Borrowing in Australia as a Non-Resident or on Foreign Income
Property Lending Hub
Non-Resident Borrowers · Foreign Income · Commercial Property
Foreign-person status and foreign income are not the same problem. Status is decided under the relevant residence and legal tests. Foreign income is about the currency, structure and evidence behind what you earn. This guide follows both from the first lender conversation through contract, settlement, offshore execution, bank decline, refinance, facility review and sale.
Quick Answer
Yes, non-residents and borrowers earning foreign income can obtain finance in Australia, but the file is assessed through separate filters. Your status affects foreign-investment screening, state surcharges and which lenders will consider the application. Your income currency and income type affect how much a lender will count for serviceability, especially when earnings include bonuses, shares, contracts, multiple currencies or an overseas business. The property, valuation, documentation and loan purpose then decide how much can actually be borrowed. A bank decline can therefore be a policy problem rather than a verdict on the transaction, and an existing Australian loan can still need a fresh assessment if you later refinance from overseas.
Also called: non-resident loan Australia, foreign income loan, expat mortgage Australia, overseas buyer property loan. Not the same as a non-residential property loan, which describes the asset rather than the borrower.
This guide is written for the commercial and business-purpose end of the market, including borrowers buying or refinancing Australian commercial property while living overseas or earning income offshore. Residential rules appear only where they are necessary to answer a status question or prevent a common mistake.
Non-resident describes the borrower. Non-residential describes the asset. If you live in Australia, earn Australian dollars and simply want to finance a warehouse, office or shop, start with commercial property loans instead.
Most people reading this did not arrive at the beginning. They arrived after a decline, after signing a contract, or after noticing that a visa expires before the loan term does. Each of those arrivals needs a different part of this guide first.
| Where you are right now | The first thing you need | Where it is answered |
|---|---|---|
| A lender has said no and you already have a contract | Whether it was a policy decline or a credit decline, because the two lead to different next steps | What to do when the bank says no, and the solicitor question before the lender question |
| You have signed and just found out about screening or a surcharge | The cash figure and the timetable, in that order | Cash before settlement and taxes and surcharges |
| Your visa expires before the loan term ends | How a credit team reads an expiry inside the term, and what the refinance looks like | What status changes and what happens after settlement |
| You are an Australian citizen or permanent resident living overseas | Whether you are a foreign person at all, which your passport does not settle | Foreign person or foreign income, and the four separate tests |
| You live in Australia but are paid in a foreign currency | The income question only. Your status is not in issue, your currency is | How lenders assess foreign income |
| You are researching before committing to anything | Both questions separated, before asking anybody for a number | The seven steps below, in order |
General information only. Each row points to the section that answers it, so an urgent arrival does not have to read the whole guide first. Not financial advice.
1. Work out which status test applies to every borrower, owner and relevant entity. 2. Ask a lender or broker whether each currency and income component is acceptable before relying on a borrowing number. 3. Have the lawyer confirm foreign-investment and state-revenue treatment before an unconditional commitment. 4. Model the lender valuation and every cash item at settlement. 5. Plan offshore identity verification, signing and source-of-funds evidence before documents are issued. 6. If mainstream finance fails, compare the replacement facility by total cost, security and exit rather than rate alone. 7. Calendar registration, tax, commercial review, refinance and sale obligations that continue after settlement.
Are you a foreign person, or do you just earn foreign income?
They are separate questions, and either can apply without the other. Foreign-person status is a legal classification. Foreign income is a credit question about the currency and evidence behind earnings. Treating the two as one is the fastest way to ask the wrong lender, budget the wrong cash amount or assume an approval solves a legal obligation.
| Your situation | Example | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| Neither | Australian resident, paid in Australian dollars | Neither foreign-status nor foreign-currency treatment is engaged |
| Foreign income only | Australian borrower paid in USD, SGD, GBP or another currency | The lender tests and discounts the foreign income; status may be irrelevant |
| Foreign status only | Temporary visa holder in Australia, paid in Australian dollars | Screening, state tax and lender-policy questions can apply even though the income is domestic |
| Both | Foreign national living overseas and paid offshore | Legal status and lender income treatment both apply, but are still decided separately |
General information only. Foreign-investment status and lender credit policy are separate decisions. Not legal advice.
Which decision maker is actually answering which question?
There are at least four decision makers on a cross-border property file. One answer never substitutes for the next.
| Question | Who decides it | What the answer governs |
|---|---|---|
| Are you a foreign person under the foreign-investment rules? | Federal foreign-investment law and guidance | Whether an acquisition is screened or notified |
| Are you an Australian tax resident? | Australian tax law and the Australian Taxation Office | Tax treatment, including the sale-side withholding framework |
| Are you a foreign or absentee owner for a state surcharge? | The revenue law of the state or territory where the land sits | Purchase duty and annual land-tax surcharges |
| Will the lender read the file? | The lender's credit policy | Accepted currencies, visas, evidence, serviceability and facility structure |
The definitions can diverge. Current federal guidance says an Australian citizen living overseas may be a foreign person depending on their circumstances, while some state surcharge rules expressly treat Australian citizens differently. Confirm each limb separately. Source: Australian Government foreign-investment key concepts.
What documents should you collect before a lender sees the file?
Collect the documents that prove status, income, ownership and money movement before asking a lender for an answer. The usual cross-border file needs passport and visa evidence; an employment contract and payslips or business financials and tax returns; bank statements showing the income actually landing; translations or certifications where required; company or trust documents that trace ownership to natural persons; and evidence showing where the deposit or equity contribution came from.
For self-employed borrowers, the issue is often not the size of the business but whether historic financials still explain the income that will exist after the transaction. That is where a low-doc commercial assessment or, for an eligible residential file, a one doc home loan can be a different verification path rather than a way around serviceability.
How do Australian lenders assess foreign income?
They usually convert the income to Australian dollars and then discount what they are prepared to count. That discount is commonly called income shading. The relevant question is not “what is the universal shade?” because there is no universal published percentage. The useful question is what makes a lender accept, reduce or reject the income in the first place.
APRA's mortgage-lending guidance identifies the extra challenge of validating offshore income and describes discounting offshore income as good practice in serviceability assessment. Different lenders then apply their own policy to the currency, source and evidence. See APRA Practice Guide APG 223.
| What is tested | What can make the file easier | What can make the file harder | Possible specialist route |
|---|---|---|---|
| Currency | Widely traded currency the lender accepts | Currency outside policy or difficult conversion history | A lender that assesses the currency on its own policy rather than the first lender's list |
| Employment income | Stable employer, visible salary credits, clear contract and payslips | Variable income, unverifiable payer or short earnings history | Broader evidence set where policy permits |
| Bonuses, commissions, RSUs, shares and multiple currencies | A repeatable history, clear vesting or payment evidence and each currency traceable to the borrower | One-off awards, short history, uncertain vesting, volatile components or a currency the lender does not accept | A lender that separately assesses the stable and variable components instead of rejecting the whole income profile |
| Self-employed income | Consistent financials, tax returns and bank evidence that reconcile | Business has changed, old accounts no longer represent the post-transaction income, or ownership is opaque | Alternative-documentation commercial assessment where available |
| Tenanted commercial property | Lease income, tenant quality and security support the assessment | Vacancy, weak lease or property-specific risk | Lease-doc commercial lending where policy permits |
| Visa and borrower location | Long runway, clear status and execution plan | Visa expiry inside the proposed term or offshore guarantor with no identity-verification route | Shorter term or different structure with a credible exit, depending on lender |
Indicative only. There is no universal foreign-income percentage or approval rule. Actual treatment varies by lender, currency, security, documentation and circumstances at application.
What happens when foreign income includes bonuses, RSUs, contracts or several currencies?
The lender usually does not treat every dollar of a complex remuneration package as if it were the same salary. Base salary, bonus, commission, allowances, restricted stock or share awards, contract income and business income can each be tested for stability, history and evidence before they are converted to Australian dollars. Where two currencies are involved, the lender may assess each stream separately rather than applying one exchange rate to the household's headline income.
A high gross income can therefore produce unexpectedly low borrowing capacity when the lender excludes a variable component, discounts foreign income, counts offshore debts and credit limits, applies Australian serviceability buffers, or cannot verify how an overseas company generates and distributes profit. For a self-employed borrower, retained company profit is not automatically the same thing as personal income. The useful pre-property question is: which exact income components will this lender count, using which evidence?
For a complex file, model the borrowing position from the components the lender will actually accept, not from total gross remuneration. That means separating base salary from variable pay, identifying each currency, reconciling business income to the borrower, and listing offshore liabilities before relying on a pre-approval number.
Why can the same income pass with one lender and fail with another?
Because the first filter can be policy rather than arithmetic. One lender may reject the currency or visa before serviceability is calculated; another may accept the same currency but exclude a bonus, use a shorter history or require more evidence; a commercial specialist may place more weight on the lease and security. If you are comparing borrowing capacity, ask which assumption changed: currency, shading, income component, liability, tax treatment, valuation or term, rather than comparing headline loan amounts in isolation.
What does residency or visa status change about the loan?
Status can change legal screening, state tax treatment, the lender panel and the practical loan term. It does not by itself decide how foreign-currency income is counted. That remains a separate credit question.
| Status | Foreign-investment position to check | Typical lending question |
|---|---|---|
| Australian citizen living in Australia | Generally outside the foreign-person issue | Foreign income still matters if earnings are paid offshore |
| Australian citizen living overseas | Current federal guidance says the person may be foreign depending on the ordinary-residence test and their circumstances | Foreign income, offshore verification and lender residency policy usually dominate |
| Australian permanent resident living in Australia | Permanent status is relevant, but confirm the actual acquisition and jurisdiction | Offshore income or assets can still narrow policy |
| Australian permanent resident living overseas | Do not assume federal and state definitions produce the same result | Location, currency, evidence and execution may narrow the lender panel |
| New Zealand citizen | Special rules apply; current federal guidance gives a residential-land exemption where the special-category-visa rule is met | NZD or other offshore income is still a foreign-currency question |
| Temporary visa holder | Often treated as a foreign investor for the federal framework, with residential rules requiring special care | Whether the visa lasts through the proposed facility and whether the lender accepts the status |
| Foreign national living overseas | Both federal screening and state definitions need to be checked | Status, income, beneficial ownership, source of funds and offshore signing all arrive together |
| Mixed-status couple, company or trust | Test the actual purchasers and entity ownership; an Australian participant does not automatically neutralise a foreign interest | Who must borrow, guarantee or own the security, and whose income and status the lender is relying on |
Source: Australian Government, Key concepts, read 27 August 2026. Ordinary residence is fact-specific. State definitions are separate. Not legal advice.
What if one spouse is Australian and the other is foreign, or a company or trust is buying?
Do not assume the Australian person in the structure makes the whole transaction “Australian”. The foreign-investment framework tests the actual person or entity acquiring the interest. Current government guidance says a corporation or trustee can be a foreign person where a foreign person holds a substantial interest, and different rules can apply again for state purchaser and land-tax surcharges.
On the lending side, the questions are different: who owns the property, who is a borrower, whose income is needed for serviceability, who must give a guarantee, and whether the lender accepts the company, trust, visa and offshore parties. A spouse can improve the credit story without necessarily changing the legal classification of the purchaser. Likewise, putting the asset into a company or trust can create more beneficial-ownership and execution work rather than removing the foreign-status issue.
Before signing a contract or creating a new entity, have the solicitor, accountant and broker test the same proposed ownership chart. See Australian Government foreign-investment key concepts. This is a structure question, not something to repair in the final week before settlement.
What if your visa expires before the loan term ends?
The loan does not automatically disappear because a visa date passes, but the status can affect the original approval, a facility review and the next refinance. If a lender will not write a term beyond the status it is comfortable with, the solution can be a different term, lender or exit rather than a larger deposit. Start the refinancing conversation well before maturity because offshore evidence and document execution can consume more time than the credit decision.
Do foreign-investment rules work differently for commercial property?
Yes. Residential and commercial land are separate regimes. Current residential guidance says foreign investors are generally prohibited from purchasing established dwellings from 1 April 2025 to 30 June 2029, subject to limited exceptions. Commercial land is instead generally screened against monetary thresholds that depend on the land and investor category. Never carry a residential rule into a commercial purchase.
Sources: Australian Government residential land guidance and Australian Government commercial land guidance, current at 27 August 2026.
| Investor / land type | 2026 monetary threshold | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Vacant commercial land, private investor | $0 | Screening can be engaged from the first dollar |
| Sensitive developed commercial land, most other private investors | $75 million | Sensitivity classification can matter more than purchase price |
| Non-sensitive developed commercial land, most other private investors | $347 million | A modest developed property can sit below the threshold where a cheaper vacant site does not |
| Developed commercial land, eligible private investors from certain FTA partners | $1,498 million | The investor's country and acquisition vehicle can change the threshold |
| India, specified non-sensitive developed land for supply of services | $560 million | A specific treaty category applies rather than the general threshold |
| Foreign government investor / national security land | $0 in the relevant categories | Different investor or land classification can remove the monetary buffer entirely |
Source: Guidance Note 4: Commercial Land, version 7, 2 January 2026. Thresholds are indexed and conditions/exemptions can apply. Confirm the current rule for the investor and land before contracting. Not legal advice.
Should finance, foreign-investment approval and the contract be handled in a particular order?
Run them in parallel, with the dependencies identified before the contract becomes unconditional. The broker needs enough detail to know whether the lender lane is viable. The solicitor needs enough detail to know whether approval, a condition or a state surcharge applies. The buyer needs both answers to calculate the real cash requirement and settlement timetable. Where a foreign-investment application fee is payable, the statutory decision period does not begin until the correct fee is paid, so fee timing can be a settlement issue rather than an administrative afterthought. See Australian Government foreign-investment fees.
Does the lender itself need foreign-investment approval merely because it takes a mortgage?
Not merely for taking security in the ordinary way. The foreign-investment regulations contain a moneylending exemption for certain interests held solely as security under a moneylending agreement, with conditions and special cases. The point matters because the borrower should not confuse their acquisition with the lender's security interest. Have the lawyer confirm the provision for the actual transaction rather than relying on a general statement.
Source: section 27, Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Regulation 2015. Not legal advice.
Which taxes and surcharges can apply to a foreign buyer?
Separate the one-off purchase taxes from the annual ownership taxes, and separate both from GST. The federal foreign-person test does not give you the state surcharge answer. The state where the land sits supplies its own definition, scope, rates and exemptions.
| Question | Victoria | New South Wales |
|---|---|---|
| Foreign purchaser surcharge on the acquisition | Foreign purchaser additional duty is currently 8% and applies to residential property; mixed or changed-use cases need classification advice | Surcharge purchaser duty is currently 9% and applies to residential-related property |
| Does the purchase surcharge automatically apply to ordinary commercial land? | No, not merely because the buyer is foreign; the published surcharge is tied to residential property | No, not merely because the buyer is foreign; the published surcharge is tied to residential-related property |
| Annual foreign / absentee surcharge | Absentee owner surcharge is 4% from the 2024 land-tax year and can apply to taxable Victorian land held by an absentee owner | Surcharge land tax applies to foreign persons owning residential land |
| A useful definition trap | Victoria expressly says the absentee owner surcharge does not apply to Australian citizens and permanent residents who live overseas | Its own residence and foreign-person rules apply; do not import Victoria's definition |
Sources, read 27 August 2026: State Revenue Office Victoria, foreign purchaser additional duty; State Revenue Office Victoria, absentee owner surcharge; Revenue NSW, surcharge purchaser duty; Revenue NSW, surcharge land tax. Other states and territories have their own rules. Not tax or legal advice.
Do you pay GST when buying commercial property?
Sometimes. A commercial property transaction can be a taxable supply, which changes the cash needed at settlement. A qualifying sale of a going concern can be GST-free if the statutory conditions are met. That is a contract and tax question, not a foreign-person question. Confirm the treatment with the accountant and solicitor before signing because the funding gap exists on settlement day even if an input tax credit may later be available.
ATO guidance: GST and commercial property. Not tax advice.
What changes for Victorian commercial and industrial property under the new property-tax regime?
Victoria's Commercial and Industrial Property Tax regime changes the long-term cash model. A qualifying property enters a 10-year transition after a relevant entry transaction on or after 1 July 2024. Once entered, later transactions may qualify for duty exemptions, and after the transition the annual commercial and industrial property tax can apply. It is separate from land tax, so an owner can eventually be liable for both. Before buying a Victorian commercial asset, ask for the property's transition status rather than assuming every commercial property is already in the same regime.
Source: State Revenue Office Victoria, Understanding commercial and industrial property tax, updated 24 August 2026.
How much cash does a non-resident need before settlement?
Do not budget only the deposit. The real cash requirement is the equity contribution after valuation plus taxes, regulatory fees, transaction costs and any temporary funding gaps. On cross-border files, a lower valuation and an offshore money-transfer delay are often more dangerous than the headline interest rate because both can create a same-day shortfall.
| Cash item | What sets it | What can go wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Equity / deposit contribution | The lender's acceptable loan-to-value ratio, assessed income and security | The borrower budgets from an advertised percentage rather than the actual approved facility |
| Valuation shortfall | The lender's valuation and lending base | If the lender values below contract price, the maximum facility can fall and the cash contribution rises |
| Transfer duty and any foreign-purchaser surcharge | The state, property classification, buyer and transaction | A mixed-use or residential component is classified differently from the buyer's assumption |
| Foreign-investment application fee | The kind and value of the proposed action under the current fee schedule | The application timetable does not start as expected until the correct fee is paid |
| GST, if applicable | The contract and GST treatment of the transaction | A buyer assumes a later credit means the cash does not have to be funded at settlement |
| Foreign exchange and offshore transfer buffer | Currency movement, bank cut-offs and transfer route | Deposit money lands late or converts below the amount budgeted |
| Legal, valuation, translation and offshore execution | Structure, lender and where documents are signed | Identity verification or legalisation is discovered after loan documents are issued |
No universal deposit or cash percentage is stated because the result depends on the lender, valuation, security, state and transaction. Build the settlement number from the actual facility and third-party costs, not from a headline LVR.
What happens if the lender's valuation is below the contract price?
The borrowing base can shrink while the purchase price stays fixed. If the lender calculates its maximum facility from its assessed value, a lower valuation creates an equity gap the buyer must fund, renegotiate or solve with a different structure. This is why a strong balance sheet does not automatically cure a valuation issue. Read what a commercial valuation actually tests before treating the contract price as the lending value.
What if the deposit or settlement money is coming from overseas?
Move the money early enough to survive bank cut-off times, compliance questions and exchange-rate movement, and keep the paper trail that proves where it came from. A contribution from a company, trust or family member can trigger a different evidence question from money already sitting in the borrower's own account. The clean version of the file shows the source, the transfer path and the receiving account before settlement week.
How do you sign Australian loan documents from overseas?
Agree the route before documents are issued. Verification of identity, witnessing, notarisation, apostille or consular legalisation can be separate steps, and company or trust execution can add an authority check. The longest part of a cross-border settlement can therefore be document execution rather than credit assessment. Ask the solicitor and lender what they will accept while there is still time to change the route.
If the purchase is vacant commercial land that will immediately move into a build or development facility, the documentation stack changes again; the construction loan pack is the relevant next checklist rather than treating the land purchase as the end of the finance process.
What can you do when the bank says no?
First identify what actually failed: policy, credit, valuation, evidence or process. Those are five different problems. A lender that will not accept a visa or currency cannot usually be persuaded by a better spreadsheet. A low valuation is not fixed by proving more income. Missing offshore identity documents are not fixed by changing lenders. Diagnose the failure before creating more applications.
| Problem | First response | Possible next lane |
|---|---|---|
| Policy decline: currency, visa, residency or guarantor location | Stop trying to improve the same file for the same policy; identify a lender whose policy admits it | Specialist bank/non-bank or commercial funder, depending on purpose and security |
| Serviceability decline | Rebuild the income and commitments using the lender's accepted evidence and shading assumptions | Alternative documentation, lease-doc assessment, lower facility or more equity where appropriate |
| Valuation shortfall | Work out the resulting cash gap and whether the valuation itself can be reviewed on evidence | More equity, different security or another lender/valuation where justified |
| Contract deadline is now the problem | Speak to the solicitor first about finance conditions, extensions and settlement rights | A replacement commercial facility or short-term secured funding only where there is a credible exit |
| Offshore signing / KYC is blocking settlement | Fix the identity, beneficial-ownership or execution route | Usually the same transaction once the process blocker is removed |
General information only. If a contract is already unconditional or a deposit is exposed, legal rights and deadlines come first. Not legal advice.
What realistic alternatives exist after a mainstream decline?
Depending on the purpose and security, alternatives can include another commercial lender, a specialist non-bank, low-doc commercial finance, lease-doc lending on a tenanted asset, private lending or a second mortgage. These are not interchangeable products and they do not solve the same problem. A different lender can solve a policy mismatch. More equity can solve an LVR problem. Lease-doc or alternative verification can solve an evidence mismatch where the lender's product permits it. Short-term secured funding can solve a genuine timing problem only when there is a credible exit; it should not be used to disguise a permanent inability to refinance or service the debt.
How should you compare the real cost, security and exit of rescue finance?
Compare the whole facility, not the interest rate. On a specialist or private transaction the real cost can include establishment fees, lender and borrower legal costs, valuation costs, broker fees where applicable, line or commitment fees, retained or capitalised interest, minimum-interest periods, extension fees, default interest and discharge costs. A cheaper headline rate can still be the more expensive facility if the fee or minimum-interest structure is heavier.
Then map the security. A first mortgage replaces or pays out the existing first-ranking lender. A second mortgage sits behind it and can depend on the existing facility terms, priority arrangements and the first mortgagee's position. Cross-collateralised loans can make the problem harder because the property being offered may already support other debts. Business-purpose lenders can also require company, trust or personal guarantees depending on the structure and credit decision.
The final test is the exit. If the plan is “refinance in six months”, identify the lender that is expected to refinance, the serviceability or document problem that will be different by then, and the value or sale event that supports the repayment. If none of those facts is expected to change, short-term funding may be postponing the same decline at a higher cost. Read private lending and commercial bridging finance for the asset-and-exit approach, and second mortgage loans where the existing first loan is intended to stay in place.
Is a commercial lender required to belong to AFCA?
No. ASIC explains that lenders providing only commercial loans are not legally required to hold an Australian credit licence or belong to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority, although they may join voluntarily. If dispute access matters to you, check the actual lender rather than assuming the consumer-lending framework applies. See ASIC, disputes about commercial loans.
If the bank has already declined a live purchase, read how a non-bank reads a declined commercial property file before sending the same application to another desk.
What happens after settlement, at refinance and when you sell?
The cross-border obligations do not end when the money settles. A foreign owner can have registration and approval conditions, annual state taxes, lender review dates and a sale-side withholding issue later. The best time to calendar those events is at settlement, when the legal and tax advice is already in front of you.
| After-settlement event | When it matters | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Register of Foreign Ownership of Australian Assets | A foreign person acquires relevant Australian land, including commercial land | Check the register-notice requirement immediately; guidance says notices for relevant land are usually due within 30 days of acquisition or becoming a foreign person |
| Conditions attached to foreign-investment approval | The approval contains development, use or reporting conditions | Calendar each condition rather than treating approval as finished once settlement occurs |
| State land tax and foreign / absentee surcharge | Each annual assessment date | Confirm status each year because ownership, residence and state definitions can change |
| Commercial facility review or maturity | Review date, maturity, tenant change, lease expiry, valuation change or major security change | Expect updated financials, rent/lease evidence, valuation and current borrower information; start the refinance before the facility is close to expiry |
| Refinance or equity release while overseas | You want a lower rate, cash out, another purchase or a new lender after moving offshore | Model the file again using current foreign income, liabilities, rent, valuation, cash-out purpose, identification and remote execution requirements |
| Sale of Australian real property | A contract is signed to sell | Check the foreign-resident capital gains withholding process and clearance/variation position before settlement proceeds are modelled |
Sources: Register of Foreign Ownership of Australian Assets and relevant state revenue offices. Register obligations are fact-specific. Not legal or tax advice.
Can you refinance or release equity from Australian property while living overseas?
Yes, but the new lender assesses the file as it exists now, not as it looked when the original loan was approved. If you moved overseas after settlement, the refinance can introduce foreign-income shading, new residency policy, offshore identity checks and remote execution even though the Australian property and repayment history are unchanged. Australian rent can help, but each lender decides what income, liabilities, cash-out purpose and LVR it will accept.
Substantial equity does not automatically cure a serviceability problem. Where mainstream policy no longer fits, a specialist non-resident or commercial lender may assess the file differently, but the borrower still needs a viable repayment structure. If cash is being released for another investment or business purpose, make the purpose and destination of funds clear before application rather than assuming “equity release” is automatically unrestricted.
What can a commercial lender re-test at review or maturity?
A commercial facility can be re-tested on the borrower, the property and the lease. APRA's commercial-property guidance requires banks to consider the tenancy profile relative to loan maturity where repayment depends on property cash flow, and notes that weighted average lease expiry can be relevant. In practice, a refinance or review can therefore turn on updated financials, the current valuation, tenant quality, lease expiry, vacancy, business revenue and whether the foreign-income evidence still supports the debt.
A shorter lease, tenant departure, lower valuation, weaker business earnings or a change in country, currency or ownership can make the next refinance harder even when the existing loan has never missed a payment. That is why the exit should be planned well before maturity, especially where offshore KYC, entity documents or a new valuation are likely to be required. See APRA APG 112 on commercial property credit risk.
Do foreign owners have to register commercial property after settlement?
They can. The Australian Government lists commercial land among the assets covered by the Register of Foreign Ownership of Australian Assets. Current guidance says a register notice for an interest in Australian land covered by the relevant provisions is usually due within 30 days after acquisition or after the owner becomes a foreign person. Confirm the exact event and deadline for the transaction rather than assuming the pre-acquisition approval completed the reporting job.
What happens to the sale proceeds when the property is eventually sold?
From 1 January 2025, the foreign-resident capital gains withholding rate is 15% and the old property-value threshold has been removed. The regime can apply to residential and commercial Australian real property. An Australian-resident vendor generally needs a clearance certificate to prevent withholding; a foreign-resident vendor may be able to obtain a variation. The withheld amount is not the same thing as the final capital-gains-tax liability, but it can materially change the cash available on settlement and therefore the exit calculation on a loan.
Source: Australian Taxation Office, foreign resident capital gains withholding. Not tax advice.
What if your residency or ownership structure changes after purchase?
Re-run the relevant tests rather than assuming the original answer follows you forever. A change in visa, residence, spouse or co-owner, company ownership, trust control or beneficial ownership can affect lender policy, foreign-investment reporting, a state surcharge and the next refinance in different ways. The person who should be told depends on which fact changed. That is the same principle this guide starts with: one status label does not answer every question, and a structure that worked at purchase can still need a fresh legal, tax or credit read later.
The clean way to read a non-resident or foreign-income borrowing file is as a sequence, not a single eligibility question. First identify the federal and state status tests for every relevant person and entity. Then work out exactly which currencies and income components the lender will count. Before an unconditional commitment, confirm foreign-investment treatment, state taxes, valuation risk and the real settlement-cash number. Plan offshore signing and source-of-funds evidence before documents arrive. If a bank declines the file, diagnose whether it was policy, credit, valuation or process, then compare any rescue facility by total cost, security rank and exit. After settlement, calendar registration, annual tax, commercial review, overseas refinance and sale-side withholding.
Key takeaway: the most expensive mistake is assuming one “yes”, whether that is citizenship, foreign-investment approval, bank pre-approval or a strong valuation, answers the rest of the transaction. It does not.Frequently asked questions
Yes. Non-residents can borrow in Australia, but the lender panel is narrower and the file is usually assessed through several separate filters: residency or visa policy, the currency and evidence supporting the income, the property being offered as security, and the purpose of the loan. A decline from one lender can therefore be a policy decline rather than a conclusion that the borrower cannot afford the debt. Commercial and business-purpose files can also be assessed differently from residential home loans, particularly where a tenanted property, other security or specialist verification path is available.
No. Australian citizenship is not a universal answer for every foreign-investment question. Current Australian foreign-investment guidance says an Australian citizen living overseas may be a foreign person under the Act depending on their circumstances and the ordinary-residence test. State revenue laws can use different definitions again: for example, Victoria says its absentee owner surcharge does not apply to Australian citizens and permanent residents who live overseas. Confirm the federal and state tests separately before contracting.
There is no single Australian deposit percentage for non-residents. The cash contribution is set by the lender after it assesses the property value, the acceptable loan-to-value ratio, the foreign-income position, the security and the evidence supporting the file. The practical cash requirement can be larger than the deposit because a valuation shortfall, transfer duty, any foreign-purchaser surcharge, foreign-investment fees, GST on a commercial transaction, foreign-exchange timing and legal or offshore execution costs can all sit beside it.
Plan the execution route before the lender issues documents. The lender and the land-title jurisdiction may require verification of identity, an approved witness, notarisation, an apostille or consular legalisation, and sometimes original documents. Company and trust borrowers may also need evidence showing who is authorised to sign. The credit approval can be finished while the execution process is still consuming calendar, so the signing plan should be agreed with the solicitor and lender early.
First identify why the file was declined. A currency, residency, visa or offshore-guarantor rule is a policy problem; weak serviceability, a low valuation or poor evidence is a credit or structure problem; and missing identity or execution documents are a process problem. The solutions are different. Depending on the transaction, the next step may be a specialist commercial lender, a lease-doc or alternative-documentation assessment, a larger cash contribution, different security, a settlement extension, or short-term secured funding with a credible exit. If a contract is already unconditional, speak to the solicitor first because the contract timetable can matter more than the next lender.
No, and treating them as one is the most expensive assumption on a cross-border file. At least four decision makers are involved and one answer never substitutes for the next. Federal foreign-investment law and guidance decide whether you are a foreign person, which governs whether an acquisition is screened or notified. Australian tax law and the Australian Taxation Office decide tax residency, which governs tax treatment including the sale-side withholding framework. The revenue law of the state or territory where the land sits decides whether you are a foreign or absentee owner for purchase duty and annual land-tax surcharges. The lender's own credit policy then decides whether the file is read at all. The definitions can diverge: current federal guidance says an Australian citizen living overseas may be a foreign person depending on their circumstances, while some state surcharge rules expressly treat Australian citizens differently. Confirm each limb separately with a lawyer and a tax adviser.
Sometimes. A commercial property transaction can be a taxable supply, which changes the cash needed at settlement. A qualifying sale of a going concern can be GST-free if the statutory conditions are met. This is a contract and tax question rather than a foreign-person question, which is exactly why cross-border buyers miss it while concentrating on the surcharges that do turn on their status. Confirm the treatment with the accountant and solicitor before signing, because the funding gap exists on settlement day even if an input tax credit may later be available.
Annual land tax is separate from the duty paid once at purchase, and the two do not share a boundary, so they should not be modelled together. Whether ordinary land tax reaches a property depends on the state or territory where the land sits and on that jurisdiction's threshold. A foreign or absentee owner surcharge can sit on top, on each jurisdiction's own definition, and that definition is not the same as the one used for the duty surcharge. In Victoria the Commercial and Industrial Property Tax regime is separate again from land tax, so an owner can eventually be liable for both. Every state and territory sets its own rate, base and exemptions, so confirm with the revenue office where the land sits. For a financing decision the annual limb is the one to model, because it changes the holding cost in every year of the loan.
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