Jennifer Barnhill is a columnist for Military.com writing about military families.
Rules that had prevented some military spouses from holding jobs while stationed overseas have been relaxed, a parting gift from the Biden administration that should alleviate some concerns for those trying to continue careers while their military member serves.
On Jan. 17, 2025, on their last day before leaving office, members of the Biden administration drafted and released a memo directing senior military leaders that, "No international agreement to which the United States is a party regarding legal status protections for DoD military and civilian personnel, and their dependents, deployed or otherwise assigned overseas, specifically prohibits the employment of DoD-authorized dependents in the country where they are located."
The memo goes on to say that military spouses and children would not lose their sponsorship under these agreements because of their employment.
This memo in black and white provides clarity for military spouses: Status of Forces Agreements (SOFA) do not prohibit military spouses from working abroad.
That had been an issue for many spouses who have had to jump through arduous hoops in the past to avoid potentially jeopardizing their ability to stay with their service member.
Military.com reached out to the Defense Department for comment on this last-minute Biden administration-issued memo, but did not receive an on-the-record response ahead of publication.
The U.S. maintains approximately 120 Status of Forces Agreements (SOFAs) -- agreements between the U.S. and host nations where American military and diplomatic personnel are stationed. Negotiated by the Department of State, these agreements define how local laws apply to American service members and their families living abroad. However, how these SOFAs have been interpreted has historically fallen to the DoD.
For instance, if a military family is stationed in Italy, the same rules that apply to them do not apply if they are later stationed in Japan. The agreements are individually drafted: Some mention spouses and employment status; others do not.
When Rachelle Chapman's spouse received orders to move to Belgium in 2017, she was faced with a difficult decision: To walk away from her dream job with the Adecco Group, or spend three years living geographically separate from her husband.
Local military offices repeatedly warned her that Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) restrictions for Belgium would prevent her from working, some even suggesting she might risk deportation if she pursued employment. Undeterred, Chapman worked closely with her supportive employer, who went to extraordinary lengths -- including hiring an immigration attorney -- to help her maintain her professional role.
But because of a DoD memo, that kind of bureaucratic hoop-jumping should no longer be necessary.
Prior to this update, guidance provided by the DoD was limited to Military OneSource websites that directed families to "Check the Status of Forces Agreements" or "Check with your military command." But military spouses report the information they are provided by their command doesn't seem reliable.
This clarification may not seem like a big deal, but for some spouses it's a huge relief.
"We've all been told for decades that we can't work under SOFA," said Beth Conlin, who has been working with the DoD for the past 12 years to help reduce the barriers military spouses face to working abroad. Conlin took up this effort after having been personally impacted by the SOFA while her spouse was stationed in Germany.
The lack of clarity surrounding the SOFA cost her her job, something she says she didn't want to have happen to other military spouses. So she asked officials to show her where in the SOFA it prohibited spouses from working. "Nobody could produce that because you can't prove a negative."
And Conlin wasn't the only one to ask questions about the SOFA, only to be given a lackluster response. In April 2023, I requested information about who at the DoD was working on this issue. I was told, "The deputy assistant secretary of defense for military community and family policy (MC&FP) routinely communicates the status of family readiness programs and policies, along with the concerns they represent among military families, to the highest levels of the Defense Department to help inform decisions on such matters. Additionally, MC&FP has engaged with the Department of State in the past on spouse employment overseas matters. MC&FP also routinely discusses overseas military spouse employment issues with the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, who communicates with State on a more routine basis."
I was not given the name of a subject-matter expert, just assured the MC&FP office was handling it.
"After literally 10 years of begging for clarity, I was finally connected with the DoD policy office, and I spoke to the policy team and their lawyers and asked them, 'Can we just put out a memo that is just very simply in black and white?;" shared Conlin. And that is exactly what they did.
Because of the long-standing impression that the SOFA prohibited spouse employment, many spouses have assumed they can't work, regardless of what the SOFA actually said, or didn't say. Research by the Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) indicates this confusion is widespread. A 2019 Blue Star Family report found that, of the 26% of military spouse survey takers who tried to find work overseas, 88% reported difficulty finding a job, with 23% citing issues with a SOFA. While the DoD reports military spouse employment data, it does not publish the number of military spouses living outside the continental United States, or OCONUS, making it unclear how many spouses will be positively impacted by this memo.
Conlin hopes that this memo will provide a bit of clarity, but admits it is not an easy button that solves all issues related to military spouse employment overseas.
There are additional challenges, like being subject to local taxes that hover around 40% or overcoming an employer's hesitation to allow a military spouse to work abroad, and navigating employment law and new time zones. Military spouses working overseas certainly have their work cut out for them, but this memo removes the largest hurdle: uncertainty.
"A military spouse can never again be told you cannot work under SOFA," said Conlin. "That's the message that just needs to be blasted through the rooftops."
