Certificate Of Eligibility
 General Rules for Eligibility
Military Service Requirements for VA Loan
Eligibility
How to Get Your Certificate of Eligibility
General Rules for Eligibility
Military Service Requirements for VA
Home Loan Eligibility
Note:
Applications involving other than honorable discharges will usually
require further development by VA. This is necessary to determine
if the service was under other than dishonorable conditions.
Wartime - Service During: WWII 9/16/1940 to 7/25/1947
Korean 6/27/1950 to 1/31/1955
Vietnam 8/5/1964 to 5/7/1975
You must have
at least 90 days on active duty and been discharged under other
than dishonorable conditions. If you served less than 90 days, you
may be eligible if discharged for a service connected
disability.
Peacetime - Service during periods: 7/26/1947 to 6/26/1950
2/1/1955 to 8/4/1964
5/8/1975 to 9/7/1980 (enlisted)
5/8/1975 to 10/16/1981 (officer)
You must have
served at least 181 days of continuous active duty and been
discharged under other than dishonorable conditions. If you served
less than 181 days, you may be eligible if discharged for a service
connected disability.
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Service after 9/7/1980
(enlisted) or 10/16/1981 (officer)
If you were
separated from service which began after these dates, you must
have:
- Completed 24
months of continuous active duty or the full period (at least 181
days) for which you were ordered or called to active duty and been
discharged under conditions other than dishonorable, or
- Completed at
least 181 days of active duty and been discharged under the
specific authority of 10 USC 1173 (Hardship), or 10 USC 1171 (Early
Out), or have been determined to have a compensable
service-connected disability;
- Been
discharged with less than 181 days of service for a
service-connected disability. Individuals may also be eligible if
they were released from active duty due to an involuntary reduction
in force, certain medical conditions, or, in some instances for the
convenience of the Government.
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Gulf
War - Service during period 8/2/1990 to date yet to be determined
If you served
on active duty during the Gulf War, you must have:
- Completed 24
months of continuous active duty or the full period (at least 90
days) for which you were called or ordered to active duty, and been
discharged under conditions other than dishonorable, or
- Completed at
least 90 days of active duty and been discharged under the specific
authority of 10 USC 1173 (Hardship), or 10 USC 1173 (Early Out), or
have been determined to have a compensable service-connected
disability, or
- Been
discharged with less than 90 days of service for a
service-connected disability. Individuals may also be eligible if
they were released from active duty due to an involuntary reduction
in force, certain medical conditions, or, in some instances, for
the convenience of the Government.
Active Duty Service
Personnel
If you are
now on regular duty (not active duty for training), you are
eligible after having served 181 days (90 days during the Gulf War)
unless discharged or separated from a previous qualifying period of
active duty service.
Selected Reserves or
National Guard
If you are
not otherwise eligible and you have completed a total of 6 years in
the Selected Reserves or National Guard (member of an active unit,
attended required weekend drills and 2-week active duty for
training) and
- Were
discharged with an honorable discharge, 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 service, or
- Continue to
serve in the Selected Reserves
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Disabled Veterans
Individuals
who completed less than 6 years may be eligible if discharged for a
service-connected disability.
Spouse of a Veteran
You May also
be determined eligible if you:
- Are an
unremarried spouse of a veteran who died while in service or from a
service connected disability, or
- Are a spouse
of a serviceperson missing in action or a prisoner of
war
Note: Also, a
surviving spouse who remarries on or after attaining age 57, and on
or after December 16, 2003, may be eligible for the home loan
benefit. However, a surviving spouse who remarried before December
16, 2003, and on or after attaining age 57, must apply 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.
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Other Veterans
Eligibility
may also be established for:
- Certain
United States citizens who served in the armed forces of a
government allied with the United States in WW 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, merchant seaman with WW II service, and others.
How to Get Your Certificate
of Eligibility
The Veterans
Administration (VA) determines your eligibility and, if qualified,
a certificate of eligibility is issued. Eligibility applications
can involve:
-
an original determination of
eligibility for the home loan benefit
-
a request to replace a lost
certificate of eligibility
-
a request for restoration of the
benefit after payment in full of a previous VA home
loan
-
issuance of a certificate reflecting
a current outstanding loan for refinance purposes
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Requesting a Certificate of
Eligibility Through our Certified Lenders
In many
cases, we will be able to obtain a Certificate of Eligibility for
you by using the ACE (automated certificate of eligibility). ACE is
a web-based application that is able to determine eligibility and
issue an online Certificate of Eligibility in a matter of seconds.
Not all cases can be processed through ACE. If there is
insufficient data in our records, the certificate will have to be
requested from VA using the procedures below.
Requesting a certificate
from VA
1. Complete
VA Form 26-1880, Request for a
Certificate of Eligibility for VA Home Loan Benefits.
2. Send the
completed VA Form 26-1880 and any supporting evidence (see 3 and 4
below) to the correct VA Eligibility Center (see below "Where is
Your Eligibility Certificate Processed?"). Under normal
circumstances a response can be anticipated in roughly 10 days.
This time frame will vary during periods of heavy
activity
3. Include
photocopies of your most recent discharge or separation papers
covering active military duty, which show active duty dates and
type of discharge. IF YOU SERVED ON REGULAR ACTIVE DUTY (NOT A
RESERVIST) AND WERE DISCHARGED AFTER 1975 OR YOU HAVE PREVIOUSLY
HAD A VA LOAN, IT MAY NOT BE NECESSARY FOR YOU TO PROVIDE
DOCUMENTATION OF YOUR MILITARY SERVICE. However, it is best to
provide such evidence with your VA Form 26-1880 if it is readily
available so as to avoid possible delays in processing your
request.
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If
you were discharged from regular active duty
* If you were
separated after January 1, 1950, the appropriate documentation of
your military service would be DD Form 214, Certificate of Release
or Discharge from Active Duty. If you were discharged after October
1, 1979, DD Form 214, copy 4 would be appropriate. A PHOTOCOPY OF
DD214 WILL SUFFICE….DO NOT SUBMIT AN ORIGINAL
DOCUMENT.
If
your service was in Selected Reserves
* If you
served in the Selected Reserve you must provide documentation
sufficient to establish that you served a minimum of 6 years with
points earned for weekend drills or active duty for training and
received an honorable discharge. Since there is no uniform document
similar to the DD214 for proof of service in the Selected Reserve,
a number of different forms may be accepted.
* For those who served in the Army or Air National Guard and were
discharged after a least 6 years of service, NGB Form 22 may be
sufficient.
* Those who served in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps or
Coast Guard Reserves may need to relay on a variety of forms. Often
it will be necessary to submit a combination of documents such as
an Honorable Discharge certificate together with a Retirement
Points Statement.
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If
you remain on active duty
* If you are
now on regular active duty and have not been previously discharged
from active duty service, you must submit a statement of service
which includes the name of the issuing authority (base or command),
and is signed by or at the direction of an appropriate official.
The statement must identify you (SSN), and provide your date of
entry on active duty and the duration of any time lost. If you
remain on active Selected Reserve duty, the statement of service
should be from your unit CO and should cite the length of time you
have served with the reserve unit.
Restoration of Previously Used
Benefit
If you are
seeking restoration of your previously used benefit, you should
include any evidence of payment in full of your prior loan (copy of
HUD-1, settlement statement for example) that you have in your
possession. Normally VA receives notification that a loan has been
paid, but this does not always happen. VA determines your
eligibility and, if you are qualified, VA will issue you a
certificate of eligibility to be used in applying for a VA
loan.
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Where
do I send my request for Certificate of Eligibility?
Please send your request
to::
VA Loan
Eligibility Center
PO Box 20729
Winston-Salem, NC 27120
* Toll free
number: 1-888-244-6711
* Secure Online Web Site: https://iris.va.gov
The toll free telephone line to for
the VA Eligibility Center in Winston-Salem Eligibility Center is
1-888-244-6711. It has has been included in their VA National
Automated Response System. Accordingly, callers are now provided a
menu of information regarding the guaranteed home loan program and
may exercise options from that menu which allow them to speak to VA
Eligibility Personnel. Currently, the most direct route through the
menu for those program participants who wish to speak to
Eligibility personnel includes menu selections in the following
order:
(1) - Touchtone phone
(1) - Eligibility
(2) - Status
Once you
obtain your Certificate of Eligibility, then fill out our
RESIDENTIAL LOAN APPLICATION here online. We will process your loan
and get you moving forward. If you have any more questions, please
contact
us
* The
information above has been reposted from the Veterans
Administration web site and is provided herein as a service to our
users.
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