Hello I was just wondering if someone could help me figure out if my estimation makes sense, or how long they think my adjudication period may be. I know its a guessing game- I just think this community knows better than I do and I’d like to hear your input.
Possible red flags :
Had smoked marijuana as a teenager, and then did it more regularly when I was 22 - 25. This wasn’t terribly common, I normally took it via edibles to help with school stress about every couple months or so. I stopped in May 2023, since I was graduating college, looking for work and knew that drug tests were a possibility.
I’ve worked a lot of jobs in my life just because, but since turning 20 I’ve been at the same places 2-3 years in a row, aside from picking up a second job for just a week or two and realizing its too much on top of being a student.
traffic violation this fall. I was texting at a stop sign. it was still dumb of me and I took responsibility for it when I was pulled over and when .
Interview with investigator was kind of awkward. I was exhausted from my current job and commute and she would confuse information at times. I wasn’t outright rude, but it was certainly awkward and I was not my best self. Setting time for the interview was weird right off the bat- she was frustrated I couldn’t just drop everything and meet her, that I had to figure out when I could take PTO before accepting a date and time.
Here is the timeline :
Got a conditional job offer, I filed my SF-86 late October.
Started a job at a different defense contractor in November. They are aware of my situation, put in a request for TS once my Secret goes through.
Interview in December. Needed to get a neighbors phone number for Investigator.
*I Got the phone number for her in January. Reached out in February to check if she needed more information, she said she had closed the investigation for review.
I assume this means I have been in the adjudication period since February. I really don’t like the role I am in my current job, and hoping my clearance comes through so I can start my position at the other company. Ive remained in contact with the person who hired me and there are still positions available.
I know its a waiting game and there is always a degree of uncertainty. I was just wondering what people here thought of my situation and whether it is reasonable of me to hope that I will get an update on my clearance soon.
I read somewhere that the adjudication period can be anything from a few weeks to a few years- and I was just curious where this community thinks I would fall on that spectrum from the information given.
Did you mention the weed? Did they follow up on that? If not, expect at least one request for more info about the weed. Do you have any foreign contacts? Current/former relationships with foreign nationals? Foreign travel? If you have any of these, expect some follow up questions. If you already answered follow up questions or don’t have any of these items, it could be pretty quick considering it’s Secret (TS would take 2x longer). But, it really depends on their case load. They never tell you what that looks like so all you can do is review the most recent turnaround time stats.
Lol thank you. And no, its not on my SF86 since I was just trying to answer the questions precisely and directly. I’m just wondering if it could come up and be an issue later in retrospect.
The biggest delay you will probably face is tracking down all your previous employers and getting records/sources from them. They all have to be attempted and chances are they are not highly professional run companies with excellent employee response , HR depts and records. It’s ironic that those who work hardest during college often face the longest time in the process. Unemployment and living in your parents basement playing video games often means a much shorter adjudication period. Very little to adjuticate. Think Jack Texiera.
Ahh that makes sense why my processing has taken so long. I worked a lot of food service jobs when I was 16-23. A lot of these places are franchised locations that closed down. Luckily I do remember the full names of my old managers etc so maybe that meant something.
The fact that the investigator who conducted your Enhanced Subject Interview (ESI) completed her portion of your investigation doesn’t mean that the investigation was closed in or before February. It’s possible that other portions of the investigation were not completed until later (e.g., March or April), particularly if your past employers did not respond promptly to the letter inquiries (INV forms 41) they were sent to verify your employment. Also, MJ use within the past 12 months will slow down the adjudication. Average adjudication time at DCSA is about 20 days, but adjudication for other than clean cases usually takes 1-6 months, depending on the seriousness of the issues in the case.
As I have mention in other posts, Your investigator does not release your investigation to adjudication. Your investigator releases your investigation to review. Review has to approve the investigation before it goes to adjudication. If you were interviewed by a contract investigator (which most are) then your case will actually go through TWO review departments (one for the contract company and one with DCSA). Review is who releases your case to adjudication. Your investigator does not have access to your investigation after they write their report and transmit it to review. Your investigator cannot give you any updates and cannot tell you when your case is in adjudication or what the result of the investigation is. As investigators we are never told anything about the Subjects that we investigate.
Ah thats good to know. Yeah, I know they probably had a tough time reaching employers (maybe still are having a tough time) . It took me some trouble to get the info I needed for a basic background check. When I was 18-20 years old, I worked for a lot of franchise restaurants that aren’t in operation anymore.
Sorry, I did a poor job explaining. I know that I’m in adjudication from talking to a SO the current company I work at a month or two ago - not my investigator. My investigator just used the term “processing” several months prior to talking to an SO at my current job…
Thank you for explaining that, however. All of this is new to me.