Reaching out to a congressman

For those of you who reached out to a congressman, how many days had you been waiting since submitting your SF86? I have seen one as early as 211 days, and some in the 400s.

Also, what did you mention specifically regarding your inquiry to your congressman? Did you bring attention to the backlog of investigators seemingly being the issue?

I’ll be waiting until September before I decide whether or not to reach out to my congressman, but just curious how those who already have, have handled it.

I would wait until you are behind the norm. For instance is time to clear at agency X is 12 months, I would not request info until I first exhausted resources at Agency X. Then I would wait 60 days just in case my history had a bump or bruise along the way. Then reach out to the congressional rep. Often folks respond saying “you are in adjudication.” But you knew that going into the request…that isn’t really telling you anything.

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@amberbunny… what about when you have yet to hear from a BI for a SI?..lol.

Or is the congressional avenue only for when you’ve been waiting in adjudication?

I would say in your case, since it involves a Poly, you are not outside the norm until it hits at least 18 months. So I would wait 20 months. The fact you had a poly, means you are clearly moving forward, they are aware of you, and you are not languishing on a person’s desk. Some agencies now review for suitability post Poly and Psych interview. I can only assume the stats showed more were eliminated at that step than from the BI itself so they opted to do that first. Now, how long can you sit in a suitability review que? That…can be a long time.

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@amberbunny, as always, you’re a bevy of information. Thank you.

I did my SF86 10/2016. I reached out to my congressman 05/2019… so approximately 2 1/2 years. Hav yet to hear back from the congressman. They said 30 to 60 days for a response.

20 months from submission of SF86 or from the date of applying? My poly/psych were wrapped up in April.

I greatly thank you for the input though. I had just seen several other people reaching out around the late 200s - 300s and thought maybe that would fly with me also. A lot of people are seemingly getting EOD’s within less than 12 months from timelines over at Fed Soup, so its hard not to feel like my case fell through the cracks. Plus my recruiter keeps telling me 3 to 5 months is about when I should hear something from her, and to begin working towards an EOD. Its just hard to believe that is still the case when the BI is still lacking.

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Couple of different animals in the mix determining length of time to clear: what clearance, what agency, your background, credit habits, recreational drug and arrest history, etc. If the agency you are going for hires with an interim, they may conduct a simple suitability review post Poly and try to bring you on. A denial for an interim isn’t the kiss of death it just means.you require someone to conduct a BI and scope everything out. So don’t see that as a guaranteed negative.

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Amber most likely meant 20 months from submission of SF86.

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Yeah that’s the date and even then if takes 4 months to initiate…that date.

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This IC agency does not grant interim clearances. Luckily, I have good credit and zero drug/criminal events at all. I’ve moved a few times, but its all been within an hour or less of each other. During my psych they requested some documents regarding a previous bout of depression and the medications I was given for it, but I supplied that, and its been silence ever since.

I’ll hang out with Trey3 though, over here trying to behave and patiently wait more.

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Al good. I don’t think the depression is an issue, just something they have to scope, make sure it is controlled and you aren’t abusing meds, etc.

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@Batdog123, I’ll gladly hang out with ya bud…lol.

(Like you, very limited history, I’ve moved around a few times; but mostly in the same geographical area)

With that being said, I haven’t even had my SI yet. It’s been 486 or so days since my SF- 86 submission and about 4 months since I “passed” my poly.

This is for an IC/fed agency in Maryland - in which I live about 2 1/2 hours away — so who knows at this point — just gonna continue to be patient.

I can only assume, the hold up is that it’s summer time and people possibly are on vacation and my case has yet to be assigned to anyone.

Is this a fair assertion, @amberbunny?

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Ah, same place I believe, luckily I am only an hour away. Are you planning to move or commute that daily?!

486 days since SF86… That is extremely daunting, I would have reached out to my congressman long ago. But I am obviously impatient. Do you still check in with your recruiter often? I talked to mine about once a month, but I had been adding certifications to my file. I’m hoping to leave her alone until September, and praying for movement before then.

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@Batdog123, nah, me and the family will move. Lucky enough for me, I have family in MD and DC.

I’m impatient as well, but I have a job and a 3yr old to keep me busy which helps.

Yes, I check in with them… I actually called last week after about two months, I try to call every couple of months. Enough to keep my name fresh in her mind, but NOT enough to be annoying.

I like you have since moved into a new position at my current employment, so that’ll help raise the pay a little bit if I get cleared, so I can at least lean on that. (With the possibility of moving into another in the near future)

Do you really think I should be reaching out to a Congressman this early in the process or is that best served for adjudication?

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@Batdog123, I have it marked on my calendar to leave my recruiter alone until September lol. This is exactly 4 months from when she sent me an email that said 4-5 months minimum to hear from her.

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I just searched the previous mentions on this forum and Fed Soup to see when people reached out to their congressman, and what the result was. There was several that said they heard from an investigator within weeks. But I am no expert on this, I am a total newbie to this process/world. I am lucky to have a great place of work, but my CJO alone was a 40% pay raise. It’s hard to forget, even though that is the most used advice here. I am doing my best though.

@Rkf4ever you’ve met with your investigator already though, haven’t you? I’m curious to why our recruiters are saying the exact same thing.

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@Batdog123, Yes, I met with my investigator back in February. I have no idea where I stand at this point really. The last thing I heard at beginning of June was from an email that said I was active in the suitability phase and that no additional info about a timeline could be given for security reasons.

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Yeah, I got that generic email also. I was wondering if it would be monthly, but doesn’t seem to be. Just weird to be getting the same answers, at two different stages.

Fun ride. :slight_smile:

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Oh yes, so much fun :roll_eyes: lol. Do you know how to contact the FSO? I’ve been trying to figure that out for months.