VA Home Loan Eligibility in 2026: Service Rules, Funding Fee and Limits

VA home loan eligibility comes down to two things: your military service and your finances. You are eligible if you meet VA’s minimum service requirements as a veteran, active-duty service member, or National Guard or Reserve member, or if you are a qualifying surviving spouse. You prove it with a Certificate of Eligibility (COE). Then you must meet a lender’s credit and income standards and plan to live in the home.

A VA loan is a mortgage from a private lender that the US Department of Veterans Affairs partly guarantees. That guaranty lets lenders offer zero-down loans with no monthly mortgage insurance. In return, most borrowers pay a one-time funding fee.

This guide covers the 2026 rules as published by VA as of October 2026: service requirements, entitlement and loan limits, the funding fee table, residual income, occupancy, refinancing and surviving spouses. For how VA compares with other programs, see our overview of types of mortgage loans.

Who is eligible for a VA loan?

You may be eligible if you served the minimum time on active duty, in the National Guard or in the Reserves, and you were not discharged under dishonorable conditions. Current service members usually qualify after 90 continuous days of active duty. Some surviving spouses also qualify, as explained later in this guide.

The service minimums depend on when and how you served. The table below summarizes the main categories from VA’s eligibility page.

Earlier service periods have their own rules, often 90 or 181 days. You may qualify with less time if you were discharged for a service-connected disability, hardship, a reduction in force, or certain other reasons.

If you received an other than honorable, bad conduct or dishonorable discharge, you may not be eligible. VA can review your character of discharge, and you can apply for a discharge upgrade.

How do you get a Certificate of Eligibility?

The COE is VA’s proof that you qualify for the home loan benefit. You can request it online through VA, ask your lender to request it electronically, or apply by mail. The COE also shows your entitlement amount and whether you are exempt from the funding fee.

Veterans usually provide a DD214. Current service members, Guard and Reserve members provide proof of their service instead; VA’s request form lists what fits your situation. If you previously used your benefit and want it back, you can request restoration of entitlement online, through your lender, or by mailing VA Form 26-1880.

Is there a VA loan limit?

There is no VA loan limit if you have full entitlement. VA states that borrowers with full entitlement “don’t have a loan limit.” Your lender still decides how much you can afford based on credit, income, debts and assets, and the loan cannot exceed the lower of the price or the appraised value.

You generally have full entitlement if you have never used the benefit, or if you used it, repaid the loan and had the entitlement restored. If you still have an active VA loan, you have remaining entitlement. In that case, county loan limits matter.

How remaining entitlement works

VA’s entitlement page explains the steps. Take 25% of your county’s one-unit conforming loan limit, then subtract the entitlement already in use. Multiply what is left by four to estimate the largest loan most lenders will make with no down payment. The baseline 2026 conforming limit set by FHFA is $832,750, and high-cost counties go up to $1,249,125.

How much is the VA funding fee in 2026?

For a purchase or construction loan with less than 5% down, the funding fee is 2.15% of the loan on first use and 3.3% on later uses. With 5% or more down it is 1.5%, and with 10% or more down it is 1.25%. You can pay it at closing or add it to the loan.

These rates have been in effect since April 7, 2023, and VA’s page still showed them in October 2026.

Other VA loan types have fixed rates that do not depend on down payment or prior use.

If your only prior VA loan was for a manufactured home, you still pay the first-use rate. See VA’s funding fee page for the full chart.

Who is exempt from the funding fee?

You do not pay the funding fee if any of these apply:

• You receive VA compensation for a service-connected disability.
• You are eligible for that compensation but receive retirement or active-duty pay instead.
• You are a surviving spouse receiving Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC).
• You are a service member with a proposed or memorandum rating, issued before closing, showing eligibility for compensation on a pre-discharge claim.
• You are on active duty and show evidence of a Purple Heart on or before closing.

What credit and income do VA lenders require?

VA does not publish a single minimum credit score. Instead, you must meet VA and lender standards for credit, income and debts. Lenders set their own score floors. VA underwriting looks at two measures together: a debt-to-income ratio, with 41% as the guideline, and residual income.

The table below shows VA’s residual income guidelines for loans of $80,000 and above, from 38 CFR 36.4340.

For families larger than five, add $80 per extra member, up to a family of seven. “Family” means everyone in the household. Lower figures apply to loans of $79,999 and below.

The two tests work together. If your DTI is above 41%, the lender must justify the approval, unless your residual income beats the guideline by at least 20%. A DTI of 41% or less does not guarantee approval either.

What are the VA occupancy rules?

You must live in the home you buy with a VA purchase loan. VA purchase loans are not for investment properties or vacation homes. Special occupancy rules can apply when you are deployed or on active duty away from home. Ask your lender how soon you must move in and what certification it needs.

VA loans can finance a single-family home, an approved condo, or a manufactured home, and some small multi-unit homes when you live in one unit. The home must pass a VA appraisal, which checks value and basic safety. As with any loan, a separate home inspection is a good idea.

How does a VA IRRRL work?

An Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan (IRRRL), often called a VA streamline, replaces an existing VA loan with a new VA loan, usually at a lower rate. You must currently live in the home or have lived there before. The funding fee is 0.5%, and closing costs can be rolled into the new loan.

If there is a second mortgage, its holder must agree to make the new VA loan the first mortgage. You must show prior use of your entitlement: bring your original COE, or your lender can pull it electronically. A VA cash-out refinance is a separate product with its own funding fee of 2.15% on first use and 3.3% after.

Can surviving spouses get VA home loans?

Yes. A surviving spouse may qualify if the veteran died in service or from a service-connected disability and the spouse did not remarry, or remarried on or after age 57 and on or after December 16, 2003. Spouses of service members missing in action or held as prisoners of war can also qualify.

There is also a path when a veteran was totally disabled and later died, in certain situations, even if the disability did not cause the death. Surviving spouses who receive DIC are exempt from the funding fee.

The paperwork differs by situation, according to VA’s surviving spouse page:

1. If you receive DIC, submit VA Form 26-1817 with the veteran’s DD214 or other separation papers. Your lender can submit it online.
2. If you do not receive DIC, first file VA Form 21P-534EZ with the DD214 (if available), your marriage license and the death certificate.

Steps to get a VA loan

You get a VA loan through a private, VA-approved lender. VA does not lend directly for most buyers. The process mirrors a standard mortgage, with the COE and VA appraisal added. Comparing two or three lenders is wise, because rates, fees and credit minimums vary.

1. Confirm eligibility and request your COE, or ask your lender to pull it.
2. Check your credit for free at AnnualCreditReport.com.
3. Get preapproved and compare Loan Estimates, including how each lender handles the funding fee.
4. Shop for a home you will live in, within the amount your lender approves.
5. Order the VA appraisal through the lender after your offer is accepted.
6. Complete underwriting, including the DTI and residual income review.
7. Close, paying or financing the funding fee unless you are exempt.

Is a VA loan the right choice?

For most eligible borrowers, a VA loan is the cheapest way to buy with little or nothing down. There is no monthly mortgage insurance, and the funding fee is often lower over time than FHA or conventional mortgage insurance. Exempt veterans pay no funding fee at all.

A conventional loan can still win in some cases, such as when you have 20% down and want to keep your VA entitlement free for a later purchase. Compare VA with FHA loans and a USDA loan if you are buying in a rural area. You can see how all programs line up in our mortgage requirements by loan type guide, or browse the government loans hub.