My SOR case started back in 2019, COVID backlogged my case. Then I had my personal appearance back in June of 2023, I haven’t heard anything back from the agency. My attorney who has taken this case reached out to the agency back in June of 2025. We haven’t received anything on our end since. This case has been open for almost 7 years for foreign influence/contacts.What is the normal wait time for a final decision. Should I keep on going and wait and pour more money into it or call it a quits and tell my lawyer I don’t won’t to go forward anymore, or would this hurt me later down the road.
There is no “normal” wait time for a final decision. I had one case where DNI (actually CIA) denied the clearance then reversed their decision 2 weeks after we submitted a letter requesting a first level review and a copy of the investigative file. They granted the clearance without us actually submitting a rebuttal to their initial denial letter. In another CIA case, it took 3 years to get an unfavorable decision from the 1st level reviewing official and 5 more years before getting an unfavorable decision from the 2nd level review panel. Both cases involved foreign influence.
If its CIA it could ad usually takes a log time. I asked them recently about how long they are taking “off the record” and they told me atleast 7 years. To that end, my issues are over 10 yrs old and nothing illegal. They don’t care and just deny and keep denying. I hear it’s very rare for them to overturn. The crazy part is that i just want it off my record i SC, I am no longer working with them and have no interest in doing so.
I was denied clearance by the CIA many years ago due to false claims that I used polygraph countermeasures. The denial and SOR letters came two months after the poly. I decided not to waste money on a lawyer because I know the CIA rarely overturns their decision. I filed my own appeal letter. It took one year and I found out my appeal was denied. I filed a second appeal letter and that was also denied a year later. Game over. You only get two chances. Then I tried to reapply to the CIA several years later and got denied after the interview. The recruiter told me I was denied based on what happened those several years before. At CIA, a clearance denial is a lifetime ban, unless you change your SSN. lol