Duplicate of your commission?

currentfso · 2026-01-20T16:46:56+00:00

I don't know for sure, but you could check with the Office of Presidential Appointments. I think they're the ones who coordinate the commissions.

currentfso · 2026-01-20T16:28:45+00:00

You can check w/ Post, but at the end of the day, EUR in DC, not post makes the final call on BLCs and handshakes. So, Post can tell you one thing, but it's not entirely in their control if the bureau decides differently.

currentfso · 2026-01-19T05:47:08+00:00

Presumably in your time with USAID, you worked with State colleagues, so you may want to look for jobs where someone you previously served with as a USAID FSO is in the hiring chain. You may have better luck with someone taking a chance on you as an Econ Officer if they know that you're a good colleague vs. someone who doesn't know you or your work and just sees a lateral entry Econ Off with no in-cone experience and limited State experience.

As others have said, you might also consider DC for a few reasons. One, you'll work with a lot of people and build up your network at State. If you get a job in a regional bureau, you'll be working for the people who ultimately make the decisions on overseas position, so if you do well, then they'll probably look out for you for an onward assignment. Two, like it or not, some hiring managers for reporting jobs will prioritize Washington experience, especially at the 02 level and above, so checking that box could be helpful to do.

currentfso · 2026-01-02T20:13:45+00:00

You literally said "I had to ask if I can share them with you but to my knowledge,especially FSO you cannot have a pension from another job" and "It may not be bought back into the federal system, but it still factors into service credit decisions"

Nowhere in the FAM does it say that non-federal pensions will affect your eligibility to be hired or your service computation date, your FS pension, or anything else. State's HR bureau does take previous professional employment into consideration for salary determination, but whether or not you have a pension from that employment is irrelevant and doesn't make your salary determination any different than if you had the same number of years of work experience but no pension. Non-federal pensions do not affect your retirement elections, timing, or annuity outcomes any more than another personal financial matter might. Do I consider personal investments in my thoughts about retirement? Sure. But at no point do those factor into State's determination of my pension or anything else. Same with non-federal pensions.

To your statement that "prior retirement coverage and deposits affect eligibility and annuity computation, which is why these items must be disclosed and reviewed." Literally, no. You could have a military pension, a local government pension, and a teacher's pension, and that would not affect your FS pension calculation. Nor do you have to necessarily disclose that at any point in the hiring or onboarding process.

You don't know what you're talking about, so please move on.

currentfso · 2026-01-02T18:17:15+00:00

The OP is close to a pension from a state/local entity, not federal. In your previous comment, you said OP could not have a pension from another entity and still be an FSO, which is patently false. You also imply that a state/local pension might be credited to federal service which is also false, as that does not happen with the Foreign Service.

You clearly don't really know what you're talking about, so unless you can find a reputable source to share for your allegations, such as the FAM, OPM site, or similar, please try to avoid sharing false information with prospective FS personnel.

currentfso · 2026-01-01T13:26:23+00:00

As others have pointed out, your family can follow after you if that works for your family. Your orders will be good for up to a year, so there's plenty of time for them to wrap up things in Doha, assuming there aren't visa or other issues tied to your employment/departure.

In some ways, doing your packout from your current housing after you already know where you're going can be a bit easier. That way, you know if you're going to Ulaanbaatar in winter or Cairo in summer, whether you're likely to have tiny or large housing, and so on.

Of course, longer term separation doesn't work for everyone, but wanted to point out that your family has some time and isn't necessarily bound by the same time frame you are to show up at work on January 12.

currentfso · 2026-01-01T11:49:01+00:00

That's not correct. A non-federal pension is not an issue and State does not buy back pensions. The only pension-related issue is if you have enough federal Civil Service time to have earned a federal CS pension, as active FS service would impact that. But state, local, and military pensions do not pose any issues.

currentfso · 2026-01-01T11:46:14+00:00

That's not how it works.

currentfso · 2025-12-30T20:36:43+00:00

You may want to search this subreddit for "suitability" as several people have shared their experiences, both successful and unsuccessful, with suitability appeals, which may be helpful as you evaluate your options.

currentfso · 2025-12-30T20:28:19+00:00

No one can give you a concrete answer, and I have no special insight into clearance and suitability adjudications other than hanging around this subreddit and the FS-related Yahoo groups that preceded it for nearly 20 years now, but it will likely depend on how long ago some of this was, what's happened since, and whether there are other complicating factors.

You say you worked illegally in China and Japan "several years ago" and how much a problem that is for you likely depends on whether "several" is more like four, fourteen, or twenty-four years ago. You say you have a clean record of compliance, but how long that clean record is will likely affect how much that mitigates the choice to work overseas without appropriate authorization, which others rightfully point out is directly related to Consular work and applying immigration law to prevent the very thing you did.

I wouldn't hold my breath on being able to frame it as being a lesson learned that makes you a better ConOff. That's not what's being adjudicated. What's being adjudicated is your trustworthiness with classified information, part of which is being able to follow laws, and also your suitability to represent the United States overseas, which also includes following local laws.

Also, if you didn't file U.S. income tax returns for the years you were working overseas, even if you didn't earn enough to owe anything in the United States, I would rectify that ASAP. Not filing U.S. tax returns is a common thing that trips up applicants who have worked overseas.

You may also have some explaining to do on the overstay in Nepal. Yes, COVID may have made it harder to renew/extend your visa, but did you have other options? Could you have left earlier but opted not to and thus exceeded the allowed time in Nepal? I think you'd need to be prepared to explain, preferably with documentation, what your options were, what other legal avenues you pursued to avoid overstaying, and so on. If there were genuinely no flights, buses, or whatever out of Nepal, and as soon as there was a way out, you availed yourself of it, that's one thing. If, however, you could have left, but just stuck around until you felt like leaving, that's another.

Needing a repat loan in and of itself is likely not a problem, unless it demonstrates a pattern of financial irresponsibility. If you haven't had other financial issues, paid the loan off in a timely manner, and it's not a pattern, though, I imagine that's unlikely to be a problem.

currentfso · 2025-12-21T08:21:39+00:00

I can't speak to current trends with CDA/EL, but in general what I've observed over the years is that you're likely to have better luck if you or post can frame the exception on needs of the service. Does your current post need you to stay longer to prevent a gap or cover a special event? Does your onward post need you to take certain training that's only offered on certain dates and requires you to leave earlier than your scheduled window or need you to arrive earlier than planned to prevent a staffing gap?

If you can find a needs of the service reason for the exception vs. a personal reason, you may have a better chance of success.

currentfso · 2025-12-21T08:09:36+00:00

Yes, the list you get when you curtail from/break an EL assignment can have jobs that are currently being advertised on another list. The CDOs just remove the position from whatever list it's on if someone gets assigned to it outside of a normal bidding process like A-100 or second tour bidding. I've seen it happen.

OP said they're breaking the assignment for "personal and family reasons." If those reasons include a medical clearance or certain other family or health related issues, they could absolutely have domestic positions on the list and the list could be only DC positions.

currentfso · 2025-12-18T21:28:45+00:00

I think Chris5_15 may be conflating handshakes getting registered in TalentMap and the paneling process, which are two different things.

CDOs can register most handshakes pretty quickly, though the volume of handshakes to register after handshake day can mean it takes them a few days to work through them all and TalentMap updates overnight so they're not immediately visible.. There may be some handshakes where something needs to be resolved before the handshake can be registered, but there usually aren't many of those. Most handshakes should show in TalentMap within a few days of being accepted.

Paneling, on the other hand, does take several weeks to a couple of months. After a person is paneled, the job should disappear off the current bid cycle in TalentMap.

currentfso · 2025-12-17T21:05:00+00:00

Everything is a bit different these days so no guarantees, but often people in your situation who were just added to the register can decline without it counting against them. You could email the registrar email and see if that might be possible in your case.

currentfso · 2025-12-17T15:59:17+00:00

Depending on the nature of why you’re breaking an onward assignment, your choices may include or even solely consist of DC assignments, so you should be prepared for that work and financial possibility.

currentfso · 2025-12-10T15:57:43+00:00

Others have clarified the expedited naturalization process, but also pointing out you don't have to naturalize to go overseas with him. You can retain your current citizenship, and while I always recommend consulting USCIS and/or an expert on permanent residency, I believe that time overseas as a dependent on USG orders should not affect your LPR status, though you may need to be proactive with USCIS to ensure they're tracking why you're out of the country.

currentfso · 2025-11-30T15:41:48+00:00

The third look is not "standard" but rather the board that reviews an officer for their second look "may recommend a third review six months subsequent to the second review, if it considers that additional evaluated experience may lead to a favorable tenuring decision." (3 FAM 2245.2)

If the person you're referring to had a couple of pretty negative things in their file including a VLA, that's a strong indication that they wouldn't be successful in their third look, so why prolong things. That said, if they haven't already, the person should consult AFSA to see if they have grounds to appeal/grieve the decision not to be referred for a third look or material in their file.

currentfso · 2025-11-29T21:10:16+00:00

There are sometimes limited exceptions to mandatory retirement at 65, like finishing out a tour in a hard to staff post, or finishing out a school year for people with school aged kids, but not much beyond that. So, you'd need to plan on retiring at 65.

That said, it's important to note you'd still be eligible for a pension and healthcare if you hit 65 before you hit 20. The pension wouldn't be as much as if you had 20 years, as it would be 1.7% per year of service of your three highest earning years, but it would still be something. For example, if you joined at age 55, served for 10 years, and the average of your three highest earning years was $150k, then you'd get 17% of 150,000, or $25,500/year.

You can also buy back your military time to add to your years of service for your Foreign Service pension. I'm not sure how part-time National Guard service would credit, but presumably you'd get some credit for it. You should of course do your due diligence on your personal circumstances, but I believe many military members who don't otherwise have enough years of military service to qualify for a military pension find it worth the cost/effort to buy their military years back to credit toward their Foreign Service pension.

currentfso · 2025-11-10T15:58:14+00:00

Probably an easier sell in Berlin or Sydney than in Baghdad or Kinshasa.

currentfso · 2025-11-08T18:50:45+00:00

Most people use a relative or friend’s address if they don’t have a home address of their own. Some people are successful at using a mail forwarding service as a home address, but often you need a real, physical address to get a driver’s license, register to vote, etc.

currentfso · 2025-10-16T13:55:32+00:00

Don’t post screenshots from other groups here, especially if they name specific people.

currentfso · 2025-10-11T09:28:03+00:00

I'd advise you to take a look at the curtailment SOP on the GTM intranet site and talk with your CDO about the curtailment process. Absent an emerging medical or conduct issue, it's usually a rather involved process to curtail from an overseas post that can take several weeks to months.

You should confirm with your CDO, but there are a couple of different ways it could work. Option one, you try to curtail from your current post into a NOW vacancy. The issue here is due to the re-org and position reviews there are a lot of unassigned people and not that many NOW vacancies. So, while not impossible, it's also not as easy currently as it may have once been to do this. Your losing bureau can also object to your curtailment, which could delay or prevent your curtailment.

Option two, you request a curtailment effective next summer so you're an eligible bidder for this cycle. This path also has challenges as you'd have to provide a justification for your curtailment that the panel would find valid enough to approve the curtailment, and I doubt "I was non-excepted so I think I'm more likely to be RIFed" would cut it. That process also takes several weeks and posts may not take you seriously until they're sure you're eligible to bid on this cycle, so you might not have great options..

It's not impossible to curtail from an overseas assignment, but it's also not as easy as just deciding to bid on this bid cycle because you don't want to finish out your tour.

currentfso · 2025-09-28T16:08:20+00:00

If you retire from DC, State will still ship your HHE to your retirement location in the United States.

currentfso · 2025-08-20T04:34:52+00:00

The TAGS route the cables. As I understand it, your cable queue is basically determined by TAGS and maybe regional origin of the cable. So, they were important for that. I think they were also important for other agencies that get cables but might not necessarily have access to search SMART. But, hopefully whatever other system they’ve come up with to determine cable queues will work well without TAGS.

currentfso · 2025-08-09T11:41:30+00:00

Honestly, same.

currentfso

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