3.7. Family Visit

Family visit travel is an entitlement for internationally recruited staff members with fixed-term, permanent, or continuing appointments and qualifying locally recruited staff members on mission assignment who are deployed to a duty station or mission area away from their spouse and dependent child(ren). This entitlement covers travel and related expenses (e.g., one round trip from duty station/mission area to the place of residence of eligible family members).

Travel time shall be granted to staff members who utilize the normal entitlement for family visit through the provision of an actual air ticket issued by the Organization. Staff members shall be granted a fixed amount of travel time not chargeable to annual leave for travel undertaken during working days.

This chapter will cover only the request for annual leave as a result of the family visit. It will not cover the steps needed to make a request for the travel entitlement. If the staff member requires help with this transaction, you should refer them to the Travel Administrator.

The regulations, rules, policies, and standard operating procedures (SOP) governing the family visit entitlement have developed over time. The official documents are easily accessible within the UN intranet.

1. Family Visit Travel – ST/AI/2000/15 and ST/AI/2000/15/Amend.1

• Section 1 – Eligibility
• Section 2 – Timing of travel
• Section 4 – Conditions of entitlement

2. Staff Regulations and Staff Rules of the United Nations – ST/SGB/2023/1
   Rule 5.4 – Home leave
   Rule 7.2 – Official travel of staff members and their eligible family members

3. Official Travel – ST/AI/2013/3, ST/AI/2013/3/Amend.3, and ST/AI/2013/3/Amend.4

• Section 6 – Travel time on home leave or family visit (ST/AI/2013/3 & ST/AI/2013/3/Amend.3)
• Section 12 – Lump-sum option for travel on home leave or family visit or education grant travel (ST/AI/2013/3 & ST/AI/2013/3/Amend.3)
• Section 13 – Travel claims (ST/AI/2013/3 & ST/AI/2013/3/Amend.3)
  • Sections 13.1 – 13.4 General
  • Sections 13.5 – 13.6 – Travel under the lump-sum option

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