Secret adjudication time during Covid

Hi all,

Apologies if this has been asked before, or recently. After waiting about 9 months, my employer finally put me in for a Secret to assist on DOS related matters. I’m not sure who it’s through (DOD perhaps?), however, I filled out the E-QIP and finished fingerprinting last week. For reference, I’ve been a federal contractor supporting primarily DOJ projects for 5.5 years and had a DOJ Public Trust - which I know is not a clearance - for the duration.

I had one round of edits last week that my company FSO notified me of (I made them and resubmitted the E-QIP later that day), and assuming there’s not another round of edits, is there a timeline insofar as how long a Secret would take to be adjudicated during the current covid situation?

Additionally, is there further steps in the process, assuming there’s no errors or issues, that I should expect to occur? I’m under the impression that my wife will be interviewed, and/or family/friends may (or contacted somehow), but I’m also curious if these meetings are still going on in person during the current pandemic. I’m not worried about anything, but more trying to ascertain the process.

Everything on my E-QIP was filled out accurately, I have no legal/ancillary issues that would cause any issues for what it’s worth (no criminal or civil history, no financial issues, etc).

Thanks in advance for any assistance and/or insight you can provide.

Ive had a video interview with the investigator. Lasted about an hour

Someone told me that they are seeing final secret clearances being granted for contractors as quickly as two months, with almost all being completed in well under 12 months. Most typical timeline 6-9 months. That’s from start to finish, for people who have never been cleared before.

Just thought I’d toss that out there

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How long did it take after your interview to receive your clearance?

I’m still waiting. It’s only been 2 weeks and counting. I’m trying to remain optimistic and positive.
Investigator had said it can take 2 to 3 months at the adjudicator office.

Things are different due to COVID right now. Sometimes that speeds up the timeline, sometimes it slows it down. It really just depends on the case.

Don’t expect to hear anything in a matter of weeks. More likely months. Might be 2-3, might be longer. Unfortunately you just can’t predict all that well.

As long as there are no major issues with your case you likely won’t be interviewed. But again it just depends on your specific situation.

Do you have the same figures for TS?

Hi all,

Wanted to circle back on this. I’ve received my Interim Secret as of 10/28. Does anyone know, based on anecdotal timelines during covid at least, when to expect either 1) the next steps (i.e. an interview if I do have one) and/or 2) when full adjudication would be expected given on the current timeline?

For reference, it took between 2.5 - 3 months to get the interim Secret if that helps. It’s also through DOD CAF if that matters.

I saw the notation about for those who have been cleared before, and while my current Public Trust (which is through DOJ) isn’t a clearance per se, I didn’t know if that changed anything insofar as timelines.

Thanks.

As soon as you receive interim, you can start to work. You don’t need to worry the rest process. My problem is that I have been waiting for more than 3 months and still did not hear anything not eve interim. I had full secret-level security clearance in the past and the gap is more than 2 years. I wonder if I will get an interim clearance this time.

I was just replying to another post where I said in my personal opinion if you have not received an interim within three months you probably won’t get one. This may just be how that customer/sponsor does things.

Just my opinion, let’s see if anyone else offers a different view.

Here is my timeline

July 2020 - tentative offer
Aug 2020 - eqip submitted
Sep 2020 - interview with investigator
Nov 2020 - finalized secret
Dec 2020 - EOD

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Thanks for the update!

Finally circling back here in the event it helps those similarly situated.

I was granted the full adjudicated Secret (T3 - which I believe is the ‘lowest’) on 12/09. The entire process was quicker than I had thought, which was nice, and I didn’t have an interview (neither did my wife) so it was quite easy on my part after filling in my E-QIP. Approximately around 4 months for the total process for what it’s worth.

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Nice! You must have a pretty clean background!

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