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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Foreign Service Fami-
lies Improvements Act’’. 
SEC. 2. PORTABILITY OF PROFESSIONAL LICENSES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 9 of title I of the Foreign 
Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 4081 et seq.) is amended 
by adding after section 908 the following: 
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‘‘SEC. 909. PORTABILITY OF PROFESSIONAL LICENSES. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In any case in which a member 
of the Foreign Service or the spouse of a member of the 
Foreign Service has a covered United States license and 
such member of the Foreign Service or spouse relocates 
his or her residency because of an assignment or detail 
to a location that is not in the jurisdiction of the licensing 
authority that issued the covered license, such covered li-
cense shall be considered valid at a similar scope of prac-
tice and in the discipline applied for in the jurisdiction 
of such new residency for the duration of such an assign-
ment or detail if such member of the Foreign Service or 
spouse— 
‘‘(1) provides a copy of the member’s notifica-
tion of assignment to the licensing authority in the 
jurisdiction in which the new residency is located; 
‘‘(2) remains in good standing with— 
‘‘(A) the licensing authority that issued the 
covered license; and 
‘‘(B) every other licensing authority that 
has issued to the member of the Foreign Serv-
ice or spouse a license valid at a similar scope 
of practice and in the discipline applied in the 
jurisdiction of such licensing authority; and 
‘‘(3) submits to the authority of the licensing 
authority in the new jurisdiction for the purposes of 
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standards of practice, discipline, and fulfillment of 
any continuing education requirements. 
‘‘(b) INTERSTATE
LICENSURE
COMPACTS.—If a 
member of the Foreign Service or spouse of a member of 
the Foreign Service is licensed and able to operate in mul-
tiple jurisdictions through an interstate licensure compact, 
with respect to services provided in the jurisdiction of the 
interstate licensure compact by a licensee covered by such 
compact, the member of the Foreign Service or spouse of 
a member of the Foreign Service shall be subject to the 
requirements of the compact or the applicable provisions 
of law of the applicable State and not this section. 
‘‘(c) COVERED LICENSE DEFINED.—In this section, 
the term ‘covered license’ means a professional license or 
certificate— 
‘‘(1) that is in good standing with the licensing 
authority that issued such professional license or 
certificate; 
‘‘(2) that the member of the Foreign Service or 
spouse of a member of the Foreign Service has ac-
tively used during the two years immediately pre-
ceding the relocation described in subsection (a); and 
‘‘(3) that is not a license to practice law.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
in section 2 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 is amended 
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by inserting after the item relating to section 908 the fol-
lowing new item: 
‘‘Sec. 909. Portability of professional licenses.’’. 
SEC. 3. TERMINATION OF RESIDENTIAL OR MOTOR VEHI-
CLE LEASES AND TELEPHONE SERVICE CON-
TRACTS FOR MEMBERS OF THE FOREIGN 
SERVICE. 
Section 907 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 
U.S.C. 4087) is amended by striking ‘‘Service who are 
posted abroad at a Foreign Service post’’ and inserting 
‘‘Foreign Service who are posted in the United States or 
posted abroad’’. 
Æ 
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