Ed, thank you. The relatives I mentioned are my cousins and uncles, etc. (not listed under section 18 - relatives) I don’t talk to them at all when I am in the U.S, only when I visit Taiwan we may have a meal together. My mom lives in Taiwan (dual citizenship) so I visit Taiwan once every 3 to 5 years.
The question about foreign contacts goes back 7 years I believe. So IN THEORY, any sort of repeated contact (is this more than 3 times? 10 times? Via email? Facebook? Chat?) in the last 7 years counts. So even if you delete your Facebook, those contacts have to be reported. I was in Korea for 4 years and met and hung out with foreign nationals all the time. I worked with ROKAF officers every day. Does the DoD CAF want to know those contacts as well? If so, I can list all 25+ of them. I think its a very poorly worded question.
Actually, although I forget the exact wording, it’s a very clear question designed to leave a little wiggle room on both sides. For three years before filling out my SF86, I worked for a U.S. based company with Indian ownership. More that half of my coworkers were foreign nationals here on H1B visas. I listed no foreign contacts on my SF86. The investigator asked me about it and I told her that I worked with them. I didn’t eat lunch with them, I didn’t socialize with them and I didn’t see them outside of the office. She took notes but it was never an issue. Had I become or remained friendly with anyone, I would have listed them.
I follow the “real, known, continuing contact rule set,” AND…as Ed mentioned, is it personal contact. Simply passing a person in the hall…I do not report. Become friendly, have them over for NFL Sunday…that re characterizes the relationship. I too have several foreign contacts from AF time in the Pacific. They are on my FB page and we occasionally hit “like” on their photos. There isn’t much more than that. But I report it.
Contact with foreign nationals as part of your military service is not reportable until the relationship becomes personal.
Sorry for necroing this old post but do we report classmates that have a greencard or student visa? I believe my classmate has a greencard/student visa but she is married to an american citizen. In short she is only a classmate and nothing more. We only communicate via chat and sometimes she’d call for clarification on assignments and classes but strictly that.
I have no issues self reporting but is it necessary in this instance?
Thanks!
Green card and visa holders count as foreign nationals, so the question to ask is whether or not you have had close and/or continuing contact and whether you are bound by affection, influence, common interest and/or obligation.
In this case I would say no. My investigator even stated that it wasn’t necessary to list my foreign national PhD advisor (we met every week, but never outside of official duties) or my foreign national co-author (similar situation).
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Thanks for the input! My investigator had the same tone but that was for my secret.
Im filling out the TS form right now. I wonder if it matters. In your case was it for Secret or TS?
It was for secret, but the form is the same, so the definition should be the same regardless of level.
It’s possible that different investigators or different level clearances will result in them asking for more information about casual foreign contacts, but you don’t need to worry about that unless they ask. On the form, take the questions literally. In your case, I don’t think your contact counts as close or continuing or bound by common interest.
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I would say continuing contact counts if you have a foreign co-author on a PhD thesis. It would present a perfect mentoring, recruiting, enticing atmosphere for a foreign influence. In this case report it and let the investigator choose to “not” scope the info. You would have complied with the requirement to report. Normally I go on the BI person instructions in cases such as this but I would reject that advice.
I agree with your approach. I decided to list my foreign co-authors even though I didn’t think they really met the criteria. I just decided to leave it up to the BI, as you said.
From my perspective, we had ‘continuing’ contact (though I wouldn’t say close contact), but I don’t think we were bound by affection, influence, or obligation. The closest binding is ‘common interest’, but I still wouldn’t say that I was bound to any of those individuals. We were colleagues, but we never met outside of research functions. The BI might disagree, so I gave them the opportunity to make up their own mind.
I really think that is the best approach. Your initial clearance may not be the final clearance and a separate agency looking at your background can question why certain things weren’t reported. I have a similar catch 22 situation not reported on first form, polygraph questioned why and explained it was in my best long term interest to report, so now I literally write added this info at the direction of polygraph branch. I don’t think including hurts at all, but excluding…imperfect humans make decisions based on the inclusion/exclusion of info…better safe than sorry. Any degree of foreign influence can be a concern. I can certainly see an argument made that a Doctoral thesis can bind you to another’s influence. And Academia is ripe for plucking by our adversaries.
dNot that I expect it to cause a hiccup for you but
Can an issue related to not listing foreign contacts by passing 2 polys? I only had issues with foreign contacts after being in Asia almost 4 years. Everyone I knew was a foreign national so there are about 30 people that would seem to need to be reported.
Not sure what you are asking . . .
I think you are asking if passing two Poly’s means you mitigated not reporting foreign contacts. So I will speak to that. Is the contact continuing? Or was it merely passing them in the hall at work and saying hello? Casual interaction need not be reported, however, close and continuing contact does, or if it crosses over into friendship, like barbecuing or going to the movies, etc. Having served overseas I have several continuing foreign contacts. As I recall them or as they pop up fresh on social media, I make sure to report them. Now if you failed to report them and have bad intentions…different story.
Interpreting your question the same way . . . Does passing two polys mean that you have mitigated leaving foreign contacts off of your SF86?
The answer is maybe . . . It depends on the quality and quantity of your contacts AND if leaving them off was a mistake, a misunderstanding or an attempt to hide the contacts.
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Ed/amberbunny…that’s what I mean. I did not correctly interpret the question. In Korea, I was around foreign nationals all the time and I was there almost 3 years. Here in CONUS–different story. I have a different mindset now. Foreign nationals here would stick out like a sore thumb to me.
The foreign association question is not meant to be an exercise in memory. The intent is to find connections a foreign entity might have to gain access to you. It is all about cultivation and recruitment.
Relationships with foreign nationals while you are at work and just at work is normally not reportable. Paying rent to a foreign national landlord is not reportable. Hanging around with those foreign coworkers/supervisors outside of work is reportable. Having meals/visits with your landlord is reportable.
It is ridiculous when people try to tell me they do not have close connections to family members such as siblings, parents, and grand parents. Yes, there are times, but in just a few questions many Subjects’ reasoning is destroyed and they are tag for lying (Personal Conduct).
You are always better off for yourself reporting someone if you have any question. The SF86 captures the information we are looking for in the first place.
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backgdinvestigator, thanks. It’s just that when I was in Korea for almost 3 years, I think I grew complacent. Literally EVERYONE I knew was a foreign national and I saw them all the time. Ms. Kim (my aujima) had broken English (and caught me in my boxers more than once) but seemingly ALWAYS knew when we were having exercises. I saw her every day. Stateside, I may have run into one or two foreign nationals and it always stands out to me when I do.
I listed SOs uncle and aunt even though I met them once a year and dont even know more than their names and city they live in. Just to be safe.