Originally published at: https://www.clearancejobsblog.com/common-errors-in-filling-out-the-sf-86/
Security clearance applicants are required to complete the Questionnaire for National Security Positions (SF-86) and submit it to initiate the necessary background investigation. This process can be lengthy, depending on factors such as your age, the number of jobs you have held, where you have lived, and additional details related to relatives, finances, criminal history,…
One good aspect of the form is that you basically only have to do all the research and legwork once. All your answers are retained on the electronic form so any time you fill it out in the future, all you really need to do is add new stuff, delete anything that has become out of scope since the previous submission, or make corrections.
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My advice: (20 years of working BIs for a variety of federal customers)
Google the SF86/SF85 BEFORE you have to complete one. This will allow you to gather the appropriate information.
Pay attention to timelines…some want 10 years, some want 7, most “verifiers” are only for the past 3 years, some questions are EVER.
Yes, if you got a DUI 25 years ago and had it expunged you still need to list it on the SF86. If you were arrested but had the charges dropped/dismissed, you still were arrested, and it needs to be reported.
Make sure your dates lines up…if you were attending college in CA from 2021 to 2025 please do not list your parents’ residence in FL as your residence from 2017 to present. Same goes for employments, make sure to list the employer’s address (where corporate is housed) and pay attention to “is your job location at a different address?”
If your employer is in MN, you live in UT, and you list that the job location address is the same as the employer address you are just causing delays in completing your case. If you work remotely, your home address would most likely be your job location.
Provide cell phone numbers, home numbers, email addresses of all your verifiers and references. Bring extra names/numbers/contact information to the interview. The more information you can provide to your investigator, the quicker things go.
Make certain your end and start dates make sense. If you move out of an apartment in 05/2024, the start date of your subsequent residence should be 05/2024…unless you took a few months to travel around the country, went on a mission trip, etc, etc. If there is a gap (hey, it happens) be able to explain it…you were crashing on friends’ sofas while waiting for a new lease to start, staying in a hotel until new home was closed on, you get the idea.
Take your time, gather your info (pull your credit report) and carefully read the questions.
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Excellent info. I always made clear the “ever” questions. Our job site lost our deputy program manager due to not reporting an arrest, went to night court, judge threw it out, said “you were not intoxicated “ But he was arrested…didnt speak to it…they would not clear, escorted from the compound. He was a great guy.
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One more thing (ok 2 more) and I’ll put away my soapbox.
Your social references (section 16 People Who Know You Well on the SF85) should be people who you hang out with…who you socialize with and recently. Not your college roommate you last saw/talked to 3 years ago. Please don’t list your mum’s best friend who has a clearance, who sees you once a year at the family holiday party, because you think it looks good. Don’t list your pastor/priest/rabbi unless you actually hang out with this person, go to movies, play games, interact at events with. I usually ask who would you call if you needed a ride to the airport? If your car broke down? That’s what we are looking for, not someone who watched you grow up and thinks you’re a great person.
Verifiers should be people who can verify that activity…classmates for education, a direct supervisor for employment, a direct neighbor for residence. We realize that not everyone knows their neighbors intimately, it just has to be someone who knows your name, maybe waves to you as you come and go, and has direct visual to your residence. (I realize not all cases still require a neighborhood source, but some still do). Doesn’t mean this person knows any other aspect of your life.
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I dislike the form being prefilled out. I see alot of T3 being upgraded to T5 5 to 15 years later, all military so far, and nothing but problems. Errors from oringinal submission not corrected, showing living at home with parents in Utah while you have been in the military for the last 5 years. Not updating your unit so your ESI is scheduled to JBLM instead of Ft Bliss (where you’ve been for the last three years).
Too many are lazy, not caring, or just don’t take the program serious until their clearance is delayed (or denied for Personal Conduct – yeah, forgetting the DUI you should’ve reported since your T3 submission will bite you) or they are hit up for falsification.
Want to speed up the process? Take the time to read the questions and provide the correct current information to include your job location, not just your employer, and gosh durn it, stop listing dead people in the “People who know you well” section.
You have to imagine me dropping my pen on stage and walking off…
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I hate to throw FSOs and security officials under the bus…BUT, there are some really good ones, and some who just email the form to the Subject and say “fill out and return within 10 days”. If I had a magic wand, every SF86 would be reviewed, and possibly rejected by the security office before it ever gets transmitted over. If Subject is stationed at Ft Bliss, but still lists his civilian job from 3 years ago, reject it. If parts are missing or beyond scope (really don’t need your foreign travel for the past 20 years…true story) reject it.
I realize FSOs have a million things to do, and people demanding everything from them. If we could get the front end of the process as close to correct as possible, it would make the rest of the process smoother.
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