Collapse to view only § 3941. General provisions
- § 3941. General provisions
- § 3942. Appointments by the President
- § 3943. Appointments by the Secretary
- § 3944. Chiefs of Mission
- § 3945. Senior Foreign Service
- § 3946. Career appointments
- § 3947. Entry levels for Foreign Service officer candidates
- § 3948. Recall and reappointment of career members
- § 3949. Limited appointments
- § 3950. Reemployment rights following limited appointment
- § 3951. United States citizens hired abroad
- § 3952. Diplomatic and consular missions
§ 3941. General provisions
(a) Citizenship requirement
(b) Examinations
(1) The Secretary shall prescribe, as appropriate, written, oral, physical, foreign language, and other examinations for appointment to the Service (other than as a chief of mission or ambassador at large).
(2) The Secretary shall ensure that the Board of Examiners for the Foreign Service annually offers the oral assessment examinations described in paragraph (1) in cities, chosen on a rotating basis, located in at least three different time zones across the United States.
(c) Veteran or disabled veteran
(d) Career and noncareer appointments
(1) Members of the Service serving under career appointments are career members of the Service. Members of the Service serving under limited appointments are either career candidates or noncareer members of the Service.
(2) Chiefs of mission, ambassadors at large, and ministers serve at the pleasure of the President.
(3) An appointment as a Foreign Service officer is a career appointment. Foreign Service employees serving as career candidates or career members of the Service shall not represent to the income tax authorities of the District of Columbia or any other State or locality that they are exempt from income taxation on the basis of holding a Presidential appointment subject to Senate confirmation or that they are exempt on the basis of serving in an appointment whose tenure is at the pleasure of the President.
(Pub. L. 96–465, title I, § 301, Oct. 17, 1980, 94 Stat. 2083; Pub. L. 100–204, title I, § 179(a), Dec. 22, 1987, 101 Stat. 1362; Pub. L. 117–81, div. E, title LIV, § 5406(b), Dec. 27, 2021, 135 Stat. 2374.)
§ 3942. Appointments by the President
(a)
(1) The President may, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint an individual as a chief of mission, as an ambassador at large, as an ambassador, as a minister, as a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, or as a Foreign Service officer.
(2)
(A) The President may, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, confer the personal rank of career ambassador upon a career member of the Senior Foreign Service in recognition of especially distinguished service over a sustained period.
(B)
(i) Subject to the requirement of clause (ii), the President may confer the personal rank of ambassador or minister on an individual in connection with a special mission for the President of a temporary nature not exceeding six months in duration.
(ii) The President may confer such personal rank only if, prior to such conferral, he transmits to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a written report setting forth—(I) the necessity for conferring such rank,(II) the dates during which such rank will be held,(III) the justification for not submitting the proposed conferral of personal rank to the Senate as a nomination for advice and consent to appointment, and(IV) all relevant information concerning any potential conflict of interest which the proposed recipient of such personal rank may have with regard to the special mission.
Such report shall be transmitted not less than 30 days prior to conferral of the personal rank of ambassador or minister except in cases where the President certifies in his report that urgent circumstances require the immediate conferral of such rank.
(C) An individual upon whom a personal rank is conferred under subparagraph (A) or (B) shall not receive any additional compensation solely by virtue of such personal rank.
(3) Except as provided in paragraph (2)(B) of this subsection or in clause 3, section 2, article II of the Constitution (relating to recess appointments), an individual may not be designated as ambassador or minister, or be designated to serve in any position with the title of ambassador or minister, without the advice and consent of the Senate.
(b) If a member of the Service is appointed to any position in the executive branch by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, or by the President alone, the period of service in that position by the member shall be regarded as an assignment under subchapter V and the member shall not, by virtue of the acceptance of such assignment, lose his or her status as a member of the Service. A member of the Senior Foreign Service who accepts such an assignment may elect to continue to receive the salary of his or her salary class, to remain eligible for performance pay under subchapter IV, and to receive the leave to which such member is entitled under subchapter I of chapter 63, title 5, as a member of the Senior Foreign Service, in lieu of receiving the salary and leave (if any) of the position to which the member is appointed by the President.
(Pub. L. 96–465, title I, § 302, Oct. 17, 1980, 94 Stat. 2084; Pub. L. 100–204, title I, § 177(b), Dec. 22, 1987, 101 Stat. 1362; Pub. L. 102–138, title I, §§ 141, 142(a), Oct. 28, 1991, 105 Stat. 667.)
§ 3943. Appointments by the Secretary
The Secretary may appoint the members of the Service (other than the members of the Service who are in the personnel categories specified in section 3942(a) of this title) in accordance with this chapter and such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe.
(Pub. L. 96–465, title I, § 303, Oct. 17, 1980, 94 Stat. 2085.)
§ 3944. Chiefs of Mission
(a) Qualifications; preference for career members; political contributions as factor in appointment; demonstrated competency report
(1) An individual appointed or assigned to be a chief of mission should possess clearly demonstrated competence to perform the duties of a chief of mission, including, to the maximum extent practicable, a useful knowledge of the principal language or dialect of the country in which the individual is to serve, and knowledge and understanding of the history, the culture, the economic and political institutions, and the interests of that country and its people.
(2) Given the qualifications specified in paragraph (1), positions as chief of mission should normally be accorded to career members of the Service, though circumstances will warrant appointments from time to time of qualified individuals who are not career members of the Service.
(3) Contributions to political campaigns should not be a factor in the appointment of an individual as a chief of mission.
(4) The President shall provide the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, with each nomination for an appointment as a chief of mission, a report on the demonstrated competence of that nominee to perform the duties of the position in which he or she is to serve.
(b) Furnishing of information by Secretary; political campaign contributions report
(1) In order to assist the President in selecting qualified candidates for appointment or assignment as chiefs of mission, the Secretary of State shall from time to time furnish the President with the names of career members of the Service who are qualified to serve as chiefs of mission, together with pertinent information about such members.
(2) The Secretary shall also furnish to the President, on an annual basis and to assist the President in selecting qualified candidates for appointments or assignments as chief of mission, the names of between 5 and 10 career civil servants serving at the Department of State or the United States Agency for International Development who are qualified to serve as chiefs of mission, together with pertinent information about such individuals.
(3) Each individual nominated by the President to be a chief of mission, ambassador at large, or minister shall, at the time of nomination, file with the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives a report of contributions made by such individual and by members of his or her immediate family during the period beginning on the first day of the fourth calendar year preceding the calendar year of the nomination and ending on the date of the nomination. The report shall be verified by the oath of the nominee, taken before any individual authorized to administer oaths. The chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate shall have each such report printed in the Congressional Record. As used in this paragraph, the term “contribution” has the same meaning given such term by section 30101(8) of title 52, and the term “immediate family” means the spouse of the nominee, and any child, parent, grandparent, brother, or sister of the nominee and the spouses of any of them.
(Pub. L. 96–465, title I, § 304, Oct. 17, 1980, 94 Stat. 2085; Pub. L. 106–113, div. B, § 1000(a)(7) [div. A, title II, § 208(b)], Nov. 29, 1999, 113 Stat. 1536, 1501A–422; Pub. L. 118–31, div. F, title LXII, § 6207, Dec. 22, 2023, 137 Stat. 974.)
§ 3945. Senior Foreign Service
(a) Salary class
(b) Limited appointment
(c) Appointments by Secretary of Commerce
(1) Appointments to the Senior Foreign Service by the Secretary of Commerce shall be excluded in the calculation and application of the limitation in subsection (b).
(2) Except as provided in paragraph (3), no more than one individual (other than an individual with reemployment rights under section 3950 of this title as a career appointee in the Senior Executive Service) may serve under a limited appointment in the Senior Foreign Service in the Department of Commerce at any time.
(3) The Secretary of Commerce may appoint an individual to a limited appointment in the Senior Foreign Service for a specific position abroad if—
(A) no career member of the Service who has the necessary qualifications is available to serve in the position; and
(B) the individual appointed has unique qualifications for the specific position.
(d) Recertification process
(Pub. L. 96–465, title I, § 305, Oct. 17, 1980, 94 Stat. 2086; Pub. L. 99–93, title I, § 119(a), Aug. 16, 1985, 99 Stat. 412; Pub. L. 101–194, title V, § 506(c)(1), Nov. 30, 1989, 103 Stat. 1759; Pub. L. 101–280, § 6(d)(3), May 4, 1990, 104 Stat. 160.)
§ 3946. Career appointments
(a) Trial period under limited appointment
Before receiving a career appointment in the Service, an individual shall first serve under a limited appointment as a career candidate for a trial period of service prescribed by the Secretary. During such trial period of service, the Secretary shall decide whether—
(1) to offer a career appointment to the candidate under section 3943 of this title, or
(2) to recommend to the President that the candidate be given a career appointment under section 3942 of this title.
(b) Decisions by Secretary
(c) Foreign Service Grievance Board decisions
(Pub. L. 96–465, title I, § 306, Oct. 17, 1980, 94 Stat. 2086; Pub. L. 100–204, title I, § 181(c), Dec. 22, 1987, 101 Stat. 1363.)
§ 3947. Entry levels for Foreign Service officer candidates
A career candidate for appointment as a Foreign Service officer may not be initially assigned under section 3964 of this title to a salary class higher than class 4 in the Foreign Service Schedule unless—
(1) the Secretary determines in an individual case that assignment to a higher salary class is warranted because of the qualifications (including foreign language competence) and experience of the candidate and the needs of the Service; or
(2) at the time such initial assignment is made, the candidate is serving under a career appointment in the Service and is receiving a salary at a rate equal to or higher than the minimum rate payable for class 4 in the Foreign Service Schedule.
(Pub. L. 96–465, title I, § 307, Oct. 17, 1980, 94 Stat. 2086.)
§ 3948. Recall and reappointment of career members
(a) Retired career members
(b) Former career members
(Pub. L. 96–465, title I, § 308, Oct. 17, 1980, 94 Stat. 2086.)
§ 3949. Limited appointments
(a) A limited appointment in the Service, including an appointment of an individual who is an employee of an agency, may not exceed 5 years in duration and, except as provided in subsections (b) and (c), may not be extended or renewed. A limited appointment in the Service which is limited by its terms to a period of one year or less is a temporary appointment.
(b) A limited appointment may be extended for continued service—
(1) as a consular agent;
(2) in accordance with
(3) as a career candidate, if—
(A) continued service is determined appropriate to remedy a matter that would be cognizable as a grievance under subchapter XI; or
(B) the individual is serving in the uniformed services (as defined in section 4303 of title 38) and the limited appointment expires in the course of such service;
(4) as a career employee in another Federal personnel system serving in a Foreign Service position on detail from another agency;
(5) as a foreign national employee;
(6) in exceptional circumstances if the Secretary determines the needs of the Service require the extension of—
(A) a limited noncareer appointment for a period not to exceed 1 year; or
(B) a limited appointment of a career candidate for the minimum time needed to resolve a grievance, claim, investigation, or complaint not otherwise provided for in this section.
(c)
(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) noncareer employees who have served for 5 consecutive years under a limited appointment under this section may be reappointed to a subsequent noncareer limited appointment if there is at least a 1-year break in service before such new appointment.
(2) The Secretary may waive the 1-year break requirement under paragraph (1) in cases of special need.
(Pub. L. 96–465, title I, § 309, Oct. 17, 1980, 94 Stat. 2086; Pub. L. 100–204, title I, § 176, Dec. 22, 1987, 101 Stat. 1361; Pub. L. 103–236, title I, § 180(a)(1), Apr. 30, 1994, 108 Stat. 415; Pub. L. 103–415, § 1(hh), Oct. 25, 1994, 108 Stat. 4303; Pub. L. 114–323, title IV, § 409, Dec. 16, 2016, 130 Stat. 1930.)
§ 3950. Reemployment rights following limited appointment
Any employee of an agency who accepts a limited appointment in the Service with the consent of the head of the agency in which the employee is employed shall be entitled, upon the termination of such limited appointment, to be reemployed in accordance with section 3597 of title 5.
(Pub. L. 96–465, title I, § 310, Oct. 17, 1980, 94 Stat. 2087.)
§ 3951. United States citizens hired abroad
(a) Appointment of family members
(b) Family nexus as affirmative hiring factor
(c) Compensation of family and non-family member employees
(1) Non-family members employed under this section for service at their post of residence shall be paid in accordance with local compensation plans established under section 3968 of this title.
(2) Family members employed under this section shall be paid in accordance with the Foreign Service Schedule or the salary rates established under section 3967 of this title.
(3) In exceptional circumstances, non-family members may be paid in accordance with the Foreign Service Schedule or the salary rates established under section 3967 of this title, if the Secretary determines that the national interest would be served by such payments.
(d) Non-family member employees ineligible for certain benefits
(e) Employment standards
(Pub. L. 96–465, title I, § 311, Oct. 17, 1980, 94 Stat. 2087; Pub. L. 103–236, title I, § 180(a)(2), Apr. 30, 1994, 108 Stat. 415; Pub. L. 103–415, § 1(h)(1), Oct. 25, 1994, 108 Stat. 4300; Pub. L. 117–81, div. F, title LXII, § 6205, Dec. 27, 2021, 135 Stat. 2391.)
§ 3952. Diplomatic and consular missions
(a) Recommendations by Secretary of State; appointment by President; vice consul; performance of official functions under commission
(b) Function of commissioned Service members
(c) Limits of consular districts
(Pub. L. 96–465, title I, § 312, Oct. 17, 1980, 94 Stat. 2087.)