Eight (8) Steps to Becoming a Language-Designated Consular Fellow
Step 1: Confirm Your Eligibility to Apply
To be eligible to apply for a language-designated Consular Fellow
position, you must:
- Be a U.S. citizen of at least 20 years of age, and be 21 years or older to accept a position;
- Be able to obtain and maintain a Top Secret clearance;
- Be able to obtain authorization to work in country or countries of assignment and;
- Speak a designated foreign language at a required level of proficiency (Arabic, Chinese Mandarin, Portuguese, or Spanish).
Step 2: Submit Your Application
Now that you have confirmed your eligibility to apply, the next step is to complete the online application. The application includes education and professional experience, as well as Personal Narrative questions. It also requires you to complete your resume online.
Complete the online application and register for the Consular Fellows Program Test (CFPT).
Information on Personal Narrative Questions
Step 3: Take the CFPT
Choose a test date and Pearson VUE test location that is convenient for you to take the CFPT. You will receive your score the same day you test.
Step 4: Qualifications Evaluation Panel
If your CFPT score qualifies, your application will move forward to a Qualifications Evaluation Panel (QEP) for further review. The members of the Panel are experienced Consular Officers trained in resume evaluation skills. Your education, work experience, skills and abilities will be considered and scored in the QEP review process.
Step 5: Take the Language Test
The most competitive candidates from the QEP will be invited to take a language proficiency test with the Language Testing Institute (LTI) to confirm they have the required language skills. Both a speaking and a reading test are required.
Information on the LTI language test
Step 6: Take the Foreign Service Consular Professional Assessment
Candidates who meet the required language proficiency will be invited to participate in the Officer Assessment process. The Officer Assessment includes a writing exercise and a structured interview to determine whether candidates demonstrate the Dimensions that are essential to successful performance as a Consular Fellow.
Information on the Foreign Service Consular Professional Assessment
Step 7: Clearances
All passing candidates must receive medical, security and suitability clearances in order to be hired and serve abroad. For those who passed the Officer Assessment and received a conditional offer, you will receive information on how to access the Foreign Service Career Candidate Guide.
Step 8: Register of Cleared Candidates
Candidates who received a conditional offer of employment will be placed on a register of cleared candidates based on the language designated during the initial application process.
What You Need to Know About the Consular Fellow Selection Process
Take the Foreign Service Consular Professional Assessment
Candidates forwarded by the qualifications process are invited to Washington, D.C. at their own expense to the Foreign Service Assessment Center to participate in an Officer Assessment. Some specialties may also be offered the chance to test in other domestic U.S. locations.
You are evaluated solely against the dimensions by trained examiners. When you come to the assessment, you will be asked to read and sign the following forms pertaining to conditions for taking the assessment and conditions of employment in the Foreign Service. If you are not willing to abide by these conditions, you should not schedule an assessment.
Writing Exercise
Candidates will be presented a hypothetical problem set in a workplace environment related to the candidate’s area of specialization. The candidate will be required to write a two-page memo outlining how to solve the problem presented. The candidate will have 45 minutes for the writing exercise and must provide their own computer with reliable internet connectivity and bandwidth to allow a Board of Examiner employee to proctor the exercise.
Structured Interview
The interview will be conducted by two examiners, a Foreign Service generalist and a Foreign Service specialist or generalist working in your field. The candidate will be asked about his/her motivation for joining the Foreign Service and about background experiences that might be relevant to their work as a Consular Adjudicator. The interviewer will ask questions in the candidate’s field and provide hypothetical workplace problems to resolve. Candidates are expected to use common sense and good judgment and to make assumptions they believe are appropriate in responding to hypothetical situations.
Exit Interview
The examiners will inform all candidates on the day of their assessment whether or not they reached the cut-off score which will enable the U.S. Department of State to continue the candidacy. If the candidate reaches the cut-off score, the examiners will brief him/her on the next steps in the pre-employment process.
What to bring to the Assessment Center
It is essential that you visit the Download Center In addition to valid U.S. state or federal government-issued photo identification, you will need to bring various completed forms to show or submit if you pass the Officer Assessment. Some of the release forms must be signed by your spouse or estranged spouse, co-habitant, or fiancé(e).
Medical and Security Clearances
All candidates must receive medical and security clearances in order to be hired.
Medical Clearance
Many Foreign Service posts are located in remote areas with extremely limited medical support; therefore, each candidate must meet appropriate medical standards in order to qualify for the required medical clearance for the post or posts of their assignment. A medical clearance determination by the Office of Medical Services is based on its thorough review of each candidate’s medical history and physical examination, including an individual assessment of his/her specific medical needs and the medical capabilities of the Foreign Service post or posts at which the candidate will serve to meet those needs.
After receiving a conditional offer of employment, each candidate is provided with the necessary examination forms (with instructions) to give to the examining health care practitioner (MD, DO, NP, PA). An authorization for the Department of State to pay for the examination will be provided. Candidates who live within 50 miles of Washington, DC must schedule their medical exams at the State Department’s Office of Medical Services. Those who live more than 50 miles from Washington may have them done by their own physician or at the State Department. Children under the age of six must be seen by their own pediatrician, regardless of location.
Regardless of who administers the medical clearance exam, the Department’s Office of Medical Services determines the candidate’s medical clearance for the post or posts of assignment.
Posts of assignment may feature extreme isolation in terms of limitations on reliable air service in and out of the country, unreliable Internet and telecommunications connections, and/or unreliable postal and delivery systems. Any of these limited services can have a severe adverse impact in terms of both bringing in required medical services and/or supplies, and/or permitting timely medical evacuations. Other infrastructure at such a post might also be inadequate. There might be a poor or negligible public health system, poor sanitation, unreliable electricity, and/or a lack of potable water. There might also be infectious and communicable diseases, such as malaria, dengue fever, typhoid, tuberculosis, rabies, encephalitis and gastrointestinal diseases. There might be no health unit at the post and next to no local medical facilities. The emergency room, for example, might be completely inadequate, without ventilators, defibrillators, x-ray capabilities, etc. There often would be no blood bank or medical supplies or medications available locally. Due to political instability, security could be a concern.
Candidates should be aware that these posts are not few in number nor confined to a specific geographic region. Also, there are numerous other posts where conditions appear similar to that of the U.S. but which also feature some of these restrictive characteristics.
While the candidate must be medically cleared for service at the post or posts of assignment, the Department of State does not consider the medical condition of eligible family members for employment purposes. State does, however, require that each eligible family member have a medical clearance for the post of assignment before they can travel overseas at U.S. Government expense when accompanying an employee on assignment.
For more information on medical clearances, please visit the Frequently Asked Questions page.
Security Clearance
Candidates who pass the Officer Assessment must apply for the security clearance required for appointment to the Foreign Service. A comprehensive background investigation, conducted by the U.S. Department of State in cooperation with other federal, state, and local agencies, will provide the information necessary to determine a candidate’s suitability for appointment to the Foreign Service and for a Top Secret security clearance. The process considers such factors as: failure to repay a U.S. Government-guaranteed loan or meet tax obligations; failure to register for the Selective Service; past problems with credit or bankruptcy; unsatisfactory employment records; a criminal record or other violations of the law; drug or alcohol abuse; and less than honorable discharge from the armed forces. Candidates who hold dual citizenship (pdf), have had extensive travel, education, residence and /or employment overseas, or who have foreign contacts, a foreign-born spouse, immediate family members or relatives who are not citizens of the United States, should be aware that the clearance process will take longer to complete. The background investigation includes interviews with current and previous contacts, supervisors and coworkers. Candidates who do not receive a security clearance are ineligible for appointment. Potential candidates who have any serious issues that may prevent them from receiving a clearance should give some thought to the likelihood of their being found ineligible before starting this process.