I was born in the Philippines, moved to the United States in 2005, and became a naturalized citizen in 2011. In the past 9 years that I’ve been here, I stayed home to raise our children, owned a small business that I operated at home, and then 4 years ago, I went back to school to complete my degree. I completed my degree this past May and was recently offered a position with a government contractor, and this position requires a security clearance. I have a clean background, excellent credit history, no drug abuse or police/criminal record. The only problem I see is the reference section. Since I have only been in the States for 9 years, I don’t have any close friends who know me that well besides my husband’s family and his extended family. I am a little more introverted and private, so even when I give out names of some people, most of them don’t really know me that well personality wise. The only people I could think of are my in-laws whom I spend most of my time with, my sister-in-law and brother-in-law, but I know I could not give out relatives either. I took my classes online, so I did not get to interact with any of my professors personally, nor had roommates. The only people that I know who know me well are my friends back in the Philippines. The form requires references that live in the United States. What do you suggest I should do? Can this become a ground for disqualification if I cannot provide references who do not know me well? Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.
You have to list references that when combined have known you over the course of 10 years. These can be casual acquaintances with whom you may have socialized with at some point outside of work and school. Ensure you list all of your friends and foreign national relatives with whom you still have contact with, as that will be reviewed closely.
Hello Marko,
Thank you for your input. This is helpful. I thought I will need people whom I have known for the past 5 years (I only need a secret clearance, so the coverage is only 5 years).