Expanded Consular Fellows Act of 2026

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4680 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4680

    To authorize the Secretary of State to extend limited consular
appointments to eight years, with an additional two-year extension for
                     needs of the Foreign Service.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              June 4, 2026

Ms. Rosen (for herself and Mr. Ricketts) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

    To authorize the Secretary of State to extend limited consular
appointments to eight years, with an additional two-year extension for
                     needs of the Foreign Service.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Expanded Consular Fellows Act of
2026''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Consular services provided at United States embassies
        and consulates worldwide, and in the United States, are
        critical to protecting the safety and security of Americans
        abroad, safeguarding United States borders, supporting American
        families pursuing international adoptions, and facilitating
        legitimate travel to the United States.
            (2) Foreign Service posts process millions of visa
        applications each year, conducting rigorous security vetting of
        each application to detect fraud, mitigate security risks,
        prevent unlawful migrations, and protect the homeland.
            (3) Travel and tourism is the United States largest single
        services export, accounting for 22 percent of services exports
        and 7 percent of total exports in 2023. In 2022, the travel and
        tourism industry contributed $2,300,000,000,000 to the United
        States economy--approximately 2.97 percent of gross domestic
        product--and supported 9,500,000 United States jobs.
            (4) Demand for consular services will continue to increase
        as the United States enters an American decade of sports as the
        host of major international events between 2024 and 2034--
        including the Copa America, Club World Cup, FIFA World Cup,
        Olympic and Paralympic Games, and Rugby World Cups--which are
        expected to draw millions of international visitors and
        significantly increasing workloads for consular staff while
        simultaneously requiring enhanced security screening and
        adjudicative rigor.
            (5) Expanding limited non-career appointments for
        Department of State personnel performing consular functions,
        including through the Consular Fellows Program, is essential to
        increasing staffing capacity, reducing recruitment costs and
        delays, and ensuring the continued efficient delivery of
        consular services.

SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF LIMITED CONSULAR APPOINTMENT AUTHORITY.

    Section 309 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 3949) is
amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ``, or 8 years in
        duration for personnel performing consular services,'' after
        ``may not exceed 5 years in duration''; and
            (2) in subsection (b)(6)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``or'';
                    (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period at
                the end and inserting ``; or''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following new
                subparagraph:
                    ``(C) a limited noncareer appointment for a period
                not to exceed 2 years, in the case of personnel
                performing consular services.''.
                                 <all>