Can you get a VA loan with a general or other than honorable discharge?

Start Here

What the law asks for

Federal law says a veteran is someone discharged "under conditions other than dishonorable." VA's lender handbook uses the same words for the home loan.

• Your discharge is one test. You also need enough service time. VA and your lender still check your credit, your income and that you will live in the home.
• Only VA decides whether you qualify for the home loan benefit.
• VA's decision is for VA benefits only. It does not change your discharge.

Sources: 38 U.S.C. 101(2). VA Lenders Handbook, Chapter 2 (Topic 5, a and e). VA home loan eligibility. VA, Applying for Benefits and Your Character of Discharge. Retrieved 29 October 2026.

Find Your Discharge

How VA treats each kind of discharge

Find the kind of discharge on your DD214, your discharge papers. Each one works differently.

In the Guard or Reserve with a general discharge? Our Guard and Reserve guide shows the other ways in.

Sources: VA, Applying for Benefits and Your Character of Discharge. VA home loan eligibility. 38 CFR 3.12 (a), (c) and (l). 38 U.S.C. 5303(a). VA Lenders Handbook, Chapter 2 (Topic 5, d). Retrieved 29 October 2026.

The Review

What VA checks in a review

VA checks your record against two lists of bars. If one applies, VA benefits are barred unless an exception or an upgrade changes that.

Federal law bars benefits after a discharge:

• as a conscientious objector who refused to serve, wear the uniform or follow lawful orders
• by the sentence of a general court-martial
• of an officer who resigned for the good of the service
• as a deserter
• as a noncitizen in wartime who asked to be released
• under other than honorable conditions, for being absent without leave for 180 days or more in a row

VA's rule adds four more:

• taking an other than honorable discharge instead of a trial by general court-martial
• mutiny or spying
• an offense VA's rule calls moral turpitude, which generally includes a felony conviction
• repeated misconduct, which VA's rule calls willful and persistent misconduct

The compelling circumstances exception

Three of these bars have an exception: being absent without leave for 180 days or more, moral turpitude, and repeated misconduct. VA does not apply them if compelling circumstances explain what happened.

VA weighs the rest of your service, the reasons behind the absence or misconduct, and whether a legal defense would have stopped a conviction. Reasons VA's rule names include:

• a mental health condition or cognitive impairment at the time, such as posttraumatic stress disorder, depression or a substance use disorder
• physical health, including injuries and the side effects of medicine
• hardship from combat or overseas service
• sexual abuse or assault
• being threatened or forced, or desperation
• family obligations, or like duties to others
• age, education, cultural background and maturity

Turned down before June 25, 2024? VA says its rule change that day opens the door for people it denied before to apply again.

Sources: 38 U.S.C. 5303(a). 38 CFR 3.12 (c), (d) and (e). VA, Applying for Benefits and Your Character of Discharge. Retrieved 29 October 2026.

Changing Your Discharge

The other way in: a discharge upgrade

VA names two ways to try to qualify: ask VA for a Character of Discharge review, or apply to the military for a discharge upgrade. You can apply for an upgrade if you believe your discharge is wrong for any reason.

VA says you have a strong case if you can show your discharge was connected to a mental health condition, including posttraumatic stress disorder, or a traumatic brain injury. The same goes for military sexual trauma, or your sexual orientation, including under Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

The two military boards

• A discharge review board. You apply within 15 years of your discharge. It cannot review a discharge given by the sentence of a general court-martial.
• A board for correction of military records. You apply within three years of finding the error. The board can excuse a late request if justice calls for it.

VA's discharge upgrade tool asks about your situation and tells you how to apply.

What VA does with an upgrade

• From a board for correction of military records: an upgrade to honorable or under honorable conditions is final for VA. It lifts any bar above.
• From a discharge review board: an upgrade to honorable or general issued since October 8, 1977 lifts the bars in VA's rule, but not the bars in federal law. It counts only if the board reviewed your own case under its published standards.

Sources: VA home loan eligibility. VA, How to apply for a discharge upgrade. 10 U.S.C. 1553(a). 10 U.S.C. 1552(b). 38 CFR 3.12 (f) and (h). Retrieved 29 October 2026.

Applying

How to apply

Your Certificate of Eligibility (COE) is how VA confirms you qualify. You can request it online or by mail, and your lender may be able to request it for you. If your discharge needs a review, VA reviews your service records when you apply.

• Send the right copy of your DD214. If you left regular active duty after October 1, 1979, VA's lender handbook asks for a copy that shows your character of service and the reason you separated: Member Copy 2, 4 or 8, or any copy that shows both.
• Your lender waits for VA. VA's lender handbook tells lenders never to close a loan before they confirm you qualify. VA cannot back a loan for someone who does not.

Sources: How to request a VA home loan COE. VA home loan eligibility. VA Lenders Handbook, Chapter 2 (Topic 1, b; Topic 4, a). Retrieved 29 October 2026.

What To Ask

Questions for your lender

VA decides whether you qualify. Your lender decides on your loan, following VA's rules. Ask your lender:

1. Can you request my COE, and which copy of my DD214 do you need?
2. If VA has to review my discharge, what do you need from me while it does?
3. Is my Guard or Reserve service part of how I qualify?
4. Do I pay the funding fee, and how much?

Common Questions

Questions people ask about discharges and VA loans

Sources

Where every fact came from

Every rule on this page comes from VA or federal law. Where they do not say something, we left it out.

• Which discharges VA counts as other than dishonorable, VA's review of other discharges, that VA's decision does not change your discharge, and the 2024 rule change. Applying for Benefits and Your Character of Discharge, Veterans Benefits Administration, VA, last updated April 16, 2025. Retrieved 29 October 2026.
• What to do with an other than honorable, bad conduct or dishonorable discharge, the two ways to try to qualify, and the credit and income rules. Eligibility for VA home loan programs, VA, last updated September 22, 2026. Retrieved 29 October 2026.
• Applying for a discharge upgrade, and what VA says makes a strong case. How to apply for a discharge upgrade, VA. Retrieved 29 October 2026.
• Who federal law calls a veteran. 38 U.S.C. 101(2), United States Code. Retrieved 29 October 2026.
• The bars in federal law. 38 U.S.C. 5303(a), United States Code. Retrieved 29 October 2026.
• General discharges, the bars in VA's rule, the compelling circumstances exception, what VA does with an upgrade, and uncharacterized separations. 38 CFR 3.12, Code of Federal Regulations, as changed April 26, 2024 and in force from June 25, 2024. Retrieved 29 October 2026.
• The discharge review board and its 15 years. 10 U.S.C. 1553(a), United States Code. Retrieved 29 October 2026.
• The board for correction of military records and its three years. 10 U.S.C. 1552(b), United States Code. Retrieved 29 October 2026.
• The discharge rule for the home loan, the Guard and Reserve six year way, the DD214 copy, and closing only after VA confirms you qualify. VA Lenders Handbook, Chapter 2, Veteran's Eligibility and Entitlement, updated July 9, 2026, VA. Retrieved 29 October 2026.
• How to request a COE. How to request a VA home loan Certificate of Eligibility, VA, last updated September 22, 2026. Retrieved 29 October 2026.

Also In This Series

Military Home Resource Center