Native Americans

If you're an American Indian or an Alaskan Native who is a member of one of the federally recognized tribes, you may be eligible for Indian Preference.

What is Indian Preference?

With Indian Preference, you may receive preference over non-Indian applicants when applying to jobs with the Indian Health Service and Indian Affairs (including the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Indian Education, and some positions within the Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs.)

Preference in filling vacancies is given to qualified Indian candidates in accordance with the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 (Title 25, USC, Section 472). If you’re claiming Indian Preference, you must submit Form BIA 4432 Verification of Indian Preference with your application. Indian Preference eligibles not currently employed in federal service may be appointed under the Excepted Service Appointment Authority Schedule A, 213.3112(a)(7). Consideration will be given to Non-Indian applicants if there are no qualified Indian Preference eligibles.

Eligibility

To be eligible, you must submit a complete BIA form 4432 along with your application for each job announcement.

How do I know a job is open to Native Americans?

In the job announcement look for the This job is open to section. When a job is open to Native Americans you’ll see this icon: There may be other groups listed that can also apply.

In search you can also select the Native Americans filter. Your results will display all jobs open to Native Americans.

Documents you may need

Form BIA 4432 Verification of Indian Preference for Employment

Upload and submit through USAJOBS

You can upload and save documents to your USAJOBS account. Once uploaded, you can submit these forms with your job application as needed. Sign into USAJOBS or learn how to upload documents.