I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 10358 

To amend the Foreign Service Act of 1980 to provide for portability of 

professional licenses, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 11, 2024 

Mr. CASTRO of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Foreign Service Act of 1980 to provide for 

portability of professional licenses, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Foreign Service Fami5 lies Improvements Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PORTABILITY OF PROFESSIONAL LICENSES. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 9 of title I of the Foreign 

8 Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 4081 et seq.) is amended 

9 by adding after section 908 the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 909. PORTABILITY OF PROFESSIONAL LICENSES. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In any case in which a member 

3 of the Foreign Service or the spouse of a member of the 

4 Foreign Service has a covered United States license and 

5 such member of the Foreign Service or spouse relocates 

6 his or her residency because of an assignment or detail 

7 to a location that is not in the jurisdiction of the licensing 

8 authority that issued the covered license, such covered li9 cense shall be considered valid at a similar scope of prac10 tice and in the discipline applied for in the jurisdiction 

11 of such new residency for the duration of such an assign12 ment or detail if such member of the Foreign Service or 

13 spouse— 

14 ‘‘(1) provides a copy of the member’s notifica15 tion of assignment to the licensing authority in the 

16 jurisdiction in which the new residency is located; 

17 ‘‘(2) remains in good standing with— 

18 ‘‘(A) the licensing authority that issued the 

19 covered license; and 

20 ‘‘(B) every other licensing authority that 

21 has issued to the member of the Foreign Serv22 ice or spouse a license valid at a similar scope 

23 of practice and in the discipline applied in the 

24 jurisdiction of such licensing authority; and 

25 ‘‘(3) submits to the authority of the licensing 

26 authority in the new jurisdiction for the purposes of 


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1 standards of practice, discipline, and fulfillment of 

2 any continuing education requirements. 

3 ‘‘(b) INTERSTATE LICENSURE COMPACTS.—If a 

4 member of the Foreign Service or spouse of a member of 

5 the Foreign Service is licensed and able to operate in mul6 tiple jurisdictions through an interstate licensure compact, 

7 with respect to services provided in the jurisdiction of the 

8 interstate licensure compact by a licensee covered by such 

9 compact, the member of the Foreign Service or spouse of 

10 a member of the Foreign Service shall be subject to the 

11 requirements of the compact or the applicable provisions 

12 of law of the applicable State and not this section. 

13 ‘‘(c) COVERED LICENSE DEFINED.—In this section, 

14 the term ‘covered license’ means a professional license or 

15 certificate— 

16 ‘‘(1) that is in good standing with the licensing 

17 authority that issued such professional license or 

18 certificate; 

19 ‘‘(2) that the member of the Foreign Service or 

20 spouse of a member of the Foreign Service has ac21 tively used during the two years immediately pre22 ceding the relocation described in subsection (a); and 

23 ‘‘(3) that is not a license to practice law.’’. 

24 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

25 in section 2 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 is amended 


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1 by inserting after the item relating to section 908 the fol2 lowing new item: 

‘‘Sec. 909. Portability of professional licenses.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. TERMINATION OF RESIDENTIAL OR MOTOR VEHI4 CLE LEASES AND TELEPHONE SERVICE CON5 TRACTS FOR MEMBERS OF THE FOREIGN 

6 SERVICE. 

7 Section 907 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 

8 U.S.C. 4087) is amended by striking ‘‘Service who are 

9 posted abroad at a Foreign Service post’’ and inserting 

10 ‘‘Foreign Service who are posted in the United States or 

11 posted abroad’’. 

Æ 


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