HUD’s Federal Housing Administration “does not collect citizenship or residency data from the loan application and therefore does not maintain information on the number of non-permanent residents who have received FHA-insured loans under past policies,” per the department.
The response came after a request seeking records on any record “showing the distribution of the FHA benefits by H-1B visa holders across Texas” and internal discussions about continued FHA exposure on loans held by non-permanent residents.
According to HUD’s provided response to DX, a search was conducted by “knowledgeable staff within HUD’s Office of Single Family, Denver Homeownership Center,” and it “did not locate any documents that would be responsive” to the portion of the request seeking data on H-1B recipients.
Policy Bars Non-Permanent Residents—But Agency Tracks No Such Data
The acknowledgment that FHA does not collect citizenship or residency data on its loan application is curious since the standard Uniform Residential Loan Application used in conventional lending includes a citizenship disclosure section with three options: “U.S. Citizen, Permanent Resident Alien, Non-Permanent Resident Alien,” according to the form published by Fannie Mae.
HUD’s addendum to that application for FHA-insured loans does not include a citizenship section.
The Dallas Express followed up with the agency to ask why the agency does not collect borrower legal status information.
A HUD official told the outlet that “Outside of the core qualification & underwriting data, FHA’s data collection practices have focused on fair lending criteria such as race and ethnicity.”
In March 2025, Mortgagee Letter 2025-09 announced that non-permanent residents would no longer be eligible for FHA-insured mortgages, stating that “federal benefits, including access to FHA-insured loans, are reserved for individuals who hold lawful permanent resident status.”
The letter to lenders said mortgagees must determine the borrower’s residency status “based on information provided on the mortgage application and other applicable documentation.”
The latest FOIA response does not address how FHA enforces that policy if it does not itself collect or maintain citizenship data, so The Dallas Express followed up and asked the agency again.
The HUD official responded, “HUD’s policies are focused on delivering safe, affordable housing for American citizens.”
Parallels in Non-Tracking: USCIS and FHA Both Lack Key Status Data
The apparent lack of tracking mirrors prior disclosures from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which stated that it “’does not track data on ‘H-1B awardees who obtained degrees from Manav Bharti University.’” This remark came after a FOIA request seeking information about graduates of a school in India accused of selling fake diplomas, according to reporting by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS).
The 2025 CIS request followed a 2008 H-1B compliance audit that found over 13% of approved H-1B visas included fraudulent material.
The H-1B visa is a federal program created by Congress in 1990 that allows companies and universities to hire foreign labor to perform certain types of work that typically requires a college degree or higher.
The FHA program is part of the enduring legacy of the New Deal during the Great Depression of the late 1920s and 1930s.
“The FHA was created in 1934 as a result of the National Housing Act. This division of the government was established to increase home construction, reduce unemployment and operate various loan insurance programs. The FHA is not a loan lender, nor does it plan or build houses. Instead, it acts as the insurer on thousands of loans for Americans who might not otherwise be able to afford or qualify for a home loan,” according to the Assurance Financial website.
72% of H-1B visas are awarded to workers from India, with 12% going to those from China, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services annual data.
The issue comes amid heightened scrutiny of the H-1B visa program in Texas. A newly updated federal database recently showed that several major employers — including Cognizant Technology Solutions, Infosys Limited, and Dallas Independent School District — rank among the top H-1B sponsors in the state, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
