Locally hired and Third Country National (TCN) Position Vacancies

To be eligible for consideration, candidates applying for all locally hired positions must have the required work and/or residency permit/s in Muscat at the time of submitting the application. Please note that the U.S. Mission is not able -under any circumstance to sponsor candidates for a work entry visa to Muscat for locally hired positions. There are certain positions advertised for “Third Country Nationals (TCN)” only. Selected candidates apply for such positions receive U.S. Mission Muscat sponsored work entry visa to Muscat. For the definition of Third Country Nationals, please visit Who May Apply.

Locally hired and TCN position vacancies are usually advertised inside and outside concurrently. However, make sure you are eligible to apply as some positions may be restricted to Mission employees only, or other specific categories. The recruitment process is competitive; effective April 1, 2016, when equally qualified candidates will be given preference in the following order: Appointment Eligible Family Members/U.S. Eligible Family Members claiming U.S. Veteran preference; Appointment Eligible Family Members/U.S. Eligible Family Members, FS Officers on Leave Without Pay, and all others (See: “Definitions”) Who May Apply.

Positions staffing requires that U.S. citizens males over age 18 and born after December 31, 1959, register with the United States Selective Service System, or have an exemption from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

Excerpt from 3 FAM 7120 – DEFINITIONS

Appointment eligible family member (AEFM): An individual who meets all of the following criteria is considered to be an AEFM for employment purposes:

1. Is a U.S. citizen;
2. Is the spouse or domestic partner (as defined in 3 FAM 1610) of a sponsoring employee (as defined in this section);
3. Is listed on one of the following:
   1. Travel orders of a sponsoring employee who is assigned (not TDY) to a U.S. mission abroad under Chief of Mission authority, or at an office of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), or
   2. An approved Form OF-126, Foreign Service Residence and Dependency Report (or other agency equivalent), of a sponsoring employee who is assigned (not TDY) to a U.S. mission abroad under Chief of Mission authority, or at an office of the AIT, and is residing at the sponsoring employee’s post of assignment abroad;
4. Does not receive a U.S. Government retirement annuity or pension from a career in the

U.S. Foreign Service or Civil Service.

1. Is not a Foreign Service Generalist or Specialist in Leave Without Pay (LWOP) status;
2. Is not a Civil Service employee with re-employment rights to their agency or bureau.

Eligible family member (EFM): An individual who meets all of the following criteria is considered to be an EFM for employment purposes (country of citizenship is not a factor):

1. Is the spouse or domestic partner (as defined in 3 FAM 1610) of a sponsoring employee (as defined in this section); or child of a sponsoring employee under 21 and unmarried, or (regardless of age) unmarried and incapable of self-support; or a parent (including step-parent or legally adoptive parent) or sibling who has been declared as 51% or more dependent on the sponsoring employee;
2. Is listed on one of the following:
   1. The travel orders of a sponsoring employee who is assigned (not TDY) to a U.S. mission abroad under Chief of Mission authority, or at an office of the American Institute in Taiwan; or
   2. An approved Form OF-126, Foreign Service Residence and Dependency Report (or other agency equivalent), of a sponsoring employee who is assigned (not TDY) to a U.S. mission abroad under Chief of Mission authority, or at an office of the American Institute in Taiwan, and is residing at the sponsoring employee’s post of assignment.

1. 1. citizen eligible family member (USEFM): An individual who meets all of the following criteria is considered to be a USEFM for employment purposes:
      1. U.S. citizen;
      2. The spouse or domestic partner (as defined in 3 FAM 1610) of the sponsoring employee (i.e., a direct-hire Foreign Service, Civil Service, or uniformed service member); or a child of the sponsoring employee who is under 21 and unmarried, or (regardless of age) unmarried and incapable of self-support;
      3. Is listed on one of the following:
         1. Travel orders of a sponsoring employee who is assigned (not TDY) to a U.S. mission abroad under Chief of Mission authority, or at an office of the American Institute in Taiwan; or
         2. Approved Form OF-126, Foreign Service Residence and Dependency Report (or other agency equivalent), of a sponsoring employee who is assigned (not TDY) to a U.S. mission abroad under Chief of Mission authority, or at an office of the American Institute in Taiwan, and is residing at the sponsoring employee’s post of assignment abroad.
      4. The following categories of employees are also considered to be USEFMs for employment purposes if they meet the definition above:
         1. Foreign Service Generalists or Specialists on approved LWOP ;
         2. Civil Service employees with re-employment rights to their agency/bureau; or
         3. Foreign Service or Civil Service annuitants.

Excerpt from 3 FAM 4180 – DEFINITIONS MEMBERS OF HOUSEHOLD (MOHS)

Definition of Member of Household (MOH): An individual who accompanies or joins a sponsoring employee, i.e., a direct hire employee under Chief of Mission authority, either Foreign Service, Civil Service, or uniformed service member, who is permanently assigned to or stationed abroad at a U.S. mission, or at an office of the American Institute in Taiwan. A MOH is an individual who meets the following criteria:

1. Not an EFM and therefore not on the travel orders or approved through form OF-126 Foreign Service Residence and Dependency Report of the sponsoring employee; and
2. Officially declared by the sponsoring U.S. Government employee to the Chief of Mission (COM) as part of his or her household and approved by the COM; and
3. Is a parent, grandparent, grandchild, unmarried partner, adult child, foreign born child in the process of being adopted, father, mother, brother, sister, father-in-law, mother-in- law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, stepfather, stepmother, stepson, stepdaughter, stepbrother, stepsister, half-brother, or half-sister; who falls outside the Department’s current definition of Eligible Family Member 14 FAM

511.3. A MOH may or may not be a U.S. citizen. MOHs are by definition cohabitants. Therefore, if the MOH is not a U.S. citizen, employees who declare MOHs to the COM must ensure compliance with the provisions of 12 FAM 275 Reporting Cohabitation with and/or Intent to Marry a Foreign National.

ADDITIONAL EMPLOYMENT CONSIDERATIONS INCLUDE, BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, NEPOTISM, BUDGET, RESIDENCY STATUS, ETC.:

FURTHER, THE FOLLOWING APPLY TO LOCALLY EMPLOYED STAFF ONLY:

1. Current employees serving a probationary period are not eligible to apply.
2. Current employees with an Overall Summary Rating of Needs Improvement or Unsatisfactory or an MBC score of less than 100 points on their most recent Employee Performance Report (EPR) are not eligible to apply.

FURTHER, THE FOLLOWING APPLY TO EFMs, USEFMs, and AEFMs ONLY:

1. Current employees who used a hiring preference to gain employment who are within their first 90 calendar days of employment are not eligible to apply. This does not apply when the hiring mechanism is TEMP or the work schedule is intermittent or irregular.
2. Candidates with a hiring preference who have already accepted a conditional offer of employment may NOT be extended a second conditional offer of employment unless and until they withdraw their candidacy for the first position in writing.
3. **Candidates must have at least one year remaining on their sponsor’s tour of duty to be considered eligible to apply for this position.

** This is not mandatory and may be deleted at Post’s discretion. See Post HR for details.

Excerpt from 3 FAM 7270 – DEFINITIONS

Third Country National (TCN):

A third-country national (TCN) is an individual who meets the following criteria.

(1) Is neither a citizen of the United States nor of the country to which assigned for duty.

(2) If employed, is eligible for return travel to the TCNs home country or country from which recruited at U.S. Government expense.

(3) Is on a limited appointment for a specific period of time.

(4) Encumbers a direct-hire, personal service agreement (PSA) or personal service contract (PSC) FSN position covered under the local compensation plan. Such an employee normally is recruited from outside the host country and relocated from the point of recruitment to the host country.