Interim Chances?

SECURITY CLEARANCE Q&A
1

Hi all,

I have an tentative offer from an agency for which I will eventually need top secret clearance. This agency does not do interim top secret clearances, but they want me to be able to start sooner, so they’re going to put me in for interim secret so I can do most of the work. I understand that if I don’t get interim, the offer will be rescinded. This job is my absolute dream, so I’m naturally a bit on edge. I’ve got great credit, no drugs (tried weed once in college outside the seven year period), no mental health issues, etc.

My only concerns are: (1) a good friend of mine is originally from China, though she is am NZ citizen and is currently in the US on a K-1 visa and has applied for her green card and (2) I did travel to Shanghai as part of a trip to Asia last year (tourism purpose). Do you think these issues would raise red flags sufficient to deny an interim?

Thank you all in advance.

2

It’s okay to have foreign friends. You’ll get asked just “how friendly” you two are, meaning sex or an intimate relationship of any sort. That ups the ante a bit. If truly just friends it should not be that big a concern. If you send money to her family overseas or stuff like that, it’ll be something to dig deeper about.

As for your tourism trip, can you account for your entire stay? You’ll need any contacts and the addresses of where you stayed. If part of a tour group and you stayed at Holiday Inn type places, well it’s easier than if you went with your friend and stayed with her family.

They do not appear to be issues to deny an interim but they may have a few more questions to confirm there is nothing deeper happening.