Providing for the Appointment in the Competitive Service of Certain Employees of the Foreign Service

2016-12-02Executive Order 13749
Signed by: Barack Obama
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Headline: Allows Certain Former Foreign Service Employees Competitive Appointments

What it does: Agencies must appoint eligible former Limited Non‑Career Foreign Service staff to competitive service if they meet service, exam, and rating requirements.

Real World Impact:
  • Gives agencies flexibility to hire former short-term foreign service workers.
  • Appointed individuals become career-conditional federal employees.
  • Aims to ease consular staffing shortages to help visa processing efficiency.
Topics: federal hiring, foreign service, visa processing, government workforce, national security

Summary

This order lets heads of federal agencies hire certain former Foreign Service employees into the competitive civil service. It applies to people who served at least 48 months under a Limited Non‑Career Appointment and who pass an exam prescribed by the Office of Personnel Management and had a satisfactory performance rating.

Appointees become career‑conditional employees, and agencies may extend the one‑year eligibility window to three years for military service, education, or other approved reasons; the order aims to ease consular staffing shortages and help maintain visa processing and border security.

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