Summary

Description

The Foreign Service Act of 1980 mandated a comprehensive revision to the operation of the Department of State and the personnel assigned to the US Foreign Service. As the statutory authority, the Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM), details the Department of State's regulations and policies on its structure and operations. Currently, there are over 25,000 pages of policies and procedures published in 16 volumes of the FAM and 38 corresponding sections of the Foreign Affairs Handbook (FAH). Changes to the Department's organizational structure or the way it conducts U.S. Government business will usually trigger the need to update the FAM or FAHs. 1 FAM 500-540 contains documentation pertaining to the following administrative components: - 510 Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) - 520 Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) - 530 Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) - 540 Bureau of Ocean International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (OES)