Change in Home Leave Regulations in regard to Unaccompanied Tours
When a Department of State employee is transferring from a foreign post to an onward unaccompanied assignment, qualifying Eligible Family Members (EFMs) are eligible for paid travel to their Home Leave (HL) address AND for additional travel orders to their Involuntary Separate Maintenance Allowance (ISMA) location, if such additional orders are necessary.
Previously, when the employee's onward assignment was to an unaccompanied post, EFMs were given travel orders only to their ISMA location and, in some instances, were unable to accompany the employee on HL. As background, employees and Eligible Family Members (EFMs) on the employee's orders are normally eligible for paid travel to the home leave address only after a qualifying amount of time at post. This was satisfactory when the HL and ISMA locations were the same but problematic when the locations were different. Considering the significant sacrifices faced by employees preparing for an unaccompanied tour, this policy has been reviewed and amended as explained above.
In cases where the Home Leave location is different from the ISMA location, the USG will continue to cover the expenses associated with shipping of the family's HHE/UAB and POV to the ISMA location, per 14 FAM 613.3-1g. EFMs traveling to an official ISMA foreign location must cost construct their travel and related shipping expenses against the 'virtual' ISMA location they have named in CONUS.
Information provided by the Family Liaison Office.
Contact the Family Liaison Office
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