Instructions for the first home owner grant for approved agents

• All applicants and their spouses must not have owned a home before 1 July 2000.
• All applicants and their spouses must not have owned a home on or after 1 July 2000 in which they have also resided.
• All applicants and their spouses must not have previously received the grant.
• When applying for the grant, at least one applicant must be an Australian citizen or a permanent resident (includes holders of a special category visa).
• All applicants must be 18 years or more at commencement of the eligible transaction.
• All applicants must be natural persons, not trustees or companies.
• All applicants must occupy the home as their principal place of residence for a continuous period of at least 6 months commencing within 12 months of completion of the eligible transaction.

• Applicants must enter into an eligible transaction to buy or build a new home, or build a new home as an owner–builder.
• Contracts to buy or build a new home must have been signed on or after 1 July 2000 and be for a home:
  • as defined under the First Home Owner Grant and Other Home Owner Grants Act 2000
  • as outlined in practice direction FHOGA000.1—Meaning of ‘home’, ‘new home’ and ‘residential property’.
• A cap amount of $749,999.99 applies to transactions entered into on or after 12 September 2012 for buying or building a new home. Applicants who buy or build a new home that is worth $750,000 or more (including contract variations) will not be eligible for the grant.

Read more about the Queensland first home owner grant.

You can accept scanned applications from your clients. The scanned documents must be:

• complete
• signed
• clearly legible.

You must confirm your client’s identity before accepting scanned applications.

The application form allows applicants and non-applicant spouses to agree to and sign the declaration electronically (e.g. Adobe Digital ID).

Signatures do not need to be witnessed.

Electronic signatures that can be easily manipulated or signed by someone other than the applicant—such as email signatures, pictures or scanned signatures—will not be accepted.

The application form has a list of the required supporting documents on pages 12 to 15.

Your client must provide all supporting documents when applying for the grant. You must assess these documents when submitting the application in order for it to be considered complete.

You must endeavour to ensure all persons shown as applicants are eligible for the grant based on the supporting evidence. We may ask you to produce this evidence.

Documents do not need to be certified.

You can accept an expired Australian passport as part of the identification documents where both these requirements are met.

1. The expired passport was issued:
   • when the applicant was 16 or older
   • with at least a 2-year validity
   • on or after 1 January 2006.
2. The applicant or non-applicant spouse has provided a current category 2 photo ID with their application.

If the expired passport is not in the applicant’s or non-applicant spouse’s current name, you must obtain evidence of a name change to confirm the identity. The passport will not be accepted if the name-change evidence does not confirm the name on the passport.

Where an expired international passports is submitted as part of the identification documents, approved agents must seek approval from QRO before accepting the documents and only where all the following requirements are met:

1. The expired passport was issued:
   1. when the applicant was 16 or older
   2. with at least a 2-year validity
   3. in the applicant’s current name, date of birth, place of birth and gender.
2. The applicant or non-applicant spouse has provided a current category 2 photo ID with their application.
3. The applicant’s or non-applicant spouse’s visa has been verified using the Document Verification System (DVS) or Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO)—national databases managed by the Department of Home Affairs.
4. You have received approval to accept the expired international passport from Queensland Revenue Office.

To seek approval to accept an expired international passport, you must:

1. Email FHOGadmin@treasury.qld.gov.au requesting the acceptance of an expired passport, with the applicant’s full name and application UIN.
2. Provide a copy of the following documents by email or uploaded to FHOGonline:
   1. visa
   2. current category 2 photo ID
   3. evidence of a name change (if necessary)
   4. expired passport that fits the above criteria.

If an applicant’s visa cannot be verified, the expired passport will not be accepted and another form of current category 1 ID is required. We will confirm by reply email if the expired passport has been accepted or refused.

An expired international passport will not be accepted if:

• the passport is not in the applicant’s or non-applicant spouse’s current name and the name-change evidence does not verify the name on the passport
• an applicant’s or non-applicant spouse’s visa cannot be verified via DVS or VEVO.

You are responsible for ensuring that declarations are signed by applicants and their spouses correctly. You also need to ensure (as far as possible) that all interested persons are included in the application before it can be considered complete.

The application form must not be signed before the contract date. If it is, the application is void and cannot be processed.

All applicants must complete the addendum section of the application form under section 2 ‘Applicant details—Disqualifying arrangements’ before an application for the grant can be processed.