Mortgage for foreigners: which lender accepts foreign-currency income?
Anyone paid in francs, dollars, pounds or Singapore dollars gets very different answers from German banks. Some lenders do not accept foreign-currency income — others do. What decides it is the individual lender’s credit policy, not the size of your salary.
Which lender accepts foreign-currency income for a mortgage for foreigners?
For a mortgage for foreigners, foreign-currency income counts with the lenders whose credit policy provides for it, after a safety margin and not in full. The bank converts the income, applies the margin and calculates with what remains. Which currencies are accepted differs from one lender to the next.
How do banks count a salary in a foreign currency?
Lenders whose credit policy provides for it count a foreign-currency salary, but not in full. They apply a safety margin to foreign income, and its size is set in the lender's own policy.
- 650+ banks compared; Haircut on foreign-currency income; Policy decides acceptance; §34i GewO licence.
- Non-resident mortgage: does a foreign-currency salary count? With the lenders whose credit policy provides for it: yes. Which currencies are accepted differs from one lender to the next. Foreign-currency income and the banks that accept it.
- Is it counted in full? No. Where financing does happen, banks apply a safety margin to foreign income. That shrinks the budget, but it is not an exclusion criterion. How large the margin is sits in the lender's own policy.
- Why do so many lenders say no? Because the credit policy does not provide for the case — often drawn narrowly as “EU residence, euro income”. On top of that come process questions: identification without PostIdent, service of documents abroad, a German settlement account, anti-money-laundering checks. The document checklist.
Who arranges this?
Perini Finance & Property — licensed under §34i GewO, 650+ banks compared. We know the lenders whose credit policies cover non-residents and foreign-currency income, including the cases that only banks with a working FX process take. Foreign-currency income and the banks that accept it.
Does your foreign-currency income count with a German bank? Whether your foreign-currency income counts towards a mortgage for foreigners depends on the individual lender’s credit policy, not on the size of your salary. Some lenders do not accept foreign-currency income — others do, and the list of accepted currencies differs from one bank to the next.
Where a salary in francs, dollars, pounds or Singapore dollars is accepted, it is not counted in full: the bank converts it, applies a safety margin and calculates with what remains.
The same policy also names the country of residence — many lenders have drawn their country lists narrowly, and an adviser is not permitted to assess a case outside that list at all.
That is why arguing against a rejection rarely pays, and approaching the lenders that have mapped this constellation into their process from the outset does.
A foreign-currency salary does not enter the affordability calculation as it appears on the payslip. The bank converts it and then deducts a safety margin — what remains has to carry the instalment.
Accepted currencies: every lender keeps its own list. CHF, USD and GBP appear on it more often than thinly traded currencies. Whether yours is on it is settled before any creditworthiness assessment. Safety margin: the converted income is taken at a reduced figure.
How large the reduction is sits in the policy and differs from bank to bank. Plan with the applied figure, not with the gross amount. Sustainability: what counts is not the best month but the income durably available.
Fixed-term contracts, bonuses and variable components are weighted differently. Form of evidence: employment contract, payslips and salary-account statements belong together. For the self-employed, annual accounts take their place — with a reconciliation where they follow foreign accounting rules.
The practical consequence: two lenders can derive two markedly different budgets from the same salary, without anything about your situation having changed.
Three constellations — and what credit policies make of them
Euro income is broadly accepted with no currency haircut, while CHF, GBP, USD, SGD and AED are decided lender by lender. For DKK, SEK, PLN, CZK, HUF and RON the pool is narrower.
Euro — Typical cases: Residence in Spain, Portugal, Austria, the Netherlands, Italy, Cyprus; Acceptance: Broad; In practice: Nothing to convert in the income evidence, no currency haircut. The easiest cross-border case; identification and proof of income remain.
CHF, GBP, USD, SGD, AED — Typical cases: Residence in Switzerland, the UK, the USA, Singapore, the UAE; Acceptance: Lender by lender; In practice: Lenders with a routine FX process know these currencies; the euro-converted income is taken with the safety margin.
Whether a lender underwrites the case is set by its credit policy — Switzerland is the best-established, the USA the most laborious.
DKK, SEK, PLN, CZK, HUF, RON — Typical cases: Residence in Denmark, Sweden, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania; Acceptance: Lender by lender; In practice: These countries of residence appear on far fewer country lists, and the margin comes on top.
The pool is therefore narrower than for the major currencies — what remains are the lenders whose credit policy allows residence and currency at once.
The table sorts by the currency you are paid in. The same credit policy also names your country of residence — both have to fit before a lender will take the case at all.
Why banks still say no
A high, secure salary and a rejection all the same — that happens often. The reason given on the phone is usually the shortest one to hand, not the correct one. What actually sits behind it:
- Internal country lists: many lenders have drawn their credit policies narrowly (“EU residence + euro income”). The adviser is then not permitted to assess the case at all — it is closed before anyone looks at your documents.
- No FX process: conversion, haircut and ongoing monitoring have to be mapped in the lender’s systems. Where that is missing, the whole case group is excluded — regardless of the individual customer.
- Process, not creditworthiness: identification without PostIdent, service of documents abroad, a German settlement account, anti-money-laundering checks. Most of it is solvable — just not in a branch’s standard process.
- Foreign-currency haircut: where financing does happen, banks do not count foreign income in full but apply a safety margin.
The practical consequence: arguing against a rejection rarely pays. Approaching the lenders that have mapped this constellation into their process does. That is our work.
The second-residence lever — what does it cost?
An idea suggests itself: with a residence in Germany, identification, service of documents and jurisdiction are solved, and the case falls within far more credit policies. From the bank’s perspective, the cross-border case becomes a domestic one.
The price sits in tax law. A residence actually maintained in Germany establishes unlimited tax liability under §8 AO — that is, taxation of worldwide income.
For an expat on a high foreign salary, a second home permanently available for use can also call into question their treaty residence under the applicable double taxation agreement. The route banks like best is therefore the most delicate one in tax terms.
It needs to be calculated before it is taken — with a tax adviser, not with the bank.
The other routes that can work, depending on the case: a German property-holding company as borrower (worthwhile only from a certain size), demonstrable euro income or euro assets alongside the foreign-currency salary, or raising capital against German property you already own.
This page describes bank practice in general terms. It is not legal or tax advice (§1 StBerG, RDG) and does not replace a review of your case by a lawyer or tax adviser. I am a licensed mortgage intermediary under §34i GewO and assess which bank will take your case.
Income in a foreign currency (Foreign currency): CHF, USD, GBP, SGD — how banks calculate.
Frequently asked questions
I live in Switzerland and am paid in francs — does that income count?
With the lenders whose credit policy provides for foreign-currency income: yes. Some lenders do not accept foreign-currency income — others do. Where it is accepted, it is not counted in full: the bank applies a safety margin to the converted amount and calculates with what remains. That shrinks the budget, but it does not rule out the financing.
I live in Denmark and am paid in euros — is that easier?
For the income evidence, yes: there is nothing to convert. Acceptance is still decided by the individual lender’s credit policy, and that policy names the country of residence alongside the income currency. Some lenders draw their country lists narrowly, others broadly. The selection therefore starts with the policy, not with the interest rate.
How much of my foreign-currency salary does the bank count?
That is set in the lender’s credit policy and differs from bank to bank — as does the list of accepted currencies. The converted income is taken with a safety margin applied. So plan with the figure the lender actually applies, not with the gross amount on your payslip.
Why does a bank decline even though my income is high?
Because the amount is rarely the point. Many lenders have drawn their credit policies narrowly (“EU residence, euro income”). The adviser is then not permitted to assess the case at all — it is closed before anyone looks at your documents. On top of that come process questions: identification without PostIdent, service of documents abroad, a German settlement account, anti-money-laundering checks.
Is it worth arguing against a rejection?
Rarely. If a lender’s credit policy does not provide for your constellation, no argument changes the policy. What pays is approaching the lenders that have mapped exactly this constellation into their process. A string of rejections at the wrong lenders also makes the enquiry harder at the right ones — which is why the selection comes first.
Does a second residence in Germany help?
From the bank’s side, often yes: identification, service of documents and jurisdiction are solved, and the case falls within far more credit policies. In tax terms it is the most delicate route — a residence actually maintained establishes unlimited tax liability on worldwide income under §8 AO. That calculation belongs before the bank enquiry, not after it, and with a tax adviser.
Which documents do I need for a salary earned abroad?
As a rule: the employment contract, recent payslips, bank statements for the salary account and evidence that the employment is durable. For the self-employed, annual accounts take their place. The more clearly the documents show that the income is sustainable, the fewer queries arise — and the more readily the case fits a policy.
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Editorially responsible: Olga Nikushkina — owner, §34i GewO (German mortgage brokerage), adviser register D-W-132-ZUCB-95. Specialised in German property financing with an international dimension: non-residents, foreign-currency income, cross-border workers, expats. Siegfried Perini is entered in the German intermediary register under this licence as a person directly involved in brokerage and advice (§ 11a GewO), active in real estate since 1992. Not legal or tax advice.