Foreign missions and IOs are required to notify the Department promptly (within 30 days) of the arrival (or appointment) of all members of the staff of foreign missions and IOs, including all locally employed staff and part-time employees, and members of their families (including the birth or adoption of a child). Foreign missions and IOs are not required to register personnel who will be present in the United States for fewer than 90 days.
Foreign missions and IOs should submit the NOA via eGov. The name that is to be reflected on the NOA must be the full legal name as it appears on a passport and U.S. Government issued visa. Separate NOAs must be submitted for both spouses of a tandem couple. (The following information is also requested on the NOA: residential address, arrival date, duty assume date, expected date of departure, predecessor information, family members, other U.S. assignments, and activities in the past five years.)
Diplomatic Agents
Diplomatic agents are employed only at embassies. For newly hired or arrived personnel to be recognized as a diplomatic agent at an embassy, and to retain such status, a person must:
(1) be a national of the sending State and not a U.S. citizen or LPR;
(2) possess a valid diplomatic passport issued by the sending State;
(3) possess a recognized diplomatic title (Minister, Minister-Counselor, Counselor, First Secretary, Second Secretary, Third Secretary, Attaché, Assistant Attaché);
(4) hold an A-1 nonimmigrant visa;
(5) be at least 21 years of age;
(6) reside on a full time basis in the Washington, DC metropolitan area;
(7) perform diplomatic functions on an essentially full-time basis (at least 35 hours per week);
(8) not engage in any professional or commercial activity in the United States;
(9) not be subject to pending criminal charges in the United States punishable by imprisonment of one year or more (or have immediate family members forming part of the household of the principal diplomat subject to such charges); and
(10) other requirements, on the basis of reciprocity.
Diplomatic agents at the embassy who perform consular functions must have a diplomatic title as stated above, in addition to a consular title such as Consul General, Consul or Vice Consul. Only one NOA should be submitted. OFM will print both titles on the member’s identification card.
The Department reiterates the emphasis placed on the performance of traditional and accepted diplomatic functions by accredited foreign diplomatic personnel assigned to the United States. Accordingly, the Department generally will not accept for accreditation any person who, during assignment in the United States, is or will be a student or trainee at any college, university, vocational school, military institution, or private or governmental foundation, or who is engaged in any pursuit inconsistent with regular and accepted diplomatic functions. A diplomatic agent’s engaging in any professional or commercial activity, including gainful employment on the U.S. economy, is inconsistent with the VCDR and U.S. immigration laws.
Although VCDR Article 5(3) states that a head of mission or any members of the diplomatic staffs of missions also may act as representatives to international organizations, the VCDR provides no basis for such persons to serve on the staffs of IOs themselves (as opposed to the staff of a mission to the IO). The Department views service on the staff of an IO as incompatible with the functions of a diplomat, whose principal concern must be to assist in the conduct of bilateral relations between the sending State and the United States as provided in VCDR Article 3.
Career Consular Officers
Career consular officers are defined as only those employed at consular posts outside of Washington. The Department does not require the exchange of diplomatic notes for consular recognition. Submission by the mission of the NOA via eGov will be considered formal notification of the appointment of career consular officers.
No pre-approval or agrément is required for the head of the consular post, and no formal exequatur will be issued. Before OFM will accept the NOA for the head of a consular post, OFM must have received an NOT for his/her predecessor.
For newly hired or arrived personnel to be recognized as a career consular officer at a consular post, and to retain such status, a person must:
(1) be a national of the sending State and not a U.S. citizen or LPR;
(2) possess a valid diplomatic or official passport issued by the sending State;
(3) possess a consular title (Consul General, Deputy Consul General, Consul, Deputy Consul, Vice Consul, Consular Agent);
(4) hold an A-1 nonimmigrant visa;
(5) be at least 21 years of age;
(6) reside full-time in the area of the consular post and where recognition is requested;
(7) devote official activities to consular duties on an essentially full-time basis (35 hours per week);
(8) not engage in any professional or commercial activity in the United States (engaging in any professional or commercial activity including gainful employment on the U.S. economy is inconsistent with the VCCR and U.S. immigration laws.);
(9) not be subject to pending criminal charges in the United States punishable by imprisonment of one year or more (or have immediate family members forming part of the household of the principal subject to such charges); and
(10) other requirements, on the basis of reciprocity.
Consular officers cannot be recognized until the sending State has formally requested and established the consular post to which the officer is assigned in accordance with OFM procedure. Consular activities may not be performed before OFM has recognized the consular officer.
Requests for Dual Accreditation in New York
The performance of official functions by a consular officer is not compatible with contemporaneously serving as a principal representative to the United Nations. This policy is premised on the significant difference in functions and the immunities enjoyed by persons with diplomatic status as compared to most consular officers.
The Department will give sympathetic consideration to exceptional circumstances where a member State of the United Nations would suffer serious hardship if it could not vest consular functions in a person entitled to diplomatic immunity pursuant to Section 15 of the United Nations Headquarters Agreement. The Department will give particular consideration to situations where: (1) the condition of the economy of the applying State is such that it could not operate a career consular establishment unless it were staffed by a diplomat accredited to the UN; and (2) owing to the very small size of its diplomatic and consular service, it could not maintain a consular establishment unless it vested consular functions in a person entitled to diplomatic immunity. In order to justify a need to economize on expenses and personnel, the applying State must submit to the Department a statement presenting evidence in detail to support its allegation of hardship, as well as an explanation as to why refusal of dual accreditation would be disadvantageous to it.
Should dual accreditation be granted, the exception made in each case will be based on the merits of that application alone. The full application procedure must be followed for each person nominated in a dual capacity. As soon as conditions in the sending State permit, the Department expects that application for recognition of a person to serve solely in a consular capacity would be made.
The Department will consider the dual accreditation of an individual who will perform administrative functions and duties as a consular employee as well as in connection with his/her government’s representation to the United Nations.
A&T Staff / Consular Employees / Service Staff
Employees other than diplomatic agents and career consular officers include members of the administrative and technical staff (A&T staff), consular employees, and members of the service staff at embassies or consulates. Updated, separate guidance regarding MFGOs and their employees will be forthcoming from OFM.
Members of the A&T staff (employed at embassies), consular employees (employed at consular posts), and members of the service staff (employed at either embassies or consular posts) must hold A-2 visas unless they are U.S. citizens or LPRs. Such members must hold a diplomatic, official, or service passport to be considered for privileges and immunities. (See section H below on Locally Employed Staff if the individual does not hold a diplomatic, official, or service passport.) Individuals on A-2 visas must perform duties with the assigned mission full-time and reside in the metropolitan area of the assigned mission.
For these employees, missions are requested to provide the most accurate and descriptive job title that currently applies to the duties performed. A&T staff and consular employees may be, for example, security guards, administrative officers or assistants, purchasing agents, or clerks. Service staff employees may be, for example, drivers, chauffeurs, gardeners, caretakers, maintenance personnel, couriers, or messengers. Cleaning personnel and other service personnel who are employed by the mission, rather than individual members of the mission, and who are engaging in duties owed to the sending government in furtherance of the official functions of the mission pertaining to the maintenance of the residence and representational duties performed at the residence of the head of a diplomatic mission or the principal officer of a consular post may also be members of the service staff of the mission. Individuals employed by a particular mission member in a domestic or personal capacity, such as to cook, clean, or take care of children in the private residence of a mission member may not be members of the service staff of the mission.
For any principals in A or G nonimmigrant visa status, engaging in any professional or commercial activity including gainful employment on the U.S. economy is inconsistent with the INA.
Employees Working Outside the Mission Premises
Employees performing diplomatic functions and physically working outside of the diplomatic or consular mission premises but in the same metropolitan area of the mission (for example, at U.S. Government offices) are generally treated as members of the mission in that metropolitan area and therefore should be notified to OFM.
Foreign Government Employees & Officers and Employees of a Designated IO
Foreign government officials and officers and employees of a designated IO must perform services for the foreign government or IO on an essentially full-time basis (at least 35 hours per week) and reside in the metropolitan area of the IO where they will be serving.
Unless they are U.S. citizens or LPRs, individuals representing a foreign government at an IO, regardless of rank, must hold G-1 visas. This includes, for example, employees at Permanent Missions to the OAS (unless dually accredited to the Embassy) or government-provided advisors at the IMF. In general, foreign government employees whose government is not a member state of the IO (which includes foreign government employees at Observer Missions to the OAS) must hold G-3 visas. Officials and employees of a designated IO working at that IO must hold G-4 visas.
Acceptable titles for international organization officials include: Permanent Resident Representative, Executive Director, Alternate Executive Director, Senior Advisor to Executive Director, Advisor to Executive Director.
If the assignment for which the appointee’s visa was issued differs from that which is provided on the NOA, OFM may require supporting documentation, which may include a contract or a note from the sending government’s ministry of foreign affairs or a letter from the IO, as appropriate, indicating that the individual is a full-time employee, and including their position and title, brief description of duties, and anticipated length of stay in the United States.
Military Personnel
For foreign military personnel assigned to the embassy with one of the following titles:
• Defense Attaché;
• Assistant Defense Attaché;
• Defense Cooperation Attaché;
• Assistant Defense Cooperation Attaché;
• Military Attaché, Assistant Military Attaché;
• Naval Attaché, Assistant Naval Attaché;
• Air Attaché, Assistant Air Attaché; or a combination of these titles (i.e., Defense, Military, Naval, and Air Attaché)
the Embassy must notify such individuals to OFM as diplomatic agents (and therefore the individual must meet the criteria for diplomatic agents listed above) and must also obtain clearance from the Department of Defense (DOD) in order for that person to hold that title. The Embassy must provide information directly to DOD around the same time that they are submitting the NOA to OFM.
Before OFM will accept these persons’ accreditation and grant privileges and immunities, OFM must have received an NOT for his/her predecessor as well as approval from DOD.
Foreign military personnel without diplomatic titles who are assigned at the embassy to perform functions directly related to and in support of the mission must be notified to OFM as members of the A&T staff.
Although foreign military personnel assigned to the United States and working at locations other than their embassies may report to or come under the umbrella of the Defense or Military Attaché, they should not be notified as members of the embassy staff.
The following foreign military personnel assigned to the United States generally should not be notified to OFM: those in training, attending military schools or colleges, or where coursework is the primary focus of their mission, those assigned to any type of foreign military sales effort or joint military program, such as the Joint Strike Fighter program, those assigned to a multinational NATO defense unit, or those serving in a liaison capacity with the U.S. armed forces or a manufacturer of military materiel. In these cases, the primary focus of the assignment is considered separate and distinct from the full-time duties performed by members of the diplomatic missions and are not functions in support of the diplomatic mission.
Locally Employed Staff at Embassies and Consulates
Embassies and consulates must notify to OFM all locally employed staff (LE Staff) who are hired by the mission in the United States and not assigned or appointed by the ministry of foreign affairs. LE Staff enjoy no privileges or immunities, and their dependents are not eligible to apply for work authorization through OFM.
LE Staff are generally U.S. citizens or LPRs.
If the embassy or consulate wishes to hire an individual who is neither a U.S. citizen nor an LPR, and that individual will be performing services full-time for the embassy or consulate, such individual must change his/her visa status to A-2 prior to performing services for the foreign government and prior to notification. Such individuals will generally be required to apply for the A-2 visa outside the United States where they can be interviewed by a consular officer. Such individuals are expected to hold their position for no more than five years.
Family Members
All family members and changes in family must be notified to the Department of State, including the birth or adoption of a child (provide birth certificate if born in the United States) and a new spouse because of marriage (provide marriage certificate). If a family member arrives in the United States with the principal employee, the mission must include his/her information on the principal’s NOA. If a family member arrives in the United States after the principal, do not include the family member’s information on the NOA but notify OFM when the family member arrives in the United States.
If a child is born to or adopted by the principal while posted in the United States, the mission must notify the Department, providing a copy of the birth certificate and/or adoption records.