I have a foreign spouse too who’s scheduled to get her permanent residence in mid May, so will it be ok if i go ahead and amend my previously submitted SF86, i submitted in Dec 2016 and the status is pending. i have 2 lined up gigs one in afghanistan and the other in africa as a translator and honestly sometimes i feel hopeless just waiting for the clearance.
I literally begged one of the recruiting agents to hire me as i wait for the clearance, i’m just crossing my fingers waiting for his response, i got naturalized in 2013, separated from active duty in April 2017, now that i’m in reserves will that affect the process?
Fortunately, my investigation has been moving along. I submitted my SF86 and the following week OPM was contacting my employers, references, and conducted my interview. I am highly impressed with the efficiency OPM has displayed thus far. I also found the agent who interviewed me to be quite professional and engaging.
August 2016 submitted SF86
November 2016 credit and employers contacted
February 2017 interviewed
September 2017 contacted congressman for assistance
October 2017 final determination granted
I still have not been cleared. I was just highly impressed with how OPM jumped on it so fast! Especially after reading so many posts on here about other investigations taking so long. I feel really fortunate! I have a follow up interview with my Investigator tomorrow. I hope that is not a bad sign.
My follow up interview consisted of a few follow up question. I am getting really close now, I am excited about getting some closure. I feel bad for the folks who have had to spend a year or longer getting their clearance processed. Good luck to everyone!
14 months that’s pretty good! Its sad I am typing this! I hope Trump administration realizes long wait time can have a negative impact on national security. I am jealous you are able to get your clearance but congratulations maybe their is hope for me still!
I didn’t see this under administrations prior to 2008. When I received my first clearance in 2005, I received my interim in about three weeks and my final in under four months. The backlog seems like a more recent issue.
I am trying to get a TS. Thank you for your comment. I certainly had no intention of advertising anything, I am just on here to learn from others. I attempted to change my username. However, I do not see an option to do so.
At my employer in the early 2000’s it was taking two years in many cases to get a final secret clearance.
I think that was the effect of 9/11 and massive hiring in the intelligence & security fields. It got better, then it got worse again, then it was getting better. Then the whole USIS/security breach/OPM mess took hold and the backlog started really ballooning.
My wife has been cleared since the early 90’s . . . She doesn’t recall problems at her company but others companies and other agencies may have had other problems.
I agree. OPM directly is awesome. I got an investigator from there looking into me and this dude is on it. Within 3 weeks 4 references contacted, credit pulled, current employer interviewed and i had my subject interview yesterday. After the 2 hour interview he called 4 MORE PEOPLE I JUST GAVE HIM and calls me saying he will have people sent out to Cali and VA to interview other friends of mine for Monday and already confirmed a time and location for them. There are really some hard working BI’s out there. With this guy on the case Im hoping I get a quick ssbi to start class in jan.
I can’t say that I have a ton of experience but I think that the investigators almost all do a great job. The investigation isn’t the big delay. My investigation took five weeks from initial contact to close. My clearance took a total of 17 months. About eight months for it to get to the investigator and about eight months in adjudication.
Background investigation backlogs have been around for decades - sometimes they are small - sometimes not so small.
If you want to be amused (or brought to tears if you are a candidate) google “weakness in DoD investigations 2000” and read the DSS testimony to Congress. In that prepared statement, DSS was trying to explain why they were backlogged 600.000 cases in the 90s.
This is not new - it is a real problem. NBIB and DSS can not fix the problems by themselves.
We need to figure out how to get case pieces to the right place (meaning across the country) in a timely manner.
We need to figure out who really needs a clearance to start working.
We need to prescreen intelligently so we don’t waste resources on people who should never have a clearance or who are high risks.
– Prescreen includes continuously screen current holders - it should be a crime for anyone, federal, military, or contractors, to hide/withhold information about someone in there sphere of influence. Joe might be the nicest guy in the world with 9 mouths to feed at home, but if he displays risky behavior - suspend his clearance. Washington Navy Shipyard is a great example.
We need to figure out how to reduce the number of cases, especially for folks with two or more cases from different agencies pending or those with a clearance from DOD needing access to programs in DOJ.
We need to figure out how to intelligently increase the number of field investigators. ( In my observation - almost all contractors work all of the agency BIs. When I was a contractor, I had several credentials - meaning I was “counted” at least four times for four programs. )
We need to figure out how we can get detailed, reliable information, to adjudicators so we can put people to work without risky people getting inside.
This is the view from the field looking back at the process. This is my opinion and does not imply any others or any agency’s policy or opinion.
-where am i supposed to place the soapbox when I am through?
It would cut down on the caseload but not necessarily increase security. I think we should do CE with the PRs.
MM, former FIS boss, said best in his earlier article that CE is not currently reliable enough to cover all of the major issues that arise in peoples’ lives…