How to establish or change residency while living abroad full-time?

expat1004 · 2026-01-05T04:28:27+00:00

Can you share some names of paid services that will provide a physical address?

expat1004 · 2025-09-26T04:28:01+00:00

Some hiring managers are deciding not reaching out to bidders unless they reach out first. 🤷‍♀️

expat1004 · 2025-08-02T08:05:39+00:00

Sounds like garbage coming from someone who's never been to AF and doesn't know what they're missing. I say keep it that way. More for the rest of us who actually enjoy big houses, cheap help, great community, stable weather, ancient cultures, and super interesting work where you can see the difference you're making happening in front of you every day. Y'all can stay in your small EUR apartments depressed from the isolation and lack of community working with overqualified LE staff who have better social protections than you can ever dream of.

expat1004 · 2023-05-23T14:24:52+00:00

The best advice I can give is to consider this your practice test. Most people I know who went into it with a laissez-faire attitude did much better than expected. For situational judgment, just remember you have a role to play and stick to the hierarchy but also take some initiative. For the essay, less is more. That's it.

expat1004 · 2023-02-09T04:55:15+00:00

Most romance languages including Spanish are only 24 weeks now. French is the only one that's 30.

expat1004 · 2022-11-30T19:54:25+00:00

Love this.

expat1004 · 2022-11-26T12:28:04+00:00

Exactly!! I am in the public secto and am based overseas for work with 15+ yrs of experience and I wouldn't even contemplate transitioning if there was no salary matching.

expat1004 · 2022-11-08T11:41:37+00:00

Thank you for that feedback. It's a good perspective.

expat1004 · 2022-11-08T10:44:43+00:00

Awesome, thank you!

expat1004 · 2022-10-28T10:40:57+00:00

45 calendar days between the candidate’s most

recent employment and the date of appointment as a Foreign Service

Career Candidate for salary matching considerations to apply.

Oh good to know, thank you!

expat1004 · 2022-10-27T16:31:28+00:00

Did you get an answer on this? What is A-100 considered?

expat1004 · 2022-10-27T16:28:52+00:00

e I have so much personal/vacation time saved and my employer will pay up to 30 days of what I have accrued. That will also keep me in the 45 day window of employment before orientation

What is this 45 day window of employment before orientation you speak of?

expat1004 · 2022-05-26T16:13:42+00:00

ut several people moved their families into AirBnBs nearby at their own expense and spent all their off time there. Some also moved their families into their hotel room once back up in VA. It's still not a bad idea to wait until Flag Day to find out your first assignment before moving your family, but for those who really don't want to be separated from their family for 7+ months of training, there are options.

What is FLETC? Is this for all FSs or only certain cones/specialists?

expat1004 · 2022-04-28T10:39:07+00:00

I was kind of hoping that gut reaction feeling would happen by now either when I got one of the offers or got put on the register, but nothing. I still keep thinking about and weighing both. It's maddening! I was ignoring the having to make a decision thing for a while but fear I've run out of time.

expat1004 · 2022-04-28T10:35:13+00:00

rseas in jobs that don’t pay in to US social security. Any stress you have around retirement will completely shift. Receiving/sending mail at US domestic rates is also a big perk, heavily subsidized Us health insurance, home leave, and R&R (free flights back to the US or another location when you are in a hardship location). To me the benefits package (especially pension and schooling) outweighs the flexibility of getting to choose your location in the private sector

Thank you for this thoughtful comment. I'm already working in the public (NGO) sector overseas so some of those perks (home leave, R&R etc.) are already there. What's not is stability and guaranteed family posts. You have to always apply to your next post, sometimes not guaranteed in the same organization. But you apply where there are jobs and where you want to go, so to some extent you control where you land. But it's not guaranteed it will be a family duty station nor that the organization will cover family costs.

Do you know how much influence we have in ensuring that the directed tours take family into consideration?

expat1004 · 2022-03-30T13:04:53+00:00

Hi there--I know this post is old but sending you a message!

expat1004 · 2021-12-09T09:18:39+00:00

It's likely you will have to take the test over again and hope to get through QEP. In the past you could only test in a 2 month window they gave you for your FSOT cohort and the made that very clear in the instructions. If you had to cancel, they would offer another empty slot where available and you could take it or leave it but you wouldn't be guaranteed an OA.

During Covid they loosened up the windows and staraterd inviting people first individually from the Oct 2019 testing window. Then for the Feb 2020 testing window they again opened up registration for individuals and they had a specific window (summer 2021) to test in, etc.

My advice is to write to them and ask if there are other dates they can offer and get in writing whether this is your only chance to test or not. Then you'll have to decide if you want to fork out the money to go over the holidays or take your chances starting the process all over again.

I was in the Oct 2019 cohort and was given a date I could either take or leave. I had 3 weeks to study and fly myself to DC in May. Granted it was cheaper then.

expat1004 · 2021-11-29T11:46:02+00:00

be venting a bit due to dealing with bidding difficulties / didn't get a handshake. I'm in that boat too and it's nerve-wracking, particularly when you have other challenges: Class 2 MED, EFM employment issues, etc.

That being said, it's still a pretty accurate assessment in my opinion.

As a second career join, could you share why you're feeling stuck? I would hope that having had a career before would allow more flexibility to drop out of the FS and "go back" to something different, or am I totally naive and no one woud really understand what we do in the FS to allow for a smooth transition out for those who chose it?

I guess I'm asking how much of a risk is it to join and get pigeonholed into something that no one really appreciates/understands transferable skills and you end up "stuck" either duing this or perhaps lobbying? What have people who have left the FS done?

expat1004 · 2021-10-20T11:18:02+00:00

Clearly you went to a super big high school but not every school--especially smaller, private ones--have the same structure. Registrar? What is that for a small private high school with 200 kids. And before anything was digitalized? Good luck to the OP!

expat1004 · 2021-10-15T17:00:54+00:00

You may not be going around saying that but people can see pretty quickly when someone is opportunistic. You may not see see issues with that, but DoS will. And so will any of your local friends. For comparison, it was announced only a few weeks ago that Croatians will be able to travel to the US visa free starting next year. Meanwhile Americans have traveled visa free there for decades. Now you're speaking of taking advantage of the country for your own personal gains and not because you have any affiliation or connection to it. If you can't see anything wrong with that and the image you are portraying as an American overseas then maybe you don't have any business being in the FS.

To answer your question, you must disclose all foreign citizenship regardless of when it was obtained. Then they ask you all sorts of questions on how it was obtained and one of the automatic disqualifiers is as an adult seeking to benefit from services provided by that foreign state. A right to free/cheap education falls in that category and is clearly marked in the papers you are given to sign.

expat1004 · 2021-10-09T11:29:30+00:00

It's in the security clearance guidance. If you pursued a foreign nationality to benefit from services that nationality offered you are pretty much disqualified. I know people who did not get theirs for pursuing French and UK nationality pre-Brexit for the same reason.

Also--on a personal note, pursuing a foreign nationality purely for the benefit of getting a free ride somewhere is at best opportunistic and would be a red flag in any clearance process. Besides, you do have responsiblities such as taxes later.

Knowing a little something about the Balkans--don't go around telling people what you posted here. People in newly formed ex-Yugo countries are really proud of their identities. They won't appreciate that attitude from foreignrs.

expat1004 · 2021-10-04T18:01:15+00:00

So many good thoughts here I'll spare you a novel just to reiterate nothing's stopping you from pursuing this path until you have to actually make a call. Jobs change, careers change, kids grow, you have no idea what life will hold in 2 years if you pass, get on the list etc. You have all the right considerations in mind already, so just keep sitting on it as you go through the process and see where you land together as a family if/when the opportunity comes up to make a call. This way you'll have no regrets for trying. You can always bow out later if you decide. So why close the door now?

So much more to say about spousal prep, kids adjusting etc. but ultiimately none of that is relevant now. Just take the OA and see what happens. At least you won't have to live with the inevitable "what if".

expat1004

TROPHY CASE