Selection to the IFS is through
Civil services exam.
The IFS probationers undergo
foundational training at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of
Administration, Missouri.
Later the probationers join the
Foreign Service Institute in New Delhi.
At the conclusion of the training programme
the officer is assigned his/her compulsory Foreign Language.
The officer is posted to an Indian
mission abroad in a country where his/her compulsory foreign Language is the
native language.
To get confirmed in service,
he/she has to pass the language proficiency examination.
A Foreign Service officer begins
his career abroad as a Third Secretary.
She/he will work at Embassies,
councils abroad and at Ministry of External Affairs office, Delhi.
The intake into the Indian Foreign
Service has averaged between 8-15 persons annually.
Rank Structure:
At an Embassy
- Third Secretary
- Second Secretary
- First Secretary
- Counselor
- Minister
- Deputy High Commissioner
- Ambassador / High Commissioner