Executive Order 7497—Amending the Instructions to Diplomatic Officers and the Consular Regulations

By virtue of the authority vested in me by Section 1752 of the Revised Statutes (U.S.C., Title 22, section 132) I hereby prescribe Section XVI-21 of the Instructions to Diplomatic Officers and Section 459 of the Consular Regulations of the United States to read as follows:

"Before contracting marriage with a person of foreign nationality each Foreign Service officer shall request and obtain permission so to do from the Secretary of State under such instructions as may be issued by him, and any officer who shall contract marriage with an alien without obtaining in advance the authorization of the Secretary of State shall be deemed guilty of insubordination and shall be separated from the Service. Each request for permission to marry an alien shall be accompanied by the officer's resignation from the Foreign Service for such action as may be deemed appropriate.

"No person married to an alien shall be designated to take the entrance examinations for the Foreign Service.

"This regulation is based upon the principle that officers of the Foreign Service are expected to be available in the discretion of the President for duty in any country or in any part of the world, and that anything which detracts from the availability of individual officers has an adverse effect upon their usefulness and upon the efficiency of the Service."

FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT

THE WHITE HOUSE,
November 17, 1936.