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Title 22 — Foreign Relations and IntercourseRelease 119-73not60

§4153 Conversion to Senior Foreign Service

Title 22 › Chapter 52— FOREIGN SERVICE › Subchapter XII— TRANSITION › § 4153

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

Allows Foreign Service officers who were in class 2 or higher on February 15, 1981, to ask the Secretary for a Senior Foreign Service appointment. They had 120 days after that date to send a written request. If a reserve officer with limited tenure asks, the Secretary must give a limited Senior Foreign Service appointment. If a regular Foreign Service officer or a reserve officer with unlimited tenure asks, the Secretary must recommend a career appointment to the President for Senate approval. If an officer is not available for worldwide assignment, the Secretary can only appoint or recommend them if the Secretary says their services are needed and the officer agrees in writing to be available worldwide. Requests made after 120 days but before the 3-year period starting February 15, 1981, may be considered under the same availability rules and other promotion rules. The law also refers to officers who did not apply or who applied late and were not appointed for reasons other than the availability rule.

Full Legal Text

Title 22, §4153

Foreign Relations and Intercourse — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Foreign Service officers and Foreign Service Reserve officers with limited or unlimited tenure who, immediately before February 15, 1981, are serving under appointments at class 2 or a higher class of the schedule established under section 412 or 414 of the Foreign Service Act of 1946 may at any time within 120 days after such date submit to the Secretary a written request for appointment to the Senior Foreign Service.
(b)Except as provided in subsection (d), if a request is submitted under subsection (a) by a Foreign Service Reserve officer with limited tenure, the Secretary shall grant to such officer a limited appointment to the Senior Foreign Service in the appropriate class established under section 3962 of this title.
(c)If a request is submitted under subsection (a) by a Foreign Service officer or, except as provided in subsection (d), a Foreign Service Reserve officer with unlimited tenure, the Secretary shall recommend to the President a career appointment of such officer, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to the Senior Foreign Service in the appropriate class established under section 3962 of this title.
(d)If the Secretary determines that a Foreign Service Reserve officer with limited or unlimited tenure who submits a request under subsection (a) is not available for worldwide assignment, an appointment under subsection (b) or a recommendation for appointment under subsection (c) shall be made only if—
(1)the Secretary certifies that there is a need for the services of such officer in the Senior Foreign Service; and
(2)such officer agrees in writing to accept availability for worldwide assignment as a condition of continued employment.
(e)If a Foreign Service officer or a Foreign Service Reserve officer who is eligible to submit a request under subsection (a) submits a written request for appointment to the Senior Foreign Service to the Secretary more than 120 days after February 15, 1981, and before the end of the 3-year period beginning on February 15, 1981, the Secretary (in the case of a Foreign Service Reserve officer with limited tenure) may grant a limited appointment to, or (in the case of a Foreign Service officer or Foreign Service Reserve officer with unlimited tenure) may recommend to the President a career appointment of, the requesting officer to the appropriate class established under section 3962 of this title, subject to the conditions specified in subsection (d) and such other conditions as the Secretary may prescribe consistent with the provisions of subchapter VI of this chapter relating to promotion into the Senior Foreign Service.
(f)Any officer of the Foreign Service who is eligible to submit a request under subsection (a) and—
(1)who does not submit a request under subsection (a), or
(2)who submits such a request more than 120 days after February 15, 1981, and is not appointed to the Senior Foreign Service for any reason other than failure to meet the conditions specified in subsection (d),

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

section 412 and 414 of the Foreign Service Act of 1946, referred to in subsec. (a), which were classified to section 867 and 869, respectively, of this title, were repealed by Pub. L. 96–465, title II, § 2205(1), Oct. 17, 1980, 94 Stat. 2159. Codification In subsecs. (a), (e), and (f), “February 15, 1981” substituted for “the

Effective Date

of this Act” and “such

Effective Date

” pursuant to section 2403 of Pub. L. 96–465, set out as an

Effective Date

note under section 3901 of this title.

Amendments

1983—Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 98–164 substituted provisions relating to applicability of section 4007(c)(1) and 4009(a)(2)(B) of this title, for provisions relating to applicability of subchapter VIII of this chapter.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

22 U.S.C. § 4153

Title 22 — Foreign Relations and Intercourse

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60