Latest News for FSNs
Introduction
UAA has the deepest appreciation and admiration for the many FSNs who served USAID so ably for many years. We want to provide robust support to the FSN members of the USAID community both during this time of transition and continuing into the future.
Continuing contact: UAA would appreciate receiving contact information for as many FSNs as possible to facilitate future contact. Also, please let us know if you are interested in serving as an FSN liaison for other FSNs in your country
UAA can be contacted at uaafsn@gmail.com or the UAA general email box: office@usaidalumni.org.
UAA holds twice-weekly “office hours” via Zoom: Tuesdays 8-9am & Wednesdays 10-11pm, U.S. Eastern time. They are open to anyone regardless of hiring mechanism (e.g. FSO, GS, FSN, PSC, FSL, etc.). Any topic may be raised, although if we have advance notice of the topic, we are more likely to have someone on the call who can address the topic rather than having to get back to you. Send us a message on office@usaidalumni.org if you want to notify us in advance about the topic of your office hours call.
Tuesday morning: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89390275324
Wednesday evening: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83509222980
The UAA website (www.usaidalumni.com) contains a large amount of information, and is accessible to anyone to access. Any USAID alumnus can register in the Directory without becoming a UAA member (although you becoming a member would be wonderful.) If you would like to become a UAA member, dues are now $1 for anyone who was separated after January 31, 2025.
Registration with the USAID Alumni Association
Your ideas. UAA wants to listen to FSNs’ suggestions as to how we could help – please send them!
Advocacy. UAA is prepared to aggressively advocate to State and Congress on FSN issues both before and after August 15. Please let us know about issues where advocacy might be helpful. For example, is the Secretary’s determination regarding SIV eligibility after 15 years of service being implemented?
SIVs. If you are emigrating to the US on an SIV please let us know, so that we might be able to help.
UAA Letter to SecState Rubio re FSNs, May 16, 2025
Letter from 1700+ FSNs to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, April 24, 2025
Message for USAID FSN Staff from the USAID Alumni Association, April 25, 2025
UAA Letter to SecState Rubio, March 15, 2025
UAA Statement in support of our overseas local staff, February 15, 2025
Useful information for preparing resumes for private sector jobs:
Translating your USAID Experience to the Private Sector Summary Sheet
Translating FSN Administrative Assistant Positions to the Private Sector
Translating FSN Health Positions to the Private Sector
Mission-based career transition support from the AID Transition Alliance
CLICK HERE FOR THE MISSION CAREER TRANSITION SUPPORT SURVEY: https://docs.google.
Report on State Department Challenges for Absorbing USAID. The attachment contains State IG Report aud-geer-25-19, which concludes that State has serious difficulty managing the funds it had before receiving any funds or responsibilities from USAID. This includes numerous areas where USAID has expertise, such as planning, procurement, funds control, etc. USAID staff already knows about these differences. However, the State IG report might be yet one more item to persuade embassies that they need to hire current USAID FSNs, who know how to properly plan, manage, and oversee sophisticated assistance activities. Click here to read the IG report.
RIF Information for USAID FSNs
State CN says no State FSN RIFs. We have heard that some embassies are open to being generous with USAID FSN severance packages, beyond LCP terms (where USAID funds are available), but have been reluctant to do so because they fear there might be a State FSN RIF and do not have the funds to be similarly generous with State FSNs.
The State Department CN re its reorganization plan (CN #25-032 submitted last week) expressly states that “No RIFs are planned for locally employed staff or U.S. direct hire personnel posted overseas.” (page 22) (This CN addresses State, not USAID, staff.)
We are passing this along in case you might find it helpful in persuading an embassy to feel more comfortable with generosity toward RIFed USAID FSNs. We cannot guarantee, of course, that State will not RIF any of its LES – only that State directly told Congress that it will not do so.
Employment priority for RIFed USAID staff. 5 U.S. Code 3503 expressly states that where a function is transferred from one USG agency to another agency, or where one agency is replaced by another agency, employees from the first agency shall be transferred to the second agency for employment in a position for which he/she is qualified before the second agency may fill the position from another source.
It has not been litigated as to whether or not this statute would apply as a legal matter to USAID FSN PSCs. However, it clearly reflects Congressional policy that the second agency hire from the first agency before looking elsewhere. This is in the USG’s best interests, since it allows the transferred function to be performed immediately at its full level, and saves the USG training costs, severance pay, and termination management burden.
We are sharing this in case you find it helpful in persuading embassies to hire applicable USAID staff for transferred foreign assistance functions before looking elsewhere.
To see the applicable US Code 3503 page, click here.
Suggestions related to nonimmigrant visa denials
We understand that in a few instances Posts have recently carried out a blanket cancellation of USAID FSNs’ B1/B2 (nonimmigrant) visas to the U.S., presumably in related to upcoming USAID dissolution and FSN RIFs. While hopefully this will not occur at other Posts, here are a few suggestions if it does occur. These are suggestions, and not legal advice, of course.
Visa issuance and cancellation are generally at the discretion of the consular officer and are not appealable. Nevertheless, 9 FAM 403.11 (NIV Revocation, attached) does contain guidelines for visa revocation. It is appropriate to point to them if visa revocation is proposed and recommend that they be followed. (Some of the FAM subsections are identified as “unavailable”, so we cannot address their contents.)
9 FAM 403.11 basically provides that visa cancellation should be decided on an individual basis. Advance notice of an intent to cancel and the reason for the proposed cancellation should be provided, to enable the potential issue to be corrected. Cancellation should be based on an actual finding, not just suspicion, of ineligibility. The FAM states that the “not practicable” exception to these requirements means that the individual in question cannot be located or his/her travel is imminent (i.e. not simple administrative ease.) It also notes the potential negative long-term political, public relations or public diplomacy repercussions from visa cancellations, particularly in high-profile situations – which might be the case for mass cancellation of FSN visas.
It is appropriate to point out these provisions and ask that they be followed. Presumably a major concern is risk of overstay. You could also explain why overstay is not a risk in your case. If visas have already been crossed out in a passport without following proper procedures, the only remedy might be to request expedited, no-cost issuance of a new visa.
The USAID Alumni Association has raised this issue with the Secretary and the Hill and is prepared to do so again if new situations arise.