I don’t know the FSO acronym but, my Security POC said she checked and determined that I was assigned to an Adjudicator since early July (I had contacted her July 10th for an update). So not sure if she called DoDCAF or if she checked JPAS - not sure how that whole process works. I’m just happy I’m finally seeing some progress. Main reason I started bugging is because I have another potential opportunity with another Federal Agency that doesn’t require a Secret and before I accept, wanted to see where I was in the process.
FSO is just another term for a Security Officer. My FSO called DoDCAF yesterday and I learned that after my case closure in January, my case was assigned an adjudicator at the beginning of March. If that is true, i’ve been with an adjudicator for 5 months.
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So there was a couple months lag between the investigation being closed and the start of adjudication… and STILL it is taking several months!
It really seems like that “90% of adjudications complete within 21 days” is more of a guideline… or a goal… maybe an objective.
Has anyone seen this guideline/goal written anywhere? My case has been with an IC adjudicator since April and as of my last contact with HR, a month ago, it’s still in adjudication. Can’t get anyone to answer calls or return emails now.
If I’m not mistaken the “21 Days” and “90 days” deadlines for adjudication completion I’ve seen throughout message boards does not include non-DOD IC agencies. Now if you’re processing with a DOD IC Agency, there may be a 90 day deadline but I’ve seen timelines where it has taken longer.
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There are various standards among agencies depending on their mission. Some have a requirement to adjudicate within 21 days of closing, others within 60 days, which is the standard set down by the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (IRTPA). In the current state of affairs with DoD and IC positions, all of that is out the window. Non-DoD/IC/DOE agencies are actually still meeting the adjudications standard once the investigation finally gets done.
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Thanks @marko.hakamaa. Is CIA and DIA considered non-DoD? If so, mine must be an exception. My investigator commented that my case was one of the easiest he’s done so not sure why it’s been in adjudication over 100 days so far.
They are Intelligence Community (IC) agencies with their own investigators and process requirements.
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CIA is a completely independent agency (unless you count DNI but let’s not go there), so they have nothing to do with DoD or DODCAF.
DIA is part of DoD, but as @marko.hakamaa notes it is one of the DoD IC agencies (along with NSA and NGA) that does their own thing. However, I think that contractors working DIA programs are processed through OPM/DODCAF.
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Thanks @marko.hakamaa and @sbusquirrel. This is very helpful!
So, I’m hoping then I’m going to have an answer either way by Oct (if we use the 90 day time frame). This new position is a two grade promotion and after reading some of the backgrounds people have shared and they’ve gotten interim’s and/or have final clearances - I’m really disappointed I wasn’t granted an interim. I could have been working in the new position almost a year now already.
Update: After 17 months of waiting, I just found out that my investigation finally closed. I guess I wait through the adjudication process- Hopefully, it will not take 18 more months…
Secret Level Security Clearance Granted After 133 days.
Timeline:
- Received a job offer from Northrop Grumman on Feb 15th
- After almost a month of paper work, background investigation and drug test, submit SF-86 on March 13th
- Receive an email from NG stating the DoD has granted full secret security clearance on July 24th
Never received an interim clearance Total wait time was 133 days. My employer was not contacted as far as I know, and none of my references were contacted. I’m not sure why it went faster than what seems to be the norm, but I hope this information is helpful.
Njspeer
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That sounds insanely quick.
I am waiting on my initial and I’ve been stuck on adjudication for 3 months now.
Are you by any chance a new grad? We had a couple of new grads get cleared in six months or less recently.
It does sound quick, given other recent stories of 12 months or more, but just a few years back we were getting folks granted initial final secret clearance in about 90 days.
If a federal employee for an IC position is undergoing a BI/adjudication for a TS/SCI, will the status/disposition show in JPAS for the TS portion? I know that Scattered Castles is used by IC agencies for SCI access but wasn’t sure if JPAS reciprocally stores current clearance statuses/information for potential IC employees? I remember reading that the two system are not tied to each other. However, I did find out, some time ago, that JPAS showed that my investigation was opened on 16 Dec 2016. Will it also show when it’s closed/adjudicated? Thanks.
Hi, sbusquirrel.
I am not a new grad. If it helps here is a brief description of the factors that may or may not have affected the turn-around time :
- Natural-born citizen (parents and grandparents on both sides are also natural-born citizens)
- Former USMC, enlisted 1993 - 1997, held secret level secret level security clearance at the time
- PhD in Physics 2008 with 9 years industry experience
- High-paying job
- Good credit, no bankruptcies, or liens, or anything negative, good income-to-debt ratio
- No criminal record, no arrests, no family members with criminal histories or arrests
- No foreign contacts (only one trip outside the US in last 10 years)
- No drugs, etc.
- Never been fired or written up at work, or left after I was told I would be fired, etc.
- Never been sued
- Homeowner with 4 kids in school
One theory I had was that maybe they are cherry picking easy applications to process quickly to bring down the averages. At least that’s what I would do.
Njspeer
Thanks for the reply. While it is true that complicated cases will take a long time, even “simple” cases have been running close to a year.
I think you are on to something… either cherry pick easy cases, or just make sure new cases get completed quickly… that’s the only way to get the numbers down. After all, if you try to “fast track” cases that are already close to a year, you are just pushing some new cases to the end of the queue.
One theory I had was that maybe they are cherry picking easy applications to process quickly to bring down the averages. At least that’s what I would do.
If they care about the average for the 90% fastest cases, then this strategy would work for ignoring the top 10%.
Otherwise, within that 90%, cherrypicking easy cases would not help your average. If you handle 3 cases 100 days each, the average is 100 days and took 300 total investigative days to complete. If you instead use your 300 days to handle 2 cases in 50 days each and put one off so it takes 200 days, the average is still 100 days.
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You are on to something. When I went in for my background interview, the investigator told me that my file was a nightmare case and no one else was willing to take it. So instead, he chose my file to get it over with it already, or else it was just going to sit there. That was his exact words.
I submitted almost 200 national foreign contacts, so he had his work cut out for him. I’m assuming that the same thing happens to adjudications, the easier ones are picked first to get it completed and done with.