(a) The Secretary considers applications for fellowships under this program that have been screened and submitted by eligible institutions. The Secretary evaluates these applications on the basis of the criteria in § 662.21.

(b) The Secretary does not consider applications to carry out research in a country in which the United States has no diplomatic representation.

(c) In evaluating applications, the Secretary obtains the advice of panels of United States academic specialists in modern foreign languages and area studies.

(d) The Secretary gives preference to applicants who have served in the armed services of the United States if their applications are equivalent to those of other applicants on the basis of the criteria in § 662.21.

(e) The Secretary considers information on budget, political sensitivity, and feasibility from binational commissions or United States diplomatic missions, or both, in the proposed country or countries of research.

(f) The Secretary presents recommendations for recipients of fellowships to the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, which reviews the recommendations and approves recipients.