-buyer duty of $11,357 and about $3,500 in conveyancing and moving costs, so roughly $47,400 in cash. Four more months of saving gets them there. For illustration, the $617,500 loan at 6.00% p.a. over 30 years costs about $3,702 a month, well under their current rent plus savings transfer, and the lender tests it at 9.00% under the APRA buffer. The deposit savings calculator will time your own version.
Nepal-side items to handle in the same window
- Do not plan to move money from Nepal for the deposit. Nepal Rastra Bank prohibits capital transfers to buy property abroad. Australian savings, NRN-compliant funds or a documented gift from family already in Australia are the lawful sources, and lenders check.
- If family in Australia will gift part of the deposit, get a signed gift letter now and have the funds sit in your account for three months.
Frequently asked questions
Can I apply for a home loan the week my PR is granted?
Yes, if the file is ready. Lenders assess income, deposit, credit history and living expenses, not the length of time you have held PR. Families who have kept stable jobs and steady savings during their temporary visa years are often pre-approved within weeks of the grant. Our pre-approval guide explains the steps.
Do I need to tell my bank that I am now a permanent resident?
Yes. Update your bank, employer and super fund. Some lenders record visa status and restrict or price loans for temporary residents, so a stale record can mean a decline or a worse rate. Bring the grant notice and VEVO record to your first broker meeting.
Should I pay off my car loan before saving a deposit?
Usually, if the balance is small. A car loan reduces borrowing power by more than its monthly repayment suggests, because lenders assess it alongside the mortgage at the buffered rate. Run both scenarios in the borrowing power calculator. Closing unused credit card limits is even more effective.
Does sending money to Nepal hurt my loan application?
Not if it is consistent and declared. Lenders treat a regular monthly remittance as a living expense. What hurts is large, irregular transfers with no explanation, or transfers that look like loan repayments to someone overseas. Keep the amount steady, label it, and mention it up front.
Talk to GNT Finance
The 90 days after PR are the best time to talk to a broker, because the decisions are cheap to get right now and expensive to fix later. We work through this checklist with Nepali families in Melbourne's north every week, and by phone and video across Australia, at no cost to you for our home-loan service in most cases. Book a free consultation or call 0426 403 703, or read about our Nepali mortgage broker and Sydney mortgage broker services.
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.
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.