Can someone explain Mitigating Conditions for Guideline B – Foreign Influence, How would i know that i mitigated the Concern,would itsayt in my BI why they denied me. or have the lawyer Appeal it and see if there is any luck! i just don’t want to pay all that money and then lawyer comes back and says there noting we can do. can i ask for the copy of the BI anytime or does it have to be between the 45 day’s.
Any info would help guys thank you.
How long were you waiting before you got your SOR? Did they follow up with you regarding their concerns throughout the process before you got you left SOR?
Can we get a smidge more context
The Guidelines are here: https://www.cdse.edu/documents/cdse/job-aid-13-adjudicative-guidelines-v2.pdf
These list the mitigating factors that you can use on your appeal. You need to determine if these factors match the foreign contact in question and then document that this is the case. Remember YOU have to prove that you are clearable, the government doesn’t really have to prove that you are not.
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Remember… the first round is your RESPONSE. If that fails (ie they dont change their minds) at that point you can APPEAL.
Response should not require an attorney but probably a good idea to get one if you are going for an appeal.
I really dont want to appeal, this is my first doing this, can you help if you don’t mind, what am i response to? And what should my response say. So for i only asked for my BI paper’s agency told me it could take up to 2 months for them to send it, is that normal?
BI took 2 years and after that i got the denial letter, then 2 month’s later SOR
If you are filing a response, you can either 1) try to show that the reasons for denial are invalid, or 2) try to give additional mitigating evidence.
If you have filed a response which was turned down, and now you are filing an appeal, I believe your only strategy is to show that the initial decision was invalid for some reason.
You might look at this web site: http://ogc.osd.mil/doha/industrial/2019.html Those are the results of decisions where people appealed their cases. Some were successful.
sbusquirrel what if i don’t response to noting would it hurt my future applications would it look bad on my end for the responding or appealing.
Thanks!! for all in the info guys.
I don’t think so… have never heard this to be a factor. Of course if you apply again for a clearance you’ll need to disclose the fact that you were denied a clearance, but I don’t think you have to say anything about whether or not you responded to the SOR.
If you don’t respond, your clearance will be denied or revoked depending on your circumstances. This absolutely could potentially impact future clearances/jobs. Better to appeal and have the issue mitigated than to put it off and hope it won’t be an issue later.
An SOR doesn’t automatically mean you will not get a clearance. It means you won’t get a clearance unless you satisfy the government with a response. Without the context hard to give solid advice on what to say or how to mitigate but EdFarmerIII gave a good link, the letter you received with a suspense date should have stated the reason for the SOR. Look at the mitigating factors in the link provided above and see if your situation applies. Your response needs to have hard facts, evidence and reasons and not just “I didn’t do it”.
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Actually, your response should probably say, "I did it, but this is why the issue is mitigated . . . " At the end of the letter that you write in response be sure to include something like, "Therefore, I believe that it IS in the interest of national security to grant me access to classified material . . . " This phrase is a key point and the government lawyers will harp on the same phrase with “NOT” following the “IS” . . .
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Ken, thanks for the info, I talked to a lawyer and he said that my case is pretty complicated becouse the government doesn’t go easy on foreign influence. So he said the purpose of the appeal would be to seek a copy of the material relied upon by the agency issues that were inferred. In making the inital determination on my security clearance. Then after than he thinks we should withdraw from the appeal given the agency processing time. That from a lawyer, does that make sense. Is this a good way to appeal?
I think am going to have a lawyer write everything for me, i don’t know if that’s a smart move the way he’s going to appealing it. Doesn’t make senses to me.
You don’t need appeal to seek a copy of the material relied upon. The letter you received will have told you. The letter would have also told you the process to appeal and also the process to obtain the material they relied upon to make the decision. You don’t need the lawyer for this part. Return the form and state you intend to appeal and then follow the instructions for obtaining the records. Note: I did NOT say don’t use a lawyer. Only that you can get the ball rolling and request the information without paying him at this point. Should you choose to appeal, then go back to the lawyer if you need to
I’m no lawyer and he probably has more experience on appeals themselves. It doesn’t make sense to me either as eventually, if you are seeking jobs that require a clearance, you’ll eventually need to have this issue adjudicated favorably. If it were me, I’d want to do this now. Unless he’s assuming “time” i.e. “been so long ago” will be a mitigating factor.
Have you read the mitigating factors for Guideline B? They are listed here . . . https://www.cdse.edu/documents/cdse/job-aid-13-adjudicative-guidelines-v2.pdf
You haven’t told us the nature of your foreign contacts in order for us to know how to mitigate them.
It sounds like the attorney that you talked to does not think that the appeal is winnable so he is suggesting that you gather as much information as you can and then withdraw from the appeal. After that, you can work on mitigating the contact and reapply. I wouldn’t go this way if it were me.
You have already received a denial and you will have to list that on all future applications. In that respect, there is no difference between an initial denial and a denied appeal. If you wait and reapply you will be starting from scratch.
If, on the other hand, the denial is legitimate and there are real concerns, you simply may not be clearable.
Edfarmerlll the nature of the foreign contacts i think is that my wife talks to her mom and sisters overseas, i talked to them once in a blue moon just to see if there doing ok, she also has family on snap chat and Facebook, that she uses to keep in touch with them.which i also do but i stopped using those like 3 years ago. Also before my BI or before i applied i traveled a lot overseas but i i wrote those on my SF-86. this is what i think might be there nature of the foreign contacts. Do you think this are real concerns? i hate to use a attorney it cost to much but on the other hand i want to know what was the reason they denied me so i have a chance to mitigate.
Thanks
which way should i go, would you have an other way to Tackle this Denial?
The lawyer’s suggestion isn’t to “tackle” the denial but to capitulate to it and come back later.
What country are we talking about? What is your citizenship status? What is your wife’s citizenship status? How about your overseas travel? Did you visit Ireland and Japan? Or was it Iraq, Qatar and the UAE?
Parents and siblings in hostile countries might be difficult to defend. You will, among other things, need to show that your primary attachment is to the U.S. That this is so strong that you would never make a decision in favor of the other country over the U.S. You are the only one who knows your history.
Your SOR should lay out pretty clearly why you were denied. It should also include a copy of your BI report from which you can draw a little more information.
The country we are talking about is Pakistan, were both citizens of united states. I went to Pakistan to meet her parents in 2002, and traveled to Saudi Arabia in 2001 which they were both over 10 years ago. My SOR didn’t come with a copy of my BI only how to appeal and to get a copy of the BI why i was denied which they list the Guideline B and mitigating factors that was it. My concern is would it make sense to capitulate it and then comeback later or applying after one year. or should i appeal also in front of a judge. Do you think that the lawyers suggestion is good worth the money? or should i ask for my BI my self figure out what was the problem and mitigate it.