In short: Subclass 189 and 190 are permanent visas, so from the day yours is granted you are not a foreign person. No foreign investment approval, no 8% duty surcharge, established homes are open to you, and you can borrow up to 95% of the value or use the 5% Deposit Scheme. Lenders assess you like any other Australian borrower.
This is the page where the restrictions stop. The Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189) lets invited workers live and work permanently anywhere in Australia. The Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190) does the same with a state or territory nomination behind it. Both are permanent from the moment of grant, and that single fact removes almost every extra cost a temporary visa holder carries.
What changes on the grant date
| Question | Position for a 189 or 190 holder |
|---|---|
| Visa type | Permanent |
| Foreign person under foreign investment law | No, holders of permanent visas are exempt |
| Foreign investment approval needed | No |
| Can buy an established dwelling | Yes, the federal ban does not apply to you |
| 5% Deposit Scheme eligible | Yes, subject to the scheme's other criteria |
| Victorian First Home Owner Grant | Yes, on a new home valued up to $750,000 |
| Victorian first home buyer duty exemption | Yes, full exemption to $600,000, concession to $750,000 |
| Typical maximum LVR | Up to 95% with mortgage insurance |
| Foreign purchaser duty surcharge | No |
| Absentee owner land tax surcharge | Not while you live here |
The date that matters is the grant date, not the application date. State revenue offices generally test your status at the contract date and grant schemes test it at settlement, so a contract signed a week before your visa is granted can leave you on the wrong side of a five-figure line. If your grant is close, tell us and we will time the offer around it. Until then, the rules in buying property as a temporary resident and FIRB approval for property still apply to you.
What lenders check instead
Being a permanent resident does not make an application automatic. New permanent residents are usually declined for reasons that have nothing to do with the visa:
- A thin Australian credit file. Two years in the country and no credit card leaves a lender with little to score. See credit score and home loans.
- Time in the job. Many people receive a grant shortly after changing employers. Probation is workable with the right lender and the right letter.
- Genuine savings. Most lenders want 5% of the price saved and held for around three months when you are borrowing above 80%. Funds wired from overseas the week before settlement do not count on their own.
- Overseas liabilities. Loans, credit cards and family commitments outside Australia are still liabilities and should be declared.
- Foreign currency income. If part of your household income is still paid overseas, only some lenders will count it, and usually at a discount.
Everything on that list is fixable, often within a few months. Home loans for new migrants covers the sequence we usually recommend, and home loans for visa holders covers the position if part of the household is still on a temporary visa.
Worked example: a 190 couple buying an established home in Craigieburn
Arun and Meera received 190 visas eight months ago. Arun earns $105,000, Meera $71,000, and they have saved $34,000. They buy an established three-bedroom townhouse in Craigieburn for $580,000 as their first home.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Purchase price (established townhouse) | $580,000 |
| Deposit at 5% under the 5% Deposit Scheme | $29,000 |
| Loan | $551,000 |
| Lenders mortgage insurance | Nil under the scheme |
| Land transfer duty, first home buyer exemption to $600,000 | $0 |
| Foreign purchaser additional duty | Nil |
| Foreign investment application fee | Nil |
| Conveyancing, inspections, adjustments | about $3,000 |
| Cash needed at settlement | $32,000 |
For illustration, at 6.00% p.a. over 30 years, $551,000 costs about $3,304 a month.
Now compare the same couple twelve months earlier, still on temporary visas. They could not have bought this townhouse at all, because it is established. A comparable new $580,000 townhouse would have cost them a 20% deposit of $116,000, land transfer duty of $29,870, foreign purchaser additional duty of $46,400 and a foreign investment fee of $15,600: roughly $210,870 in cash against $32,000. The visa grant is worth more than any rate discount they will ever negotiate.
Points specific to the 190
The 190 comes with a state or territory nomination, and nominating governments ask you to commit to living and working in their state, commonly for two years. That is a commitment to the nominating government rather than a condition a lender enforces, but it should shape where you buy. Buying a home in another state within months of a Victorian nomination is a conversation worth having with a registered migration agent before you sign, not after.
Practically, it also means most 190 holders are buying in the state that nominated them, which is straightforward. If your work takes you interstate later, loan portability and substitution of security explains how to move the loan with you.
If your partner is still on a temporary visa
A couple where one holds a permanent visa and the other does not is a mixed application. Buying as joint tenants removes the foreign investment requirement for the temporary-visa partner. In Victoria the 8% surcharge can also be exempted where the foreign purchaser buys a principal place of residence with a partner who is not a foreign purchaser and lives there for 12 continuous months. But the Victorian first home buyer duty exemption requires all purchasers to be citizens or permanent residents, and the 5% Deposit Scheme requires every applicant to qualify, so those two stay closed until the second visa is granted. The partner visa 820 and 801 page works through that case in detail, and home loans by visa subclass sets out where every other subclass sits.
Frequently asked questions
Do permanent residents need FIRB approval to buy property?
No. Holders of Australian permanent visas are not foreign persons under the foreign investment framework, so no application, no fee and no restriction on established dwellings. This is confirmed in the Foreign Investment Review Board's residential land guidance. If you exchange contracts before your permanent visa is granted, though, you are still assessed as a temporary resident on that transaction.
Can a 189 or 190 visa holder use the 5% Deposit Scheme?
Yes. The Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme, formerly the Home Guarantee Scheme, is open to Australian citizens and permanent residents aged 18 and over who have not owned property in Australia in the last 10 years and will live in the home. From October 2025 there are no income caps and no cap on places. Victorian price caps are $950,000 for Melbourne and Geelong and $650,000 elsewhere.
How soon after my visa grant can I apply for a home loan?
Immediately, if the rest of the file is ready. There is no waiting period tied to the visa. What holds people up is employment history, savings history and credit history. If you have been working in Australia for six months or more, have a documented deposit and no unexplained transactions, a lender has everything it needs. A pre-approval is a sensible first step.
Does a 190 nomination stop me buying in another state?
Not legally, and no lender will ask. Your nomination is a commitment to the nominating state government, usually to live and work there for a set period, and buying elsewhere could sit badly with it. Speak to a registered migration agent before you buy interstate. Where you buy is also a lending question, because postcode policy and property type affect valuations and maximum loan-to-value ratios.
Do I get the Victorian First Home Owner Grant on a 189 or 190?
If you meet the other conditions, yes. At least one applicant must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident at the relevant date, which you are. The grant is $10,000 on a new home that has never been sold or occupied, valued up to $750,000, and at least one applicant must live there for 12 continuous months starting within 12 months of settlement. Established homes do not qualify.
Talk to GNT Finance
A new permanent residency grant is the best time to get your borrowing structure right, and often the moment a purchase that looked impossible becomes affordable. Gorakh Timilsina assessed lending files as a senior credit officer before founding GNT Finance, and consultations are available in English, Nepali or Hindi, with an interpreter in your language on request. Book a free consultation or call 0426 403 703.
This page is general information only and not legal, tax, migration or financial advice. Visa and foreign investment rules change — confirm current requirements with the Department of Home Affairs, the Foreign Investment Review Board or a registered migration agent.
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.