THINK PROGRESS - In the past year, housing ownership by Americans fell to 65.3 percent while ownership increased among immigrant households. But if the bipartisan immigration bill set forth by the Gang of Eight passes, that number could soon skyrocket.
The issue of permanence currently confounds the problem of home ownership among immigrants. For legal immigrants with a H1-B visa, the maximum length of stay is six years. For undocumented immigrants, the maximum length of stay is a law enforcement’s door knock away. Currently, Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) holders are selectively qualified to purchase houses through a few banks.
Of those immigrants, they go through a careful screening that includes whether they have late payments on utilities and remit payments to family in their native countries. Legal status would allow non-citizens to have Social Security numbers, which will in turn allow them to qualify for a mortgage.
