The major eligibility categories for a VA home loan include:

  • Veterans and service persons who have served 181 active-duty days during peacetime, unless discharged or separated from a previous qualifying period of active duty service
  • Veterans who served during World War II, Korea, or Vietnam, if they served for 90 days and were honorably discharged
  • If you have served for any period since August 2, 1990, you can also qualify if you have served 24 months of continuous active duty, or the full period (at least 90 days) that you were called to active duty
  • Those who have completed a total of six years in the Selected Reserve or National Guard
  • An un-remarried spouse of a Veteran who died while in service or from a service connected disability or a spouse of a service member missing in action or a prisoner of war (note: A surviving spouse who remarries on or after attaining age 57, and on or after December 16, 2003, may also be eligible for the home loan benefit).