The Foreign Service Journal, May 2023

AFSA NEWS 68 MAY 2023 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Great News on Transfer Allowances Acting Deputy Secretary for Management and Resources John Bass announced that effective April 23, 2023, outdated State Department transfer policies will be updated to better cover the true cost of relocating. Pet shipping allowance. These new allowances are the culmination of years of effort by AFSA, both within the department and in Congress, including the first- ever pet survey that AFSA conducted recently (see page 61 for details). These new allowances— $4,000 for pet transport costs (including immuniza- tions and blood tests) under the Foreign Transfer Allow- ance (FTA) or Home Service Transfer Allowance (HSTA), $1,000 for Authorized/ Ordered Departure (AD/OD) evacuation pet transport, and $550 for quarantine expenses for FTA, HSTA, or evacuation travel—are sepa- rate from the Miscellaneous Expense Portion of the FTA or HSTA. AFSA continues to work with colleagues in Con- gress to remove the require- ments of the Fly America Act when an American airline cannot or will not ship a pet. M&IE allowance. Allow- ing employees and family to reside in permanent quarters and receive M&IE (meals and incidental expenses) until arrival of their household goods is a welcome change that will benefit many, partic- ularly when lengthy shipping delays stretch into months rather than weeks. And the long-overdue changes to the wardrobe allowance will now provide reimbursement for a one-zone transfer in addition to the two-zone transfer. Expanded expense categories. Expansion of the transfer allowance expense categories for itemized reimbursement in the Miscellaneous Expense portion of HSTA and FTA will help meet some of the many costs associated with returning to the United States from an overseas assignment. As prices rise and inflation continues, AFSA also hopes to see an increase in the caps presently imposed on itemized expenses. AFSA hopes all foreign affairs agencies will adopt these new travel allowances for their employees. n A Win on In-State College Tuition The University of California system recently announced that it is implementing the AFSA-supported federal law granting in-state college tuition rates to Foreign Ser- vice members, their spouses, and dependents in their state of domicile. AFSA welcomes this change, and has long advocated for it. The federal law is the Foreign Service Families Act in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2022, which AFSA championed on Capitol Hill. While states are not mandated to implement that law prior to the first period of college enrollment that begins after July 1, 2024, the U.C. system will implement it on July 1, 2023—in time for fall 2023 enrollments. Foreign Service families who are seeking in-state tuition in their state of domi- cile should review the guid- ance on the AFSA website on how domicile is determined and should take steps to strengthen their case for qualifying if applicable. Also on the AFSA website is a fact sheet that members can provide to public college admissions offices to help them understand how For- eign Service family members qualify for in-state tuition. AFSA members who receive an adverse deter- mination relat- ing to in-state tuition from a public college or university despite being able to present clear evidence of past and continuing ties to that state are asked to inform AFSA. AFSA will write to the college to make the case that you remain domiciled in the state and thus should be given the in-state tuition rate in accor- dance with federal law. After July 1, 2024, states will be in violation of federal law if they deny in-state tuition to a Foreign Service family that has clear evi- dence of their domicile in that state. AFSA members who encounter that situation should notify AFSA, which will contact that state’s higher education authori- ties apprising them of their violation of law. Contact us at member@afsa.org . n