{"id":1536,"date":"2021-12-21T13:02:58","date_gmt":"2021-12-21T18:02:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.veteransloans.com\/?p=1536"},"modified":"2025-12-19T15:11:24","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T21:11:24","slug":"va-loan-eligibility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/va-loan-eligibility\/","title":{"rendered":"VA Loan Eligibility"},"content":{"rendered":"[et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; background_image=&#8221;http:\/\/173.255.228.252\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/eligibilityblog-4.jpg&#8221; min_height=&#8221;250px&#8221; height=&#8221;100%&#8221; custom_margin=&#8221;0px|0px|0px|0px|false|false&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;0px||0px||false|false&#8221; saved_tabs=&#8221;all&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_row _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; custom_margin=&#8221;0px||0px||false|false&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;0px||0px||false|false&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_post_title _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; title_font=&#8221;|700|||||||&#8221; title_text_align=&#8221;center&#8221; title_font_size=&#8221;29px&#8221; meta_text_align=&#8221;center&#8221; background_color=&#8221;#FFFFFF&#8221; height=&#8221;100%&#8221; custom_margin=&#8221;0px||0px||false|false&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;100px|15px|100px|15px|false|false&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][\/et_pb_post_title][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;30px||0px||false|false&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_row _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.4&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; hover_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; sticky_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243;]\n<p>A VA loan is an earned benefit that allows eligible veterans, service members, and surviving spouses to qualify for a low-cost mortgage when looking to purchase or refinance, even with imperfect credit.<\/p>\n<p>Although lenders set their own standards for certain aspects of the VA loan to qualify, the Veterans Administration determines the service eligibility requirements. Criteria focuses on two things: service length and the status of your discharge from the Military.<\/p>\n<p>Below are some basic questions to ask yourself when it comes to qualifying for a VA loan.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Did you serve at least 2 years of regular service?<\/li>\n<li>Have you served at least 6 years in the National Guard or Reserves?<\/li>\n<li>Have you ever served 90 days of Active Duty during wartime?<\/li>\n<li>Did you serve 181 days of Active Duty during peacetime?<\/li>\n<li>Were you released from the military due to a duty related disability?<\/li>\n<li>Are you the Surviving Spouse of a Veteran?<\/li>\n<li>Are you a cadet or midshipmen of a United States Military Academy?<\/li>\n<li>Are you a member of certain other Federal service organizations?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Answering \u2018yes\u2019 to any of the above questions may qualify for a VA loan.<\/p>\n<p>The best way to determine if you qualify for the VA home loan benefit is by demonstrating proof of service. A Certificate of Eligibility (COE) is a document that shows your mortgage lender that you\u2019re eligible for a VA home loan based on whether you\u2019re an active-duty military member, a veteran, a surviving spouse, etc.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re eligible, VeteransLoans.com can help you secure your COE. To find out more on the VA loan eligibility requirements visit the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.benefits.va.gov\/homeloans\/purchaseco_eligibility.asp\">VA website.<\/a><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A VA loan is an earned benefit that allows eligible veterans, service members, and surviving spouses to qualify for a low-cost mortgage when looking to purchase or refinance, even with imperfect credit. Although lenders set their own standards for certain aspects of the VA loan to qualify, the Veterans Administration determines the service eligibility requirements. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1540,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11,38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-military-vets","category-va-loan"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>VA Loan Eligibility - VeteransLoans.com Articles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/va-loan-eligibility\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"VA Loan Eligibility - VeteransLoans.com Articles\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A VA loan is an earned benefit that allows eligible veterans, service members, and surviving spouses to qualify for a low-cost mortgage when looking to purchase or refinance, even with imperfect credit. Although lenders set their own standards for certain aspects of the VA loan to qualify, the Veterans Administration determines the service eligibility requirements. [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/va-loan-eligibility\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"VeteransLoans.com Articles\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-12-21T18:02:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-19T21:11:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Blog-Cover-VA-Loan-Eligiblity-1.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"VLC Staff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"VLC Staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.veteransloans.com\\\/resources\\\/va-loan-eligibility\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.veteransloans.com\\\/resources\\\/va-loan-eligibility\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"VLC Staff\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.veteransloans.com\\\/resources\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0f77d8013bb02791e5b28f0860381f99\"},\"headline\":\"VA Loan Eligibility\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-12-21T18:02:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-19T21:11:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.veteransloans.com\\\/resources\\\/va-loan-eligibility\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":473,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.veteransloans.com\\\/resources\\\/va-loan-eligibility\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.veteransloans.com\\\/resources\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/12\\\/Blog-Cover-VA-Loan-Eligiblity-1.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Military &amp; Vets\",\"VA Loan\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.veteransloans.com\\\/resources\\\/va-loan-eligibility\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.veteransloans.com\\\/resources\\\/va-loan-eligibility\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.veteransloans.com\\\/resources\\\/va-loan-eligibility\\\/\",\"name\":\"VA Loan Eligibility - VeteransLoans.com Articles\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.veteransloans.com\\\/resources\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.veteransloans.com\\\/resources\\\/va-loan-eligibility\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.veteransloans.com\\\/resources\\\/va-loan-eligibility\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.veteransloans.com\\\/resources\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/12\\\/Blog-Cover-VA-Loan-Eligiblity-1.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-12-21T18:02:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-19T21:11:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.veteransloans.com\\\/resources\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0f77d8013bb02791e5b28f0860381f99\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.veteransloans.com\\\/resources\\\/va-loan-eligibility\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.veteransloans.com\\\/resources\\\/va-loan-eligibility\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.veteransloans.com\\\/resources\\\/va-loan-eligibility\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.veteransloans.com\\\/resources\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/12\\\/Blog-Cover-VA-Loan-Eligiblity-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.veteransloans.com\\\/resources\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/12\\\/Blog-Cover-VA-Loan-Eligiblity-1.png\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.veteransloans.com\\\/resources\\\/va-loan-eligibility\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.veteransloans.com\\\/resources\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"VA Loan Eligibility\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.veteransloans.com\\\/resources\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.veteransloans.com\\\/resources\\\/\",\"name\":\"VeteransLoans.com Articles\",\"description\":\"VeteransLoans.com\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.veteransloans.com\\\/resources\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.veteransloans.com\\\/resources\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0f77d8013bb02791e5b28f0860381f99\",\"name\":\"VLC Staff\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.veteransloans.com\\\/resources\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/VL_LOGO_CIRCLE_GREEN-96x96.png\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.veteransloans.com\\\/resources\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/VL_LOGO_CIRCLE_GREEN-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.veteransloans.com\\\/resources\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/VL_LOGO_CIRCLE_GREEN-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"VLC Staff\"},\"description\":\"The VeteransLoans.com Team is a VA-approved lender helping Veterans and service members navigate VA loans since 2014.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.veteransloans.com\\\/resources\\\/author\\\/vlc-staff\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"VA Loan Eligibility - VeteransLoans.com Articles","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/va-loan-eligibility\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"VA Loan Eligibility - VeteransLoans.com Articles","og_description":"A VA loan is an earned benefit that allows eligible veterans, service members, and surviving spouses to qualify for a low-cost mortgage when looking to purchase or refinance, even with imperfect credit. Although lenders set their own standards for certain aspects of the VA loan to qualify, the Veterans Administration determines the service eligibility requirements. [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/va-loan-eligibility\/","og_site_name":"VeteransLoans.com Articles","article_published_time":"2021-12-21T18:02:58+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-12-19T21:11:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Blog-Cover-VA-Loan-Eligiblity-1.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"VLC Staff","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"VLC Staff","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/va-loan-eligibility\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/va-loan-eligibility\/"},"author":{"name":"VLC Staff","@id":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/#\/schema\/person\/0f77d8013bb02791e5b28f0860381f99"},"headline":"VA Loan Eligibility","datePublished":"2021-12-21T18:02:58+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-19T21:11:24+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/va-loan-eligibility\/"},"wordCount":473,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/va-loan-eligibility\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Blog-Cover-VA-Loan-Eligiblity-1.png","articleSection":["Military &amp; Vets","VA Loan"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/va-loan-eligibility\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/va-loan-eligibility\/","url":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/va-loan-eligibility\/","name":"VA Loan Eligibility - VeteransLoans.com Articles","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/va-loan-eligibility\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/va-loan-eligibility\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Blog-Cover-VA-Loan-Eligiblity-1.png","datePublished":"2021-12-21T18:02:58+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-19T21:11:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/#\/schema\/person\/0f77d8013bb02791e5b28f0860381f99"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/va-loan-eligibility\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/va-loan-eligibility\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/va-loan-eligibility\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Blog-Cover-VA-Loan-Eligiblity-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Blog-Cover-VA-Loan-Eligiblity-1.png","width":1280,"height":720},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/va-loan-eligibility\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"VA Loan Eligibility"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/","name":"VeteransLoans.com Articles","description":"VeteransLoans.com","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/#\/schema\/person\/0f77d8013bb02791e5b28f0860381f99","name":"VLC Staff","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/VL_LOGO_CIRCLE_GREEN-96x96.png","url":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/VL_LOGO_CIRCLE_GREEN-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/VL_LOGO_CIRCLE_GREEN-96x96.png","caption":"VLC Staff"},"description":"The VeteransLoans.com Team is a VA-approved lender helping Veterans and service members navigate VA loans since 2014.","url":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/author\/vlc-staff\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1536"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1536\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5234,"href":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1536\/revisions\/5234"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.veteransloans.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}