I am going through a clearance process right now and have a few questions. I am U.S. citizen by naturalization. I was born in Haiti and still have some friends over there. three of them we talk almost every day via social media. but all my immediate family members are living in the United States. Can my relationship with those people hurt my clearance? Also, I traveled to Haiti a few times. are these trips going to pose a problem for me? is sending extra cash for those guys makes it harder to get a clearance. I used to carry a DOD secret clearance before, but it has expired. Now I am in the process for the State Department.
The only thing that might be questioned is the part about sending them money. Not saying it is a show stopper but it might attract attention and a little extra scrutiny. But be open about it, be prepared to provide all kinds of details, including how you send the money (Western Union? mail? with people traveling to Haiti?)
I dont know for sure but the real concern would be if you were sending money to invest overseas. If it is strictly for humanitarian purposes maybe not such a big deal. Just my opinion, maybe somebody else will add some more definite info here.
Just be aware that investigators might check for any files that might exist, on you and your Haitian contacts, at the CIA Stations in Port-au-Prince and/or Cap-Haitien.
Thank you for your response. I have no issue if they want to check my or my contacts files at the CIA office. The money i send there is for humanitarian purposes because not every one over there is able to get job. The only thing that i forgot to mention in my previous post was that i did not pay attention to the question when i was filling the eQIP. I thought they meant just immediate family members when they asked if i have foreign contacts. So i answered no for that question. Yesterday, i received a phone call from the investigator asking me why i put no for that question. In one of the previous questions, they asked about my travel and i put i traveled to haiti to visit and see my friends. I guess this is where all the confusion started. Once again, thank you for any other inputs!
Thank you for your input… the money i sent there is for humanitarian purpose. Not every one there is able to get a job. And it is not like something that i do every week or every month. It is when ever i have some extra cash.
I have foreign contacts maintained since late 80’s. No issues. If they are on the up and up, nothing to worry about. If they are actors of the state…potential problem, but not guarantee. Fully report, be open in discussing them all. No need to cut ties. Foreign connections can slow things down when you receive a benefit from the country such as retirement, land ownership, citizenship etc. This speaks to allegiance and loyalties to another government.
I just saw this discussion and while very interesting, it is also extremely discouraging.
I am a permanent resident who enlisted in the military, and is undergoing the T5 process so I can ship to Basic.
No issues from my past, law, credit, drugs, visa.
However, I have social media that lists hundreds of foreign contacts from my country that I still have citizenship of.
The reason: I have had this social media already for years before I even entered the USA. So I am talking about a few hundred acquaintances. They are NOT all my close friends. There are some who I NEVER conversed with, some who I once a year chat for five minutes with and very few who I am more in touch with.
But it would be impossible to list them all. I assume that is a no go then ? Oddly enough, that did not come up at all during my interview.
I was already considering deleting all social media now, but I am not sure if that is a smart move, being in the investigation.
Only thing I can say is be honest about those foreign contacts that you have. I was asked to report those that I talk to almost on the regular basis. And what kind of relationship that I have with them. I have lots foreign friends and family members, but it was not a big deal in my case. I also think because I am not on facebook makes it a lot easier for me. I have been granted a secret clearance about two months ago. I think you will be fine. Good luck!