Effective today all Security Clearances moved from DOD to OPM

Seems like it is more common these days… does it depend on the Tier? Can certain customers require interviews?

Well Tier 3 is for Secret so anytime an issue arises then it requires an interview.

I’m not sure if the customer can require interviews for certain case types. I would assume that to be true. I work on the OPM contract. I know for the DHS contract there is additional training one must attend which is to learn the requirements.

Well then according to what your stating, the Department of Treasury does not seem too interested in delinquent debts. Case in point, a client of mine with serious delinquent debts had her interview via phone and she still had to provide mitigating circumstances with proof that she is taking care of the debts from all of her creditors. I worked with her to gather all of this information and had it ready for the BI. I think that the only reason for phone interviews is to reduce backlog, however your a BI and I am not.

Is it possible that in-person interviews are more common in some areas than others? My BI made it apparent that different areas/districts have significantly different backlogs. I think in-person interviews will always be preferred for clarifying issues, but in the event of significant backlogs in an area, I could imagine them being a bit more lenient.

The telephone interviews are allowed to be conducted for issues that are more common or easy to do by telephone. This was allowed to help expedite cases that are normally easy to close but require an interview.

Your option is to decline the telephone interview and…wait. The telephone interviews I have completed are normally for common issues and the Subject’s are in uncommon locations. Yes, I’ve had Subject’s and/or security managers tell me no, do it in person. Just be prepared to wait if you are in a dense work area or a very sparse work area.

1 Like

I can say my situation was a little weird. I had a phone interview and my BI was in Arizona. I’m In Hampton roads Virginia

not so weird. Arizona is probably caught up with the local work load and helping VA.

My area is up to date and I am on the road again myself.

2 Likes

Not weird at all. The physical location of the investigator doesn’t make a difference when it comes to the phone interviews. As long as it’s eligible to be done by phone it can be assigned to any investigator nation wide.

2 Likes

why would security tell you no do it in person?

A similar thing with my client, she lives in D.C. and the BI was in Orlando Florida.

Because they were a small rural agency and apparently like to meet agents/investigators.

Unfortunately for them and the Subject, they are six hours away from the nearest agent. The Subject relocated and I offered to do the TESI by phone but both the Subject and security manager said no. The security manager made it a point to call me after the Subject for some reason.

More and more interviews are being needed for secret level clearances because they changed from NACLCs to TIER case types. The Secret tier requires more work than the NACLC - yet they are the same clearance level. This more work is leading to more interviews because the information that comes back is different from what is listed on the case papers. Many of these interviews are being required for really ridiculous reasons because the Tier guidelines say that person now meets the requirements of an interview. Believe me, the reasons can be really ridiculous. So…a backlog was created because more cases needed field work…which means an actually person in that person area needs to sit down with the subject. In order to reduce the backlog, NBIB decided that we can do the interviews by telephone if the issues are not that severe (and what is severe to one person might not be severe in the world of background investigations). The biggest problem here is that this rule was created and NOT A SINGLE security manager was made aware of it. So, we investigators are calling subjects asking to do the interviews by phone and everyone thinks it is a scam. The other thing is that if an investigator in your area gets your case and it qualifies for a telephone interview, the investigator can choose if they want to do it in person or by telephone…so, some minor issues are still being handled in in-person interviews.

And just for example purposes, it would not be unlikely for a person with 100K in financial debt to qualify for a telephone interview. I, personally, would prefer to do the interview in person due to the length of the interview…but there are some investigators that have been assigned to special projects where they do nothing but telephone interviews.

Morale of the story is that telephone interviews are permitted. If you think that you are being scammed or don’t believe that the investigator is who they say they are, called NBIB. There is a hotline set up just for confirming the identity of background investigators. You can find this number on their website under frequently asked questions.

1 Like

Thanks, and yes many in my area think it is a scam. I read your statement about 100k in debt, your referring to current debt and not unpaid debt correct? My client had over 45k in unpaid debts and she qualified for a phone interview, and I had another client in WV that had about 5k in unpaid debts and he had a in person interview, they both work on the same project so I am not really buying this. I called OPM and they said its just because of the backlog and not because of what is in the persons file. So long story short, I don’t think that clients with less risky files are getting all the phone interviews as some are stating.

1 Like

to that same point. I would think with my Felony issue, it would have been in-person regarding the interview. I remember when we got to it, he had to print it out and read as we were going through it. Maybe because it was a grey area as it was 12 years but recent in terms of incarceration a couple years ago, but when we were chatting afterwards he told me I qualified for a phone-interview so it must have passed screening to had gotten to his desk.

To my benefit, I believe, I listed all my adjudication criteria in the section.

length of time (2006 - so 12 years at the time), my age at time (22) , education, great work history, minor participant, coercion (my licensed boss and the lawyers)…

Does anybody know if adjudications items are placed in SF-86 are they considered upfront?

I am referring to delinquent debt. We don’t care about current debt…only the delinquent debt.

There are certain topics that will always require in person interviews. Additionally, if a passport review is required or a new release needs to be signed, the interview must be done in person. Nearly all other interviews can be done by telephone (again, unless the issue is especially egregious). We have a team that is supposed to scrub cases and any qualifying interviews are sent to a special telephone group. That being said, they cannot scrub all interviews and many are still sent to the field. And as I said before, if the subject is in your area you can always do it in person (there is no requirement that the interview HAS to be done by phone). I prefer in person interviews because I get mileage…I can charge the drive time…I get out of the house…and the interviews are more comfortable because you aren’t interrupting each other. While the backlog is the thing that lead to the telephone interviews, it is the subject’s file that determines if they can be interviewed by telephone or not. Of course NBIB isn’t going to say that serious issues must be conducted in person because it would freak out all the subjects.

And I will add that the person with only 5K in delinquent debt definitely has something else going on as 5K is not enough to require an interview. That person is not giving you the full story.

3 Likes

Thanks for the insight, so if a person has 5k in delinquent debt, is a interview required? What is the threshold for phone interviews versus in person for delinquent debts? Are in person interviews more costly to the agency requesting the re investigations?

Be careful discussing specific thresholds and triggers in this open forum.

2 Likes

I am not going to disclose any specific thresholds or triggers. But they exist. And for most cases it isn’t a clear cut line as it depends on everything else going on with the case (and most people on forums like this fail to disclose the whole story, they just focus on one thing). As I have said numerous times before, I don’t like the telephone interviews as I think the subjects are more inclined to lie or not tell the full truth. There is a place for them and I understand the need with the backlog, but I hope they go away. That being said, I really wish the security managers were informed of NBIB’s decision to implement telephone interviews because it is just another thing that hinders us from actually doing our job.

2 Likes

I feel like the work has dried up in my area. I hope it will pick up again after June. Can anyone shed any light on this?

Phone interviews are just stupid. Why even bother at this point. Don’t even get me started on the nonsense that is going on with the T2s, what a waste of time.

2 Likes