Mortgage Resources

Certificate of Eligibility for VA Home Loans

Veteran Benefits Picture

General VA Eligibility Requirements Include:

  • Suitable credit
  • Sufficient income
  • Valid Certificate of Eligibility
  • The home obtained must be for your occupancy

Eligibility Requirements for VA Home Loans:

Requirements to qualify for a COE can be found below; you must also have been discharged under conditions other than dishonorable.

StatusQualifying Wartime & Peacetime PeriodsQualifying Active Duty DatesMinimum Active Duty Service Requirement
VeteranWWII9/16/1940 - 7/25/194790 total days
VeteranPost-WWII7/26/1947 - 6/26/1950181 continuous days
VeteranKorean War6/27/1950 - 1/31/195590 total days
VeteranPost-Korean War2/1/1955 - 8/4/1964181 continuous days
VeteranVietnam War8/5/1964 - 5/7/1975 *For Veterans who served in the Republic of Vietnam, the beginning date is 2/28/196190 total days
VeteranPost-Vietnam War5/8/1975 - 9/7/1980 *The ending date for officers is 10/16/1981181 continuous days
Veteran24-month rule9/8/1980 - 8/1/1990 *The beginning date for officers is 10/17/198124 continuous months, OR
The full period (at least 181 days) for which you were called or ordered to active duty
VeteranGulf War8/2/1990 - Present24 continuous months, OR
The full period (at least 90 days) for which you were called or ordered to active duty
Currently On Active DutyAnyAny90 continuous days
National Guard & Reserve MemberGulf War8/2/1990 - Present90 days of active service
National Guard & Reserve MemberSix years of service in the Selected Reserve or National Guard, AND
Were discharged honorably, OR
Were placed on the retired list, OR
Were transferred to the Standby Reserve or an element of the Ready Reserve other than the Selected Reserve after service characterized as honorable, OR
Continue to serve in the Selected Reserve.
*If you do not meet the minimum service requirements, you may still be eligible if you were discharged due to (1) hardship, (2) the convenience of the government, (3) reduction-in-force, (4) certain medical conditions, or (5) a service-connected disability.

Spouses:

A Veteran's spouse is eligible to apply for a home loan if one of the following conditions is true:

  • Unremarried spouse of a Veteran who died while in service or from a service-connected disability
  • Spouse of a Servicemember missing in action or a prisoner of war
  • A surviving spouse who remarries on or after attaining age 57 and on or after December 16, 2003 (Note: a surviving spouse who remarried before December 16, 2003, and on or after attaining age 57, must have applied no later than December 15, 2004, to establish home loan eligibility. VA must deny applications from surviving spouses who remarried before December 6, 2003, that are received after December 15, 2004.)
  • Surviving Spouses of certain totally disabled veterans whose disability may not have been the cause of death

Other Eligible Beneficiaries

Eligibility may still exist if one of the following categories is true:

  • Certain U.S. citizens who served in the armed forces of a government allied with the United States in World War II
  • Individuals with service as members in certain organizations, such as Public Health Service officers, cadets at the United States Military, Air Force, or Coast Guard Academy, midshipmen at the United States Naval Academy, officers of National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, and merchant seaman with World War II service.