Worldwide Welcome
New to the UK or coming home after years abroad? Worldwide Welcome lets your clients bring their financial history with them.

We can use overseas credit files from selected countries, and there's no minimum time in the UK or minimum visa expiry period.

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Woman Brace Smiling

Helping foreign national & returning expat customers own a home

Got a client who is new to the UK, on a visa, or without a UK credit history? You might still be able to place the case.

We know that foreign national and expat applicants returning to the UK find it tough to get a mortgage. So, we've ditched the restrictive criteria and built a unique proposition.

We support foreign national and returning expat applicants who do not fit the standard lending criteria, using overseas credit data and manual underwriting to say yes more often.

If your client is living and working in the UK, there is a good chance they can be placed, even with a limited or non-existent UK credit file.

Credit Card Circle Check Regular (2)

No UK credit history

User Doctor Circle Check Regular (1)

Skilled worker or specialist visa

Plane Circle Check Regular (1)

Recently moved to the UK

Memo Circle Check Regular (1)

Returning expats with oversees financial history

Who's it for?

Foreign Nationals

People on a visa with a route to permanent residency, already living and working in the UK.

Returning expats

Applicants returning to the UK who are purchasing a main residence.

Limited or no UK credit file

Assessed using overseas credit data rather than ruled out for a thin UK file.

Professionals on eligible visas

Including skilled workers and specialist visa types in active UK employment.

Building a UK footprint

Applicants establishing their financial history in the UK after relocating.

Residential

Purchase and remortgage only

Does my customer qualify?

Product features
Product range

Foreign nationals and returning expats applications have a specific product range. Not for standard residential products.

  • Residential purchase or remortgage.
  • 2 and 3 year fixed options for foreign nationals.
  • 2 and 5 year fixed options for returning expats.
  • Capital repayment or interest only repayment methods (Interest only repayment vehicle must be in GBP).
LTV
  • Max 90% LTV for borrowers with sufficient UK credit data, or where we can source sufficient overseas credit data from one of the following countries via its data partner.
  • Countries include: Australia, Austria, Canada, Dominican Republic, Philippines, Germany, India, Kenya, Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine and United States.
  • Where the borrower is from one of the above countries listed, but an overseas credit file match is not successful, or there is insufficient credit information returned from the overseas bureau, the case can still be considered up to a maximum LTV of 75%.
  • In all cases where borrowers do not have sufficient UK or overseas credit data the maximum LTV is 75%.
Criteria
Residency:
Foreign nationals
  • Foreign national applicants must be living in UK at the time of application
  • Must have a visa with a route to permanent residency and no restrictions on how long they can remain in the UK.

Visas that we accept: 

  • Health & Care Worker.
  • Skilled Worker.
  • Global Talent.
  • Pre-settlement.
  • Family visa.
  • UK Ancestry.
  • British National Overseas.
  • Tier 2 (if granted before 1st Dec 2020).
  • Dependant (as a joint applicant).
  • Spousal/partner (as a joint applicant).
  • Armed forces exemption.

 - May include income for joint applicant on dependent's visa.

 - No minimum time in UK requirement.

 - No minimum remaining visa requirement.
Residency: Expats
  • Expat applicants may be overseas at the point of application but must be in the UK by the time of the mortgage offer.
Nationality
  • All nationalities considered subject to standard KYC, fraud and sanctions checks.

Income
  • No minimum income threshold.
Affordability
  • Standard affordability checks.
  • Only incomes in GBP can be considered.
  • Accept additional allowances where shown to be stable and contractual.
Deposit
  • We allow customers applying for a foreign national or returning expat mortgage to use builders’ incentives of up to 5% towards securing a deposit on a UK new build property.
  • Standard rules on source of deposit apply (e.g. includes gifted deposits subject to standard AML checks).
  • Deposit must be held in a UK bank account at the point of application.
  • Deposits from group savings schemes are not acceptable.

 

What maximum LTV will be applicable to my customer?

The maximum LTV we can offer will depend on availability of UK and overseas bureau data. This is outlined below.

Scenario Maximum LTV Application steps

Passes UK Experian check

Sufficient UK data (min. two years’ credit history)

Subject to standard credit decisioning rules   

 90%

Will show as a PASS at DIP stage and can proceed with application.

Use our packaging guidance tool to determine what supporting documents you will need to provide.

Credit file is available from overseas bureau partner  

Customer has come to the UK from one of the following countries AND has sufficient credit data from this country: 

Australia, Austria, Canada, Dominican Republic, Philippines, Germany, India, Kenya, Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine and United States.

Subject to credit decisioning rules. 

Where data is not available, max LTV will be 75%.

Note – we do not have full CRA coverage in any country so in some cases will be unable to source data 

 90%

Where we have insufficient UK data, will show as a REFER in Broker Portal at DIP stage.

Please do not re-try as this will not change the REFER status. 

Underwriter will contact you at the point of instigating the overseas search. 

We will need to obtain consent to obtain the overseas credit data from your customer.  An email will be sent to them from our bureau partner with instructions

Underwriter will contact you to confirm next steps once credit data is received. 

Where no UK credit data AND no overseas data  

Customer is from outside of the countries covered by our overseas bureau partner.  

OR  

No data available following overseas search.

 75%

Where there is no UK credit data, will show as REFER in Broker portal at DIP stage.

Please do not re-try as this will not change the REFER status.

The case will be subject to more detailed manual underwrite.

Underwriter will contact you with a list of requested information and documents.

 

Why brokers use Nottingham Building Society for foreign national & returning expat cases

Let’s keep it simple. This is where we actually help place cases that fall outside mainstream criteria.

Colleague In Red Stripy Top
  • Up to 90% LTV - Where sufficient credit data is available.
  • No UK credit history considered - At lower LTVs, depending on the profile.
  • Overseas credit data - Sourced from multiple countries to support the case.
  • Wide visa acceptance - A broad range of visa types considered.
  • Manual underwriting - Dedicated named underwriter managing every case. Real people reviewing complex cases on their merits
  • Talk it through - Work the case through directly with your BDM.

Frequently asked questions from brokers

Worldwide Welcome is our mortgage proposition for foreign nationals and returning UK expats. It recognises credible overseas financial history, including overseas credit files from selected countries, with no minimum time in the UK and no minimum visa expiry period.

Yes. We can consider foreign national applicants with no UK credit history, typically at lower LTVs depending on the applicant’s profile. Overseas credit data is used to support the assessment.

 

There is no blanket rule. We look at the full case, including employment, income and overall stability, rather than applying a single minimum time in the UK.

Yes. We can source credit data from multiple countries to support underwriting where a client has limited UK credit history.

Countries include: 

  • Australia
  • Austria
  • Canada
  • Dominican Republic
  • Philippines
  • Germany
  • India
  • Kenya
  • Mexico
  • South Africa
  • South Korea
  • Spain
  • Switzerland
  • Ukraine
  • United States.

Up to 90% LTV where sufficient UK or overseas credit data is available, and up to 75% LTV where there is no sufficient credit data.

Applicants

We will accept applications from foreign national applicants on the following visas:

  • Health & Care Worker.
  • Skilled Worker.
  • Global Talent.
  • Pre-settlement.
  • Family visa.
  • UK Ancestry.
  • British National Overseas.
  • Tier 2 (if granted before 1st Dec 2020).
  • Dependant (as a joint applicant).
  • Spousal/partner (as a joint applicant).
  • Armed forces exemption. 

There is no requirement for these applicants to have been in the UK for a minimum period, or for applicants to have a minimum term remaining on the visa.

In order to verify the VISA, you must provide the Share Code (Home Office Service) for the applicant(s). This information can be added as a case note on the application.

All nationalities and countries will be considered but there may be some enhanced due diligence required with the application. This will be clearly outlined when the DIP is approved.

Products are for residential purchase or remortgage only. For foreign national applications we require the customer to be already in the UK. For returning expat applications, customers may begin an application from overseas but must be in the UK by the time we issue the mortgage offer.

Yes, they will be able to apply for our standard product switch rates. We won’t have the enhanced rates for product switches.

Submitting an application

Within our Classic Broker Portal, click on the 'Specialist Products’ button and select the Foreign National/Returning Expat option. 

You will have the option to start a purchase, remortgage or PMI. 

Within this page, you will find specific application buttons for foreign national or expat. 

Note – when inputting overseas addresses, these will need to be input manually. There may be validation errors on screen but you can still proceed with the application. 

Our underwriters will contact you at the point of instigating the overseas search to talk you through the process.

As we need the applicants consent to obtain the overseas credit file, we will need to obtain this from the applicant. 

The applicant will receive an email from our bureau partner, which will be co-branded from Nottingham Building Society.

The applicant will need to click on a link to take them to the bureau partners portal.  Using the portal, the applicant will provide information in order to confirm their identity and pass authentication checks.

All of this is done online and will vary from country to country depending on individual CRA requirements and types of identify documentation available in specific countries.   

Please note, for security reasons, the customer will have 72 hours to instigate the process.

The deposit must be held in a UK bank account at the time of application. Further verification may be required if the amount and source of deposit is inconsistent with the applicant’s financial profile.

We allow customers applying for a foreign national or returning expat mortgage to use builders’ incentives of up to 5% towards securing a deposit on a UK new build property.

We also allow gifted sources of deposits and details of this can be found on our criteria page. 

Please note: We don't accept deposits from Group Saving Schemes. 

Please only include UK based dependants in the ‘number of dependents’ field in the affordability calculator.  

Any funds sent to overseas dependants should be included as additional expenditure.

The affordability assessment is based on UK income only and we can’t accept any overseas or foreign currency income.  

Evidence of income and additional documentation will be required dependent on the applicant type. An email will be sent by an underwriter when the DIP is approved with a clear list of requirements, and documents should be uploaded to the broker portal. 

Scenarios

You can apply in sole or joint names. If applicant 2 is not working, affordability will be based on applicant 1's income. In the case of a sole application, we would need to consider where the deposit was coming from and applicant 2 may need legal advice regarding the deposit if they were contributing.

Yes, that’s fine, although any funds that are transferred to India for dependants will need to be included in expenditure.

Where an applicant has not been employed for three months, we are able to consider a case if the applicant has been in the same line of work previously. For example, if they have been employed in healthcare overseas and have moved to the UK to work in healthcare here. In this scenario, we would require evidence of their previous employment.

In this scenario, a DIP can be submitted but we would need to see evidence (such as a pay slip) that the applicant has started their new role with the application.

Got a foreign national or returning expat case sat on your desk?

Submit a decision in principle, talk it through with your BDM, or check the full criteria before you place the case.

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