Poly chances? Radio silence a month after taking it.

Hey everyone! I took a polygraph about a month ago for an IC agency and haven’t heard anything at all since then.

I flew in for the poly and the first day was pretty bad. I was a bit sleep deprived and my examiner wasn’t rude, but he wasn’t exactly friendly either. I was nervous as all hell despite the fact that I had no intentions of lying whatsoever and told the truth about everything he asked about. Red flags for me were mostly drug use; I was a daily marijuana smoker until 2020 and I only smoked once in 2021. I also used shrooms about four times but it was an annual thing and it has also been over four years since using it. Other potential red flag was some foreign contacts; I have an uncle that comes to work on a work visa and I have sent him emergency money on behalf of my mom a couple of times (which she paid me back for afterwards). My dad is also a permanent resident and my mom is a naturalized US citizen.

I was super nervous my first day and overthinking the process. My examiner had to readjust my blood pressure cuff multiple times and he got mad at me saying I was giving him “shitty data”. It also didn’t help that he had me sit in an awkward position with one of my arms higher than the other. At the end I wasn’t explicitly accused of manipulating my physiology or lying but was told I had something on my mind. Second day comes around and I feel MUCH better mentally. Examiner was much friendlier while also stern, but in a fair way. She asks me if I had anything I thought of, and I only brought up a couple of potential people that MIGHT have been considered foreign contacts, but I was unsure about. After talking through it my examiner told me the couple of people I brought up could not be considered foreign contacts because I have no contact with them, don’t have their contact info, and they have been living in the country since birth and speak perfect fluent English. I was also asked about my marijuana timeline but I had nothing else to disclose as I basically laid out as much as I could on my SF86. Exam goes A LOT smoother, but apparently we ran out of time because I had a psych eval not long after.

I wasn’t explicitly told I failed or passed. I was told directly that my file “would be sent to recommendations”. I’ve already had my interview with my BI and they have already contacted my neighbors, friends, and a couple of former coworkers to the best of my knowledge, but radio silence since then. My job portal still says my application is in review. Did I do any major ■■■■■■■ on my poly?

Based on your account, and in particular the absence of a specific accusation of lying or withholding information on your second polygraph session, I think there is a good chance that your charts were scored as “no significant response” (that is, passing), or at worst, inconclusive.

When it comes to clearances, silence is golden. They’ll contact you either to tell you there’s a problem, or to let you know you’re approved/denied.