I read another forum as well as this one, and every once in a while you still hear about somebody getting an interim secret in just a few weeks. But it seems to be the exception. Between the backlog and much higher levels of scrutiny it seems that interims are not granted nearly as often as they used to be.
I am also in line with a contracting company. According to my FSO back in December with the investigation being opened in Nov after I has submitted in August… exact timeline as follows
Submitted August 17 2016
Credit and Employment verification completed early to mid Nov 2016
JPAS update investigation opened Nov 14th 2016.
I submitted my EQIP August 8th and got denied October 25th.
Well I called my FSO today and she told me that my investigation was opened Jan. 31st. She also said from the day of submission they are taking around 145 days to complete. Guess it’s time to buckle up for this long wait…
Sounds like you are on the right timeline now… and yes it’s a long wait… but at least you know they are proceeding forward and things are moving. I hope it’s only 145 days for you. I am currently over 160 from submission… average last quarter for 2016 was 166 days to final determination…
I am at 166 business days from time of submission for Secret and still haven’t been contacted for an interview with the investigator. Timeline seems to increase by about 20 days every quarter and with all the stuff that was going on in Wash, I’m guessing (hoping) another 30-40 days.
I submitted mine in November and as of Feb 1 it still hadn’t been sent to OPM by DoD, so it still isn’t open. I am surprised your FSO said 145 days from submission. I’d think it would be from the time it is opened by OPM. It’s been 3 months already for me and still no action has been taken.
I don’t understand… does that mean it is still sitting in the local security manager’s queue and hasn’t been released?
It was released on 02/01/2017. I have no idea what took so long.
Hello Marko,
Here’s my situation:
SF86 was submitted on 12/2015 . There hasn’t been any contact from any investigator, no references have been contacted , and no credit check yet. The only thing that happened during this entire time was a polygraph which i took on Sep / 2016. Every time I request a status check from my FSO , they tell me still “in process” what does that mean and should i be worried about this timeline I mentioned above. Thanks a lot
Unfortunately there is not a lot I can tell you. I know that many investigations submitted during that timeframe got stuck in limbo with getting completed because OPM and to realign investigators and contracts. Combine that with military service record and FBI name check delays it it may be the case with yours.
However, if they scheduled your polygraph then that is a good sign that something was moving. That is about all I can tell you.
Thank you Marko for your reply. It’s just so frustrating having to wait this long, knowing that you will have to wait even more down the road if the case goes( God knows when ) to adjudication. smh
Wondering when we will start seeing some timelines for SF86 submissions for the end of '16. I am wondering if they have increased any or at all. I am at the beginning of my 3rd month.
I do not keep track of days. I might keep track of the days both weekends and work days after the investigation is opened.
I think keeping track of months might be more appropriate 
https://www.calendar-12.com/days_between_dates
The easy way to track days…
It also breaks it up between actual days as well as business days.
In a briefing hosted by DSS, they revealed that PSMO-I, in order to stay within their budget constraints, were maintaining a daily quota of how many e-QIP applications were released to OPM on a daily basis. They also showed that a T3 was taking 221 days and a T5 was 381 days to process end-to-end.
The Q4 FY2016 averages have been out for a while already. I am curious to see the first quarter 17 averages but that should be around March. I’d be willing to bet significant amounts of money that they increased. I’m on day 183 as we speak.
Those numbers sound a little closer to reality but may still not be accounting for some delays at the front and back ends. Also interesting about throttling the flow of eQIP’s to OPM.
Stupid question that I’m sure I can find somewhere — but easy to answer — when they say “221 days” and “381 days” is that work days or calendar days? From the way it reads and personal experience of watching others go through e-qip, I think it’s calendar days. Thanks!
Not a stupid question at all @groundhog but one that many of us have been pondering. My own smart-aleck response is that it does not count weekends, holidays, sick days, or days with an “R” in them. 