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Hello!
Are U.S. Federal jobs open
to non-citizens?
Dear Advisor:
I am a British national who would like to work in America. I would be very
grateful if you could send me further information or vacancies for Federal jobs
in the New York area. I have no relatives in America. I look forward to hearing
from you soon.
H.S.
Holmes Chapel, UK
Dear H.S.
You have a tough road ahead. As an overview non-U.S. citizens are generally not
eligible for Federal jobs. This is particularly true if the job is located in
the U.S. and the other candidates for the job include U.S. citizens. However,
since you are a national of Great Britain and the U.S. is currently engaged with
Great Britain in a military operation, that is combat operations in Afghanistan,
you may qualify for a temporary position. Here are the particulars.
Several factors determine whether or not a Federal agency may employ a non
citizen. According to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which acts as
the government’s employment agency, these conditions are:
• Executive Order 11935
• Appropriations Act
• Immigration laws on employing aliens.
Executive Order 11935
Executive Order 11935 states that only U.S. Citizens and nationals
(residents of American Samoa and Swains Island) may be eligible for competitive
service jobs. However, when no qualified U.S. citizens or nationals are
available, Agencies may hire a non citizen from a non restricted group, as
determined by the Appropriations Act A non citizen hired in the absence of a
qualified U.S. citizen or national would be granted an excepted appointment and
would not be eligible to acquire civil service status and tenure. Under the
excepted appointment, the non citizen would only be eligible for promotion or
reassignment to a competitive service position, if no qualified U.S. citizens
are available for such promotions or reassignments.
Most hires under this policy occur at U.S. facilities overseas. These hires are
generally restricted to lower level positions, because hiring an American
citizen for these jobs and then transporting the new hire to a duty location
outside the U.S. is prohibitively expensive.
Appropriations Act
Under the Appropriations Act, Congress specifies that only certain groups of
non citizens may qualify for employment with Federal programs operating with
appropriated funds*. These rules follow, note in particular the last one:
Groups that Qualify for Employment Under Appropriations Act
• Persons who owe permanent allegiance to the United States (for example, U.S.
Nationals).
• Aliens from Cuba, Poland, South Vietnam, countries of the former Soviet Union
or Baltic countries that were lawfully admitted into this country for permanent
residence.
• South Vietnamese, Cambodian or Laotian refugees paroled into the U.S. after
January 1, 1975.
• Nationals of the People’s Republic of China who qualify for adjustment to
status under the Chinese Student Protection Act of 1992.
• Citizens of Ireland, Israel or the Republic of the Philippines.
• International broadcasters employed by the U.S. Information Agency.
• Temporarily employed translators.
• People employed up to 60 days on an emergency basis in the field service.
• Nationals of countries currently allied with the United States in a defense
effort. For example, the military operation in Afghanistan may qualify under
this part of the Act. This means that citizens of your country, Britain, as well
as others (see list at the end of this article) may have a claim for employment
with the U.S. government under this provision of the act. The Office of
Personnel Management would need to approve of each such hire.
Immigration Law Requirements
On Employing Non Citizens
In addition to the above factors, Immigration laws also play a large role in
determining which non citizens are eligible to be hired into Federal positions,
as well as private sector jobs. An alien may be considered eligible, if assigned
by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to a class of immigrants
authorized for employment.
Some Federal agencies and some Federal positions are not subject to OPM
regulations for filling jobs. Among these are the U.S. Postal Service and the
Tennessee Valley Authority. However, these Agencies and others will usually not
hire green card holders or those who are not U.S. citizens.
Questions About Status
Like the entire subject of immigration these laws and restrictions can be
quite confusing. If you have specific questions about your status, you may
contact your local INS office to inquire about your eligibility for employment.
These offices are listed under “U.S. Government” in local phone directories. Non
citizens eligible under immigration laws must keep in mind that they are still
subject to Executive Order 11935 and Appropriations Act restrictions. Therefore,
you should also contact the Agencies you wish to work for directly to obtain
answers about your employment eligibility.
Excepted Service
Some Federal agencies (among them the United States Postal Service, the
Tennessee Valley Authority and the Federal Bureau of Investigation), and some
occupations (for example, lawyers and chaplains) are exempt from competitive
civil service hiring requirements. These jobs fall into what is called the
“Excepted Service.” An agency may hire a qualified non-citizen in the excepted
service or Senior Executive Service, if it is permitted to do so by the annual
appropriations act and the immigration law and the agency’s specific laws and
internal policies. Many agencies have executive level positions in the Senior
Executive Service. However, persuading an Agency to hire you instead of a
qualified U.S. citizen, even thought they may be permitted to do so, will be a
tall order. However, if you have unique skills, you may have a case.
Non-Appropriated Fund Jobs
Appropriated funds are those are provided by U.S. taxpayers. However, some
Federal activities are self funded. These include stores and clubs operated by
the Federal government on military bases, VA hospitals, and overseas embassies
and consulates. In many cases, non citizens are eligible for employment in these
facilities. Most of this activity takes place overseas in clubs for the military
and other self-funded facilities.
Additional information on this topic is
available on-line
.
To submit questions to the Federal Jobs Advisor, write to: Federal Jobs
Advisor, Federal Jobs Digest, 1503 Radcliff Court ,Newtown Square PA 19073 . We
regret that not all questions may be answered. •
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