22 U.S.C. § 3949
Section 3949 · Limited appointments
Current version, with additions and removals from the October 25, 1994 version.
(a) A limited appointment in the Service, including an appointment of an individual who is an employee of an agency, may not exceed 5 years in duration and, except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, may not be extended or renewed. A limited appointment in the Service which is limited by its terms to a period of one year or less is a temporary appointment.
(b) A limited appointment may be extended for continued service—
(1) as a consular agent;
(2) in accordance with section 3951(a) of this title;
(3) as a career candidate, if continued service is determined appropriate to remedy a matter that would be cognizable as a grievance under subchapter XI of this chapter;
(4) as a career employee in another Federal personnel system serving in a Foreign Service position on detail from another agency; and
(5) as a foreign national employee.
A limited appointment in the Service, including an appointment of an individual who is an employee of an agency, may not exceed 5 years in duration and, except as provided in subsections (b) and (c), may not be extended or renewed. A limited appointment in the Service which is limited by its terms to a period of one year or less is a temporary appointment.
A limited appointment may be extended for continued service—
as a consular agent;
in accordance with section 3951(a) of this title;
as a career candidate, if—
continued service is determined appropriate to remedy a matter that would be cognizable as a grievance under subchapter XI; or
the individual is serving in the uniformed services (as defined in section 4303 of title 38) and the limited appointment expires in the course of such service;
as a career employee in another Federal personnel system serving in a Foreign Service position on detail from another agency;
as a foreign national employee;
in exceptional circumstances if the Secretary determines the needs of the Service require the extension of—
a limited noncareer appointment for a period not to exceed 1 year; or
a limited appointment of a career candidate for the minimum time needed to resolve a grievance, claim, investigation, or complaint not otherwise provided for in this section.
Except as provided in paragraph (2) noncareer employees who have served for 5 consecutive years under a limited appointment under this section may be reappointed to a subsequent noncareer limited appointment if there is at least a 1-year break in service before such new appointment.
The Secretary may waive the 1-year break requirement under paragraph (1) in cases of special need.