Help with H1B/SSN timing for a homebuyer

Hello knowledgeable forum people! I've looked in other threads but haven't quite got my answers.

My wife and I are in Montreal, and we're moving to Texas for my job.
My employer is getting me an H1B with premium processing (I can expect it to take 1-1.5 months, they say).

We want to buy a house (we're hunting in April) and close it before July 1 to qualify for the First Time Homebuyers Tax Credit.

To close on the home, we need a mortgage loan secured, which we can do with Wells Fargo (thankfully they have offered to use our Canadian credit history), however I will still need an SSN at that time to make them happy.

Assuming I get my visa approval by May 1 (approx), is this the right sequence of events:

1)Obtain an I-797 in the mail (approval for visa)

2)Get my H1B visa stamped by a visit to a local consulate for an interview with my I-797.

3)Drive to the border, get an I-94. I must present a stamped H1B visa at the border and give an address of residence (presumably the home we've chosen in April).

4)That same day, drive to an SSA and apply for an SSN in person and present an I-94. Then return to Canada to wait a month for SSN to arrive (surrender I-94 or no?).

5)SSN in hand, get back to Wells Fargo regarding mortgage?

Does anybody see a potential problem with me getting an I-94 at the border, finding the nearest SSA, then turning right around and going back to Canada to wait for the SSN? Does the I-94 assume I'm going to begin work immediately, or is there some kind of grace period?

Thanks for any advice!

My wife and I are in Montreal, and we're moving to Texas for my job. My employer is getting me an H1B with premium processing (I can expect it to take 1-1.5 months, they say).

Will you be working for an exempt organization? If not, you should be aware that the H1B cap has been reached for FY 2010 and no more H1B's will be available--premium processing or not--until Oct 1, 2010.

Even if you are working for an exempt organization, your timing seems really tight. You might have the H-1B by May 1--but only if the employer starts processing pretty soon. The employer then needs to send you the I-797 to your Canadian address--I'd allow a week for that (even with 'overnight' delivery because the lawyer first needs to get it to the employer and the employer then needs to get it to you, and I can pretty much guarantee that this task won't seem as urgent to the employer/lawyer as it does to you).

At that point there is some good news--you actually don't need to apply at the consulate but instead can go straight to the border with your I-797/passport. Canadians can skip the whole consulate step.

After getting the actual H-1B, though, you'd need to wait a week or so to apply for a SSN (to allow them time to get your entry to the USA into the system) and then a week to get the number--all assuming you have no unexpected delays (never a guarantee).

This means--if all goes well--you will begin applying for a mortgage on May 22 or so for a home that absolutely positively must close by June 30 (according to the tax credit rules) but may well have an earlier deadline via the contract to get your mortgage in place. And this is for a mortgage that will probably be trickier than usual. It may take longer than usual for them to pull up a Canadian credit report--and it may take some explanation before they are comfortable with your wife not having a SSN (which she won't).

So I think it is a chancey proposition but perhaps not completely undoable. I think the biggest piece of information you need to evaluate just how chancey--which you haven't shared yet--would be to know how long a seller in Texas will typically allow you to get the mortgage in the sales contract. The way I see it, I would say there is a reasonable chance you might get the mortgage just barely in time, but whether a seller will be comfortable with a contract that leaves so much up to chance until the very last minute is another story entirely.

-- Thu Mar 11, 2010 1:53 pm --

My wife and I are in Montreal, and we're moving to Texas for my job. My employer is getting me an H1B with premium processing (I can expect it to take 1-1.5 months, they say)...

I just saw your other post--the reply above was before I read another post of yours.

So some good news and some bad news, I guess--a university is an "exempt organization" so the problem of the H-1B cap is solved--that's the good news.

The bad news is that your I-797 will specify the actual start date of your employment which I understand is in the fall. There is no guarantee you'll be let in in H-1B status substantially before your start date--and if that doesn't happen you can't get the SSN/mortgage. Conventional wisdom seems to be that one shouldn't count on being allowed in in a particular status more than about 2 weeks before the activity associated with that status is to start.

Thank you SO MUCH for your informative and speedy reply!

You arrived at the exact conclusion I did... indeed it is a university and exempt from the cap, but that start-date of my employment is all the way in August and I'm not going to be able to secure an SSN until then.

Well, so much for the idea of buying a house and driving right up to it! I guess we'll be renting for a bit first.

Thanks once again, you're a lifesaver.

I'm not sure if you are under the following misconception, because quite frankly your posts are way too long to read thoroughly, but as I responded to your other lengthy post, you will be eligible for the HB credit if you file 1040 this year. You will be able to file 1040 if you are living in US at the end of the year.

So you only need to buy the house before the deadline. SSN, H1, residency mean nothing, other than presenting a difficulty in getting the mortgage.But 1000's of Cdn own property in US without the benefit of ssn h1 etc. They buy them as tourists: you can too.

So you only need to buy the house before the deadline. SSN, H1, residency mean nothing, other than presenting a difficulty in getting the mortgage.But 1000's of Cdn own property in US without the benefit of ssn h1 etc. They buy them as tourists: you can too.

I'm not aware of any situation, though, where a Cdn has gotten a US mortgage while in the country as a tourist. Clearly that is not the plan Wells Fargo is proposing as they are willing to use the Cdn credit history but only in conjunction with a US SSN--which a tourist would not have.

Established snowbirds--who presumably make up a big chunk of the 1000's you are referring to--would either be able to pay cash up front, or would have enough equity in their primary Cdn residence that they could mortgage the Cdn residence via a Cdn bank and use the proceeds to pay cash for the US property.

Sometimes, of course, parents/family can help where there is only a short gap in time to be bridged like this. However, anyone helping with the large sum of cash required to purchase in cash should understand that a new prospective TN is not very well established in the USA, and neither the TN nor the subsequent mortgage is guaranteed to be approved. Plus there is no guarantee that currency fluctuations, not to mention the costs in exchanging currency twice, wouldn't completely wipe out the $8,000 credit that is supposedly motivating this transaction if someone were to front the cash for the entire transaction on a short term basis.

If you know of a way to actual get a mortgage in the USA as a tourist (remembering that it is not in question that it is always legal to buy real estate if you can pay cash), I'd be interested to know more. I've been following forums like this one for years and the general reaction has always been that it might be possible in theory but not in practice.

I bought my house before getting TN or SSN, because my firm enlisted a relocation specialist who had access to people at firms (WF in my case) that could override the automatic rejections. Of course, that was in 2000.