Hi everyone, I recently went through this nightmare and thought I would share so that no one else would do this and end up wasting months of their time.
Back in April 2015, I accepted a position that required Secret clearance. I submitted my SF-86, waited a few months, and ended up declining the offer in the middle of the process. I accepted another job, and moved on with my life.
Fast forward to July 2018. I accept a DoD contractor position that requires a TS/SCI. I am told I cannot submit paperwork or start that new investigation because my old investigation is still open, and must be closed first. They say they have submitted a close request on my behalf.
About 4 months pass, and I hear nothing. The old Secret investigation is still open. I feel like all they have to do is go into the system and mark it as closed. But nothing. Finally, I reach out to my Congressman, who contacts OPM on my behalf.
A month later I get a letter from my senator. It has a statement from OPM: “Due to the backlog, there was no process for closing old investigations. However, we have closed this file as requested.”
Just wanted to put this out there. If you have an old investigation that was never completed, it may have never been closed. And it may prevent you from getting new investigations started.
Wanted to share my story for others out there who may also be in my shoes.I ended up wasting around 6 months just for my old investigation to close. Now I can finally start my new investigation, and that’s a new adventure of its own. Good luck to all!