I submitted my SF86 in August 2018. I have been in ajudication for about 4 months I believe. I have decided to contact my congressman or senator and ask him to inquire. Has anyone done this before? Do I list the agency I am in the running for? What is the typical format or do’s and dont’s?
They have instructions on their website. You explain the issue and fill our a privacy form. I’m thinking of contacting my senator as well, since I’ve been in adjudication for around 16 months now. 
I have done this before (though mine was while I was still in the investigation phase for an initial Secret).
Different Congresspersons’ offices deal with it differently. Generally, your Representative will be more accessible, so you should be able to call one of their offices directly. Often they have more than one office, and they might redirect you to get you to the right person for dealing with clearance issues. This person should be able to ask you the right questions about what phase you are in, how long you have been waiting, what agency, and what clearance level.
If you try to contact your Senator, you might have more difficulty reaching them or the correct person by phone (they have far more constituents to deal with than Reps in most states). Then you will need to fill out a form, send an email, or mail a letter. In that, you should list all of the above stuff (clearance level, stage, company, etc.)
What you are basically asking them is to inquire about the status of your clearance investigation and to expedite the remaining work.
I have contacted my senator’s office before to inquire about the adjudication status. I informed them that it was at DoD CAF. He reached out to them and they provided an update (mine was sent back to OPM for RSI and the OPM had sent the file to the wrong state). It does at least help you find out where you stand in terms of the adjudication status.
It’s a bit aggressive to think you need a senator’s help when your case is only 8 months old. The backlog is over 700,000 files. You’re not even beyond the mean wait yet. Also, its highly likely that your file got sent back to investigation for something the adjudicator needs. The wait time is largely due to investigation backlog, not adjudication.
Contacting a Senator/Rep shouldn’t be solely based on wait time vs. average wait time. What you are doing is asking, as a constituent, if there is something your Congressperson can do to help you out of a tough situation with a government agency. If a constituent is waiting final clearance but already has an interim or is working on non-cleared work, then I would say that they shouldn’t worry until well after the mean wait time. However, if the constituent is unable to work until being granted a final clearance, then this might be different and worth contacting a Congressperson even before the mean wait time.
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question: is there any difference on the help effort if I don’t have a senator and have to reach out to a representative??
will there be any help?
has anyone done this?
I tell people to reach out to both . . . Senators have larger staffs and may have more time to devote to an issue like this.
Where do you live that you don’t have a senator?
@EdFarmerIII U.S. territories and D.C. have a non-voting delegate and no Senator, so they should be the correct person to contact. I know that for service academy nominations, delegates play the same role as Representatives, and that any citizen can petition the Vice President directly for such nominations. Therefore, it would be my guess that a similar process is meant to occur for clearance inquiries.
@noname01 As Ed says, both can be a good idea, but I found that each office will want to know which other office(s) you have contacted, presumably to prevent dual processing. Unfortunately, it seems like it isn’t as dependent on Senator/Representative, as much as how well their office manages such requests. When I was a resident of one state, I had much better luck with my Rep, then when I moved, I had better luck with my Senator. So, ymmv.
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@EdFarmerIII … DC
but who would be the second person to reach out? also sorry if it might be a dumb question.
@danorou yeah, I am not sure.
but am considering reaching out soon so wanted to get recommendations if there are any when it comes to Representatives…
If it were me . . . and I lived in DC . . . I would reach out to either Maryland or Virginia senators in addition to my representative who has limited powers in any case. DC is in the “sphere of influence” of these elected officials and what’s the worst that could happen.
When I believed that my process was staled, I contacted both of my senators, my representative and the office of the president . . .
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@EdFarmerIII… one of these days I’m making a trip across the bridge to buy you a drink…lol.
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I’m always around . . .
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@EdFarmerIII… one of these days we’ll work it out.
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The government of DC is actually part of the legislative branch of the of the federal government. So, you can also look to the mayor’s office and council. Research who nominates DC students for the military academies. That honor is pretty much restricted to members of congress from the states.
If I lived in DC or Puerto Rico, or anywhere that I didn’t have full representation as a citizen, I would make it my business to know where to go when I needed to poke or prod the government.
But, I’m a Republican living in NJ which really means that I have no representation at all . . .
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See if you can find me . . . It will be an interesting exercise and I’m interested in knowing how easily it’s done . . . Hell, you have my name . . . All I can guess about you is that, like me, you are named after your father and grandfather . . .
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@EdFarmerIII… when I get home, I’m definitely gonna do my due diligence.
Yes, you are correct. I am a Jr. and my son is a 3rd.
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@EdFarmerIII… found ya!
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@EdFarmerIII - SOOO HELPFUL!
and thank you much. this is well noted.
I will be reaching soon i’d won’t see any updates.
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