I’m providing a brief description of my timeline, and why it’s been so confusing. I applied for a language analyst position, and received a CJO in February of 2023. I met with investigators and I believe completed that part of the process in late February 23. I know I haven’t been denied, since representatives consistently reach out to me, asking if I have any questions regarding the hiring process. I still have not received the opportunity to take a Poly. If anyone has had a similar experience regarding processing times recently, please share. Maybe we can put together a bigger picture with shared experience. Maybe I’m just impatient. Any help is appreciated.
Did you by chance study your language abroad? That trips up some folks… not to mention foreign contacts.
I did study abroad for a semester, and I do have grandparents that live abroad. I know that’ll affect my processing times, but I don’t know how much.
Some… but not all… people in this situation have been known to wait two or even three years. Hope you are gainfully employed in the meantime.
May I ask what language or country is your affiliation with? I wonder if that could have anything to do with the delay. Obtaining information from some countries is more difficult than others, I would imagine…
I studied in Kyrgyzstan, for one semester. The grandparents are from Slovakia, and Russian and Slovak are the Languages I believe they care about. I suspect if investigators are going to try and get information from Slovakia, it’ll take them a while.
Just an FYI, Investigators do not approach foreign counties for information on you.
If you have family members living abroad, or family members who are not US citizens, regardless of where they live, it adds another layer to the investigative process.
The delay could be for any reason. I know it’s difficult, but patience is your best approach. No news of a denial means things are moving, albeit at a glacial pace.
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Were you asked to provide contact information for references who are aware of your foreign studying abroad/travel/contacts/relatives? If so, did you take extra care to make sure all contact information provided was accurate? Did you alert everyone listed on your security form that they may be getting a call from an investigator? One of the biggest hurdles we have that delays people’s investigations is being provided inaccurate contact information or people not expecting a call from us, so we can’t get ahold of anyone and we have to go hunting down new references.
I got my TJO April 2022. Dual National with family abroad in friendly countries. At this point, getting a no would almost be a relief.
Yes, I went through that whole process, and I’m confident the background check itself went smoothly, since the follow up questions they had were pretty mundane. I notified all my contacts ahead of time, and the in person interviews all happened without a hitch. From your experience, if they did want to have me clarify some things, how often would they reach out? They only asked for additional info once, a few weeks after the in person stuff. Since then I’ve faced no additional questions.
And you’ve been waiting all this time… I hope that I’m not in the same boat, and you get your final job offer. Have they given you any updates over the years, or just continued radio silence?
Around two emails a month, same as you mentioned. The problem is I’m ready to jump ship to a different job, but I don’t want to move my family and then move them again if I get the FJO. And I’m not looking forward to doing the Poly again as I think it’s only good for 1 year?
Kyrgyzstan, the land of beshbarmak and horse sausage!
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This is good to know. I was told by my hopefully future boss that if they have to contact people abroad- the process will take longer, so I assumed they do. I did list two people abroad that I’m in contact with (childhood friends) and several domestically who I know are not US Citizens. There could be more but I don’t know their citizenship status… Hopefully this won’t delay things… I was told best case scenario is 2.5 to 3 months with no contacts abroad…