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Overview:

A Federal agency within the Department of State, OFM claims three basic missions: 1) to provide services for foreign diplomats living in the United States, 2) to monitor the activities of these foreign diplomats so that they do not abuse their immunity status, and 3) to treat foreign diplomats in such a way that their countries will treat U.S. diplomats stationed overseas in the same manner. OFM is authorized to impose restrictions of services on a foreign government and its diplomats if that government imposes them on the U.S. OFM is also authorized to enter into negotiations with that country to remove those restrictions once secure, fair treatment is given American officials in the other country.

 
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History:

 

 

 

 

 

 

OFM was established by Congress as an advocate for U.S. diplomatic treatment abroad, pursuant to the Foreign Missions Act of 1982. That Act gave the United States government jurisdiction over the operation of foreign diplomatic and consular missions and their personnel in the U.S., including responsibility for regulating various activities of the foreign personnel and dependents, as well as facilitating the benefits they are to receive in reciprocation for providing similar privileges to American diplomats in their countries. Those privileges are defined by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, which cover four functional areas: the acquisition, ownership, and sale of real property; customs duty-free entry; tax exemption; and travel. A Diplomatic Motor Vehicles Program was established in 1984, through which OFM is also to supply a full range of motor vehicle services for the foreign mission community.

 

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What it Does:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Office of Foreign Missions, based in Washington D.C., with regional branches in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and San Francisco, ensures that all diplomatic benefits, immunities, privileges, and safety precautions for the more than 118,000 members of foreign embassies and consulates are properly provided, in accordance with all Federal and international laws. Also in accordance with those laws, OFM provides the services only when there is equitable treatment for U.S. diplomats and their dependents in foreign countries.
 
Among the specific OFM activities:
  • Works closely, as a directorate of the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, with that Bureau's Protective Liaison Division, and the Foreign Missions Branch of the U.S. Secret Service, to ensure the safety and security of foreign missions and their personnel; also provides, with the Bureau of Consular Affairs, the Office of Protocol, and other Diplomatic Security offices, briefings, seminars, specialized training, and consultation on security-related topics.
  • Maintains relationships with U.S. law enforcement and security communities at the national, state, and local levels to continually educate and update them on diplomatic privilege and immunity issues.
  • Works with the State Department Offices of Protocol and Legal Adviser to formulate policies that prevent the abuse of diplomatic privileges and immunities by foreign mission communities.
  • Authorizes, out of its Property Program, the purchase, lease, sale, or expansion of real property to foreign missions, providing guidance to those foreign missions, as well as to local governments, attorneys, and real estate brokers regarding zoning and related matters. Also oversees the preservation and maintenance of foreign mission properties of countries with which the U.S. no longer has diplomatic relations.
  • Administers the tax-exemptions program for foreign missions and their members, including relief from sales, utility, vehicle purchase, and fuel taxes, applicable when reciprocity is given in a mission's country for Americans serving there.
  • Issues, through its Diplomatic Motor Vehicles Program, registrations, titles, license plates, and driver's licenses, and enforces mandatory liability insurance coverage and payment by foreign mission personnel for traffic tickets, as well as sees that any irresponsible diplomatic drivers are held accountable. As of September 2007, there were 11,619 diplomatic licenses in use.
  • Monitors, through its Travel Program, travel controls established for reciprocity or national security reasons, placing and lifting restrictions as situations warrant, with all mission personnel required to get OFM permission to travel.
  • Works toward further efficiency and reliability of the movement of items shipped to and from missions worldwide, and regulates eligibility of duty-free importation for the foreign mission community, as well as their eligibility to purchase duty-free items from bonded warehouse retailers, depending on their country's applicable treatment of American diplomats serving there; also helps resolve various incidents that may occur, from a lost item to an unauthorized inspection of a package.
  • Facilitates proper handling of accreditation and status paperwork for foreign mission personnel, and manages requests for Social Security numbers by eligible mission diplomats and staff.
  • Provides Department of State Escort Officers for airport departures for eligible senior officials, accompanying spouse, and dependents under twelve, conferring the same screening courtesies and exemptions currently received by senior officials being escorted by a U.S. Secret Service or Diplomatic Security Service protective detail.
 
From the Website of OFM

 

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Former Directors:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Claude J. Nebel
Claude Nebel, Jr. served as the head of OFM from January 2006 until July 2008. He received a BA from St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, and an MA in Administration of Justice, Law Enforcement from the University of Pittsburgh. He worked as a management representative with LTV Steel Corporation in Houston, Texas, and then as a Hearing Officer with the Court of Common Pleas in Pennsylvania. Nebel was a co-operator of a business in the food industry for six years. After that he joined the Department of State’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security, becoming a Special Agent assigned to the Washington Field Office, in 1987. Nebel was a Supervisor for Protective Security Details for several former U.S. Secretaries of State. From 1993 to 1995 serves as a Regional Security Officer at the American Embassy in Tel Aviv, and from 1995 to 1998, he was a Special Agent in the Criminal Investigative Liaison Branch in Washington D.C. Between 1998 and 2001 Nebel was Regional Security Officer in Copenhagen, Denmark. He also served in Pakistan and Iceland. From 2001 to 2004, he was Special Agent in charge of the Boston Field office. From 2004 to 2005 Nebel served as Regional Security Officer for the American Consulate General in Frankfurt, followed by a stint as Senior Regional Security Officer at the American Embassy in Berlin, from July 2005 to 2006. He is currently a member of the U.S. Attorney General’s Anti-Terrorism Task Force for New England.
 

 

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Founded: 1982
Annual Budget: $4 million
Employees: 50
Official Website: http://www.state.gov/ofm
Office of Foreign Missions
Smith, Gentry
Director

 

On May 1, 2014, President Barack Obama nominated Gentry O. Smith, a career Foreign Service officer, to be director of the Office of Foreign Missions with ambassadorial rank during his tenure. Smith appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on June 11.

 

Smith, 54, is from Weldon, North Carolina, and attended North Carolina State University, graduating in 1983 with a B.A. in political science. He served for a time as a police officer in Raleigh, North Carolina, before joining the State Department in 1987.

 

He started in diplomatic security in the department’s Washington field office. In 1989, Smith got his first overseas posting, as assistant regional security officer in Cairo, Egypt. He came home in 1991 to be part of the Secretary of State’s protective detail.

 

In 1994, Smith became a criminal investigative liaison officer for the State Department, serving in that role for two years. He went overseas again in 1996 to serve as regional security officer in Rangoon (Yangon), Burma.

 

Smith returned to the United States in 1999 for training at the Foreign Service Institute. In 2000, he went back to Cairo as deputy regional security officer. He was named regional security officer in Tokyo four years later.

 

After his stint in Tokyo, Smith was named director of the Office of Physical Security Programs. His next post was as deputy assistant secretary and assistant director for countermeasures in October 2009 and he held that job until his nomination to lead the Office of Foreign Missions.

 

As director of the Office of Foreign Missions, Smith will be responsible for ensuring fair treatment for U.S. missions in other countries and assisting those attached to foreign missions in this country.

 

Smith and his wife Georgette, also a North Carolina State graduate, have three children.

-Steve Straehley

 

To Learn More:

Nomination Testimony (pdf)

Official Biography

more
Boswell, Eric
Former Assistant Secretary
Born in Naples, Italy, Eric Boswell served in the Army from 1968 to 1969 and then earned a BA degree from Stanford University in 1970. He entered the Foreign Service in 1972. He served at the U.S. consulate in Quebec (1977-1980), as personnel officer for Near East assignments (1980-1983), Deputy Executive Director of the Bureau of European and Canadian Affairs (1983-1985), administrative counselor at the U.S. embassy in Amman, Jordan (1985-1987), administrative minister-counselor at the U.S. embassy in Ottawa, Canada (1987-1990) and as Executive Director of the Bureau of Near East and South Asian Affairs (1990-1992). In September 1992, President George H.W. Bush nominated Boswell be Director of the Office of Foreign Missions, a position he maintained until 1998. Between 1998 and 2005, Boswell served as Director of Administration for the United Nations’ Pan American Health Organization. From 2005 until July 2008, he was the Assistant Deputy Director for Security in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. On July 7, 2008, Boswell was sworn in as Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security, a position he had previously held from 1996 to 1998, when he retired from the Foreign Service. Boswell is also the Director of the Office of Foreign Missions.
 
 
 
more
Bookmark and Share
Overview:

A Federal agency within the Department of State, OFM claims three basic missions: 1) to provide services for foreign diplomats living in the United States, 2) to monitor the activities of these foreign diplomats so that they do not abuse their immunity status, and 3) to treat foreign diplomats in such a way that their countries will treat U.S. diplomats stationed overseas in the same manner. OFM is authorized to impose restrictions of services on a foreign government and its diplomats if that government imposes them on the U.S. OFM is also authorized to enter into negotiations with that country to remove those restrictions once secure, fair treatment is given American officials in the other country.

 
more
History:

 

 

 

 

 

 

OFM was established by Congress as an advocate for U.S. diplomatic treatment abroad, pursuant to the Foreign Missions Act of 1982. That Act gave the United States government jurisdiction over the operation of foreign diplomatic and consular missions and their personnel in the U.S., including responsibility for regulating various activities of the foreign personnel and dependents, as well as facilitating the benefits they are to receive in reciprocation for providing similar privileges to American diplomats in their countries. Those privileges are defined by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, which cover four functional areas: the acquisition, ownership, and sale of real property; customs duty-free entry; tax exemption; and travel. A Diplomatic Motor Vehicles Program was established in 1984, through which OFM is also to supply a full range of motor vehicle services for the foreign mission community.

 

more
What it Does:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Office of Foreign Missions, based in Washington D.C., with regional branches in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and San Francisco, ensures that all diplomatic benefits, immunities, privileges, and safety precautions for the more than 118,000 members of foreign embassies and consulates are properly provided, in accordance with all Federal and international laws. Also in accordance with those laws, OFM provides the services only when there is equitable treatment for U.S. diplomats and their dependents in foreign countries.
 
Among the specific OFM activities:
  • Works closely, as a directorate of the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, with that Bureau's Protective Liaison Division, and the Foreign Missions Branch of the U.S. Secret Service, to ensure the safety and security of foreign missions and their personnel; also provides, with the Bureau of Consular Affairs, the Office of Protocol, and other Diplomatic Security offices, briefings, seminars, specialized training, and consultation on security-related topics.
  • Maintains relationships with U.S. law enforcement and security communities at the national, state, and local levels to continually educate and update them on diplomatic privilege and immunity issues.
  • Works with the State Department Offices of Protocol and Legal Adviser to formulate policies that prevent the abuse of diplomatic privileges and immunities by foreign mission communities.
  • Authorizes, out of its Property Program, the purchase, lease, sale, or expansion of real property to foreign missions, providing guidance to those foreign missions, as well as to local governments, attorneys, and real estate brokers regarding zoning and related matters. Also oversees the preservation and maintenance of foreign mission properties of countries with which the U.S. no longer has diplomatic relations.
  • Administers the tax-exemptions program for foreign missions and their members, including relief from sales, utility, vehicle purchase, and fuel taxes, applicable when reciprocity is given in a mission's country for Americans serving there.
  • Issues, through its Diplomatic Motor Vehicles Program, registrations, titles, license plates, and driver's licenses, and enforces mandatory liability insurance coverage and payment by foreign mission personnel for traffic tickets, as well as sees that any irresponsible diplomatic drivers are held accountable. As of September 2007, there were 11,619 diplomatic licenses in use.
  • Monitors, through its Travel Program, travel controls established for reciprocity or national security reasons, placing and lifting restrictions as situations warrant, with all mission personnel required to get OFM permission to travel.
  • Works toward further efficiency and reliability of the movement of items shipped to and from missions worldwide, and regulates eligibility of duty-free importation for the foreign mission community, as well as their eligibility to purchase duty-free items from bonded warehouse retailers, depending on their country's applicable treatment of American diplomats serving there; also helps resolve various incidents that may occur, from a lost item to an unauthorized inspection of a package.
  • Facilitates proper handling of accreditation and status paperwork for foreign mission personnel, and manages requests for Social Security numbers by eligible mission diplomats and staff.
  • Provides Department of State Escort Officers for airport departures for eligible senior officials, accompanying spouse, and dependents under twelve, conferring the same screening courtesies and exemptions currently received by senior officials being escorted by a U.S. Secret Service or Diplomatic Security Service protective detail.
 
From the Website of OFM

 

more
Former Directors:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Claude J. Nebel
Claude Nebel, Jr. served as the head of OFM from January 2006 until July 2008. He received a BA from St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, and an MA in Administration of Justice, Law Enforcement from the University of Pittsburgh. He worked as a management representative with LTV Steel Corporation in Houston, Texas, and then as a Hearing Officer with the Court of Common Pleas in Pennsylvania. Nebel was a co-operator of a business in the food industry for six years. After that he joined the Department of State’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security, becoming a Special Agent assigned to the Washington Field Office, in 1987. Nebel was a Supervisor for Protective Security Details for several former U.S. Secretaries of State. From 1993 to 1995 serves as a Regional Security Officer at the American Embassy in Tel Aviv, and from 1995 to 1998, he was a Special Agent in the Criminal Investigative Liaison Branch in Washington D.C. Between 1998 and 2001 Nebel was Regional Security Officer in Copenhagen, Denmark. He also served in Pakistan and Iceland. From 2001 to 2004, he was Special Agent in charge of the Boston Field office. From 2004 to 2005 Nebel served as Regional Security Officer for the American Consulate General in Frankfurt, followed by a stint as Senior Regional Security Officer at the American Embassy in Berlin, from July 2005 to 2006. He is currently a member of the U.S. Attorney General’s Anti-Terrorism Task Force for New England.
 

 

more

Comments

Leave a comment

Founded: 1982
Annual Budget: $4 million
Employees: 50
Official Website: http://www.state.gov/ofm
Office of Foreign Missions
Smith, Gentry
Director

 

On May 1, 2014, President Barack Obama nominated Gentry O. Smith, a career Foreign Service officer, to be director of the Office of Foreign Missions with ambassadorial rank during his tenure. Smith appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on June 11.

 

Smith, 54, is from Weldon, North Carolina, and attended North Carolina State University, graduating in 1983 with a B.A. in political science. He served for a time as a police officer in Raleigh, North Carolina, before joining the State Department in 1987.

 

He started in diplomatic security in the department’s Washington field office. In 1989, Smith got his first overseas posting, as assistant regional security officer in Cairo, Egypt. He came home in 1991 to be part of the Secretary of State’s protective detail.

 

In 1994, Smith became a criminal investigative liaison officer for the State Department, serving in that role for two years. He went overseas again in 1996 to serve as regional security officer in Rangoon (Yangon), Burma.

 

Smith returned to the United States in 1999 for training at the Foreign Service Institute. In 2000, he went back to Cairo as deputy regional security officer. He was named regional security officer in Tokyo four years later.

 

After his stint in Tokyo, Smith was named director of the Office of Physical Security Programs. His next post was as deputy assistant secretary and assistant director for countermeasures in October 2009 and he held that job until his nomination to lead the Office of Foreign Missions.

 

As director of the Office of Foreign Missions, Smith will be responsible for ensuring fair treatment for U.S. missions in other countries and assisting those attached to foreign missions in this country.

 

Smith and his wife Georgette, also a North Carolina State graduate, have three children.

-Steve Straehley

 

To Learn More:

Nomination Testimony (pdf)

Official Biography

more
Boswell, Eric
Former Assistant Secretary
Born in Naples, Italy, Eric Boswell served in the Army from 1968 to 1969 and then earned a BA degree from Stanford University in 1970. He entered the Foreign Service in 1972. He served at the U.S. consulate in Quebec (1977-1980), as personnel officer for Near East assignments (1980-1983), Deputy Executive Director of the Bureau of European and Canadian Affairs (1983-1985), administrative counselor at the U.S. embassy in Amman, Jordan (1985-1987), administrative minister-counselor at the U.S. embassy in Ottawa, Canada (1987-1990) and as Executive Director of the Bureau of Near East and South Asian Affairs (1990-1992). In September 1992, President George H.W. Bush nominated Boswell be Director of the Office of Foreign Missions, a position he maintained until 1998. Between 1998 and 2005, Boswell served as Director of Administration for the United Nations’ Pan American Health Organization. From 2005 until July 2008, he was the Assistant Deputy Director for Security in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. On July 7, 2008, Boswell was sworn in as Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security, a position he had previously held from 1996 to 1998, when he retired from the Foreign Service. Boswell is also the Director of the Office of Foreign Missions.
 
 
 
more