Dear Molly,
I respect the CIA’s mission and all the opportunities the Agency has to offer. I want to be part of the CIA team, but I live on the other side of the world. Can I still work for the CIA?
~ Global Citizen
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Dear Global Citizen,
Thanks for writing in and expressing support for CIA. Your question is actually one of the most common questions we get so you’re in good company! To provide the best answer for you and anyone else who is wondering the same thing, I reached out to our hiring division. Here’s what they had to say:
CIA requires all employees to be U.S. citizens; individuals with dual U.S. citizenship are also eligible and welcome to submit their resume for consideration for full-time employment and/or internship opportunities. We also have employees who are naturalized U.S. citizens and/or maintain dual citizenship.
If you are interested in employment with the CIA, please be mindful of these Agency requirements, too:
- Be at least 18 years of age;
- Be able to complete the security and medical evaluations; and
- Be willing to move to the Washington, D.C. area.
In order to effectively process your application, our hiring division asked me to emphasize for those who live around the world—including U.S. citizens—and are considering applying to the Agency: CIA does not review resumes and/or initiate processing of applications for individuals who are currently residing outside of the United States.
I have a colleague who is a naturalized citizen, and I was curious to get a little insight from her as to why she decided to come work at CIA. She said that as an immigrant, she always yearned to give back to the United States since it gave her opportunities and hope for a better future. When it came time to decide on a career, she chose CIA because it was the ideal opportunity to serve and give back to the country that gave her so much. For her, the most rewarding aspect of working at CIA is knowing that she is in a unique place where she can serve the country and directly safeguard our national security and the American people.
Hopefully for anyone that, like my colleague, wants to work for CIA but wasn’t sure if being a naturalized or dual citizen was allowed, you found this encouraging and helpful! And Global Citizen, when you return to the U.S., don’t forget to send us an application. Thanks for the great question!
Until next time, take care,
~ Molly