Hey everyone, I was wondering if anyone has experience in the NRO BI process and timelines to adjudicate my TS/SCI? I have had a TS but my current contract required I be upgraded on the intel side for an SCI. I already had an SCI approved a while back on the DOD side but the NRO client said they needed one on the intel side according to my companies security department. They initiated a BI and had me take a CI Poly which was already a requirement for my contract. They just submitted my BI to the client and it is now in adjudication according to security. I expect there to be some delays as my wife and her family while US citizens are formerly from an adversary country, however I completed all the required foreign contact discloser forms they asked me to fill out and they already interviewed me and others as well as the normal BI stuff (financials, criminal checks etc…) so its now just a waiting game. I was advised I passed my poly which is great. I don’t have any experience with NRO in the past so not sure if they are like most other agencies I have worked with or not. Anyone here have any insight would appreciate the feedback if any. Thanks
I’d say anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of months. At some time in the past I worked on NRO contracts and usually people had to wait longer to get their poly scheduled than to have it adjudicated (and final clearance granted) afterwards. However, there were a few odd cases where for no apparent reason it took a bit longer.
Did they do an interview with you for the BI? I suspect that just wanted to get an updated SF-86 (or eQIP or whatever) so they could double check to make sure nothing had changed.
Yeah I had a few interviews with me and others I know for the BI. I was asked to complete another SF86 and they very shortly after had me scheduled to take my CI poly which went well from what I was told. I don’t know exactly if this was just to update information all I know is that my manager said that when they tried to cross over my clearance they said my SCI was for DOD not intel so they needed me go through this process to approve my SCI on the intel side. I am not at all due for a reinvestigation for a while so I don’t think that’s the case here. I was more concerned about my wife and her family previously from another country and how that would affect me when it was reviewed by NRO and how strict they are. All of them are naturalized citizen aside from my father in law who is a legal permanent resident and is currently going through the naturalization process. I was asked to still fill out foreign contact reporting for all of them regardless of there citizenship status. They all reside in the US though so not sure if that makes a difference.
DOD/DOW clearances almost never transfer to the IC because almost all IC “clearances” are TS/SCI with a poly. The catch is the SCI portion which is called an “access” and not a clearance, so it doesn’t fall under the clearance reciprocity rule. This is the loophole that the IC uses to do their own investigations and polys on candidates that already have TS or TS/SCI through DoD or other agencies.
Frankly, I’m not sure why SCI isn’t a clearance in itself. I mean all classified information is “need to know” so what difference does it make if something is called TS versus being called SCI, SAP, or ABCDEFG?
Anyway, because SCI is an access and not a clearance, there is no rule for SCI reciprocity and expect another year or more of IC investigation and adjudication for a crossover; basically the same timeline as if starting from scratch.
Awesome!! Another year possibly well that sucks .
Usually that is not the case… but unfortunately it is not at all uncommon, even in this era of “Continuous Evaluation” and so-called “reciprocity”
Well, I was using a bit of hyperbole but going from DOD to IC really comes down to when your IC poly can get scheduled. Since you already had, and passed, your IC poly, your timeline could be shorter, maybe just a few months, but who knows. NRO is backlogged and has a shortage of adjudicators now.
The main difference in IC adjudication is that the IC will scrutinize financials and foreign activities, connections, and contacts, more than the DOD or other agencies.
Hopefully some of the investigators will weigh in here, as the adjudicative standards are supposed to be the same for similar levels. I think the main issue is agencies still being reluctant to accept some other agency’s adjudication, and wanting to initiate a new investigation for seemingly trivial reasons.
Used to work at a place where we had contracts with several IC agencies. Our SSO knew that crossing over from A to B would be easy and fast, but going from B to A could take weeks even in the best cases.
Officially the term “security clearance” was replaced by the term “eligibility for access” sometime around 2005 for all levels of access, including SCI. Nevertheless, most people (including security officials) still use the term “security clearance.” ICPG 704.4 (Reciprocity) applies specifically to reciprocity of SCI. SEAD 7 applies generally to reciprocity, including SCI. Both say essentially the same thing about SCI and polygraph.
SEAD 7, Para E.4 - Reciprocal acceptance of a background investigation or national security eligibility adjudication shall not be denied due to the need for a polygraph examination when the investigation and adjudication meet the requirements for reciprocity. When a polygraph examination is required, the receiving agency shall make a preliminary reciprocity determination for the background investigation or national security eligibility adjudication and then schedule the individual for a polygraph examination.
Basically, federal agencies (including IC agencies) are prohibited from conducting a new investigation if the applicant has an appropriate, in scope investigation. Unfortunately, not all agencies follow all the rules, all the time.
That sounds like what happened in my case.
I have had this happen to me on more than one occasion. I had the acceptable level of eligibility for access for a job at an IC and when I applied for the job, I was told to fill out another SF-86. If this happens, do you have any advice on how to respond to the government?
Perhaps the justification that IC agencies use for a new SF86, investigation, and poly, are for a suitability review, and not access to classified information. Suitability has always been the loophole in this process allowing agencies to reject applicants for whatever reason they want.
This is pretty standard. The contractor can’t hang on to these things anymore, they pass them to the customer who does a quick review to see if there’s anything unusual or if anything has changed.
Vanilla_Spice22: If you want job, you cooperate and comply with any reasonable request made by the hiring agency, including filling out a new SF86, even if the request violates reciprocity rules.