I originally had a DOD TS/SCI clearance since 2007. I received an contracting job offer at DOS however I had an open PR. Once my PR was close DOS transferred the clearance and adjudicated it in 2019. I crossed back over to DOD several months ago and now am being told my clearance was downgraded to Secret and will expire 2021 per the information in JPAS. The DOD PR completed in 2019 was canceled before adjudicated by DOD. JPAS does not reflect the DOS adjudicated clearance at the TS level and the current FSO refuses to contact DOS to validate my clearance level. DOS Security will not talk to me about my clearance level as they can only coordinate directly with the FSO or CAF. Has anyone else come across this issue?
I understand there are different clearance systems but the information in the current system which is being relied upon (in this case JPAS) should reflect the most current adjudication especially if there are reciprocal agreements in place. Donāt I have a right to complete and accurate security information reflected in JPAS? Any advice how to fix this disconnect?
Sounds about right. What level of clearance do you require in your current job? If you donāt require access to TS that might be the reason the FSO doesnāt want to get involved. Also State Dept is notorious (at least in these forums) for not playing nice when it comes to reciprocity.
Thank you for the reply. The current contract requires Secret clearance however I came across a classified system which require the TS level for my review. I already informed the client I had TS and plan were being made for me to inspect the system and attend associated meetings.
Also I work for a small business that never interacted with the State Department and I think this was half the reason of not wanted to get involved due to not knowing how. I did contact the State Department and they provided me with instruction for the FSO on how to verify my clearance level but got no reply.
I would think the last adjudication should determine my clearance level/ clearance and not the contract. The contract would dictate the minimum clearance requirement. You can hold TS on a Secret level contract. It has it advantages when you do come across higher level information.
The other issue is now my clearance show to expire in 03/2021 at the Secret level as my last adjuscation was 03/2011. This contract is to end Sep 2021. I doubt an investigation could start in Mar 2011 and be adjudicated before the end of the contract due to the backlog. If thereās no other contract to place me on Iāll be laid off and unemployed. This would cause a PR to be canceled as well limited my clearance job opportunities immediately. We already had 2 descopes due to COVID-19 and lost 1/2 our team who were laid off.
I personally had no issue when it can to crossing over from DOD to DOS. Iām sure only the issues get posted to the blog.
I dont know, there have been some reports of quick turnarounds lately. Make sure your FSO starts the reinvestigation process as soon as possibleā¦ 30 days before it expires? 60 days? They keep tightening it up. Then get your updates in as quick as you can so the ball can get rolling as soon as possible.
Again thatās up to the FSO. If they refuse to contact the State Department because āthey donāt want to botherā then why would they start a PR early? Itās not their job at risk. They tend to do whatās convenient for them and donāt care how the clearance impacts our lives. It took me 2 years to get the PR started on my TS clearance. Basically the reason was ānot to worry about it as I was in a cleared position so my current clearance will stay intactā. They never consider that people have lives and move around to different jobs.
I also have an new investigation started for TS/FSP back in March and have not heard from the investigator yet. The company canāt even get in contact with anyone due to the alternate work schedule due to COVID-19 to check the status. All I know is the COVID-19 has impacted these investigations. Also clearance investigation times vary depended on the personās circumstances.
I guess I just need to sit tight and āwait it outā and hope for the best.
Stateā¦is horrible when it comes to crossovers. Jerks actually. Had them lie, tell me they had no secure line, then later admit they did but it was in a vault and they didnāt want to open it. My client even had a years long recognized process and form to better facilitate crossovers. At a certain point, I suspect leadership change, they just gave us the run around and stonewalled. Eventually my client recognized the gamesmanship and refused to even try crossing folks from State.
Also from DOS website:
Reciprocity is the acknowledgement and acceptance of an existing background investigation conducted by an authorized investigative agency; the acceptance of a national security eligibility adjudication determined by an authorized adjudicative agency; and the acceptance of an active national security eligibility determination granted by an executive branch agency. Federal agencies will normally accept another agencyās investigation as the basis for granting a security clearance, provided the applicantās last security clearance investigation was completed within the past five years for a Top Secret clearance and 10 years for a Secret clearance, and there has not been a break in service of more than two years. Any significant changes in an applicantās situation since his or her last investigation may be considered. Some federal agencies might have additional investigative or adjudicative requirements that must be met prior to their accepting a clearance granted by another agency. https://www.state.gov/security-clearances#faqs
As far as I know both DOD and DOS are executive branch agencies so it should not be an issue.
That is how it is supposed to work. But I can tell you the client I supported gave up. It was like pulling teeth. They would take months to get them to take action just verifying the candidate was cleared in their system. They were pathetic.
I also wonder on why I am now being told my investigation was canceled in JPAS on the DOD side. Shouldnāt I show as being processed out of DOD to DOS? There had to be some communication between DOD and DOS to complete the process.
I hear some purposely cancel investigation as a sort of retaliation. The contracting company I worked for in DOD was horrible so I left but the clearance was adjudicated by DOS before I put in my notice.
I can identify. Companies promise the world to use your resume and win a contract. Once they winā¦particularly in a right to work stateā¦they quickly want to cut the budgetā¦and you are at risk. I imagine the day you departed, they cancelled what was in process. That is uneccessary, but within their rights. They could be professional,work with you to allow reciprocity. But Iāve seen it happen many times. I doubt DoD has good communication with State. Just one personās opinion here, but Iām guessing a hard rock personality got into a position at Stateā¦bad attitudeā¦that bleeds down to all action officers. In turn they mimic leadershipā¦and arenāt true partners in making government run any smoother.
I had a DOD clearance since 2007. DOS told me they couldnāt transfer over an open PR and they had to wait until it was closed. Once it was closed I got a Reciprocity Approval email from DOS stating: āThe Bureau of Diplomatic Security has determined that all appropriate investigative and adjudicative criteria have been met ā¦ā. DOS also uses the National Security Adjudicative Guidelines.
The guidelines are defined in the Security Executive Agent Directive (SEAD) 4: National Security Adjudicative Guidelines and are the single common criteria used to evaluate all individuals who require national security eligibility. All Executive Branch agencies use these guidelines when rendering a national security eligibility determination. DOD and DOS are part of the Executive Branch.
When I check the CAF FAQ I would think my record should show āLoss of Jurisdictionā: LOJ is placed on an individualās eligibility once they have been out-processed from JPAS and no longer have an affiliation with the DoD as a military member, employee, or cleared contractor employee. In order to request adjudication, the Security Manager or Facility Security Officer (FSO) must submit a Customer Service Request (CSR) in the Defense Information Security System (DISS) for action to request adjudication once they have created a new owning relationship for that individual in their JPAS account
This is where it is confusing. Somehow DoS was able to adjudicate your clearance based on the PR started by DoD. Initially, you stated it was canceled before adjudicated by DoD and that is how it is reflected in JPAS. Anytime I have ever seen reciprocity between organizations is when the clearance has been finalized and PR complete. You have a unique situation.
It sounds like @Raven never had a DoD clearance but an investigation was completed. State was able to get the investigation (from OPM?) and they adjudicated it themselves. So to me it does not sound like āreciprocityā (which never seems to work with DOS anyway) but just a State Dept clearance.
This was during the PR the transfer to state took place. The PR was canceled by DoD and DoS adjudicated before it was complete. So DoD does not know that there was any clearance beyond the initial in 2007 (or the PR prior to 2019).
Yes it definitely is unique! I checked my email and I got confirmation my DOD PR closed in Jan 2019. The DOS email came out 4 days after the close date. Just how fast do they adjudicate and who adjudicated it? Thatās the question. It appears DOS has insight to the DOD systems as they were able to āmonitorā the PR.
The plot thickens. I just got confirmation from my DOS POC that my PR closed in Dec 2018 NOT Jan 2019 as per JPAS. It my be a clerical error with the dates. I suspect the Jan date was the adjudication date.
You can have more than one investigation going at the same time especially if there are different requirements. I knew someone who was having a PR for TS/SCI CI and an initial TS/FSP investigation at the same time. I requested DOS to start fresh but they didnt have authorization and required someone with an existing clearance.