I was just notified today that I’m denied a non-sensitive (E-QIP) security clearance for the FAA. I don’t yet know why but from what I’ve read online I think I should be getting a statement of reason in the mail. Is that true? The point of contact on my E-QIP invitation hasn’t been answering the phone so I can’t ask why but someone in HR at the hiring company says she thinks it’s because I haven’t spent 3 out of the past 5 years in the US. Is that an automatic disqualification? I worked in China (not for an American company) for the past 7+ years but my home of record has always been in the US and I made 1 or 2 long trips back to the US every year.
I just got married and moved back to the US for good. I need this job and this clearance denial is a major setback for me. Any help, ideas, insight at all would be greatly appreciated.
You need to clarify what your situation is since there is no such thing as non-sensitive clearance. If you mean non-critical sensitive (secret access), and the job was withdrawn during the pre-employment screening phase (meaning no investigation was completed), then you really do not have any appeal options. The HR contact should have told you why the offer was withdrawn, but that is up to company policy.
The clearance was the kind that goes with SF85 for an FAA security clearance for a federal contract. The hiring company rescinded the offer as soon as the FAA notified them. About 12 days after I sent in my SF85 I got an email from the company hiring me that says this:
“<span style=“font-family: ‘Arial’,‘sans-serif’; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: ‘Times New Roman’; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;”><span style=“color: #000000;”>This is to inform you that our contingent offer of employment is being rescinded because the FAA determined that you are not suitable to perform work on the applicable FAA contract in accordance with their security requirements. We therefore cannot hire you for the position.”</span></span>
Since it’s the FAA that decided this I don’t really have a way to ask specific questions about why it was denied.
As I stated, you were not submitted for a clearance. An SF-85 is for non-sensitive low risk positions where a NACI is completed to meet HSPD-12 credentialing requirements. In this case an investigation was not yet done and they disqualified you during the pre-screening process based on something they saw. Obviously the FAA, which owns the contract, has certain criteria that have automatic disqualifications.
Hi Marko, I can’t find any recent post about this topic. Is recent medical cannabis use an automatic DQ for a federal background investigation (SF85p) with no security clearance? Thanks in advance
The SF85P is used for public trust positions. It is not in and of itself disqualifying if yoi have stopped and state no intention of future use. However, position and agency requirements dictate and it would certainly be an issue to answer to.