Thanks again for your support everyone.
I’ll be short. I have 2 credit cards that i left behind when i came to the US. I wasn’t able to pay them down because of loss of job, and inability to find a good paying job here in the US. This year one of the foreign banks where i lived and have a CC with, opened a civil case against me in my native country.
Since then, i’ve assigned two lawyers one in each country to look into this for a settlement, and i have contacted the second creditor and i’m currently discussing a settlement as well. After reaching an agreement i will take a personal loan in the US to pay them off, and use the money from my new clearance job to pay it off quickly (as it’ll be paid really well).
I’m 5 years delinquent on these credit cards but my US credit report is clean. I have racked up those credit cards because of job instability during the economic crisis of 2008-2010.
What are my chances of getting a TS/SCI? What can i do to mitigate the concerns?
The best thing you can do to mitigate is to move forward with your plans to start paying off those debts. As for now, you have a good plan for dealing with this financial issue, but I think the adjudicator would want to see you follow through.
The reason that the US government worries about clearance holders having problems with paying back debts is that a person is presumably much easier to be ‘bought’ by a foreign entity if they have financial issues. What you want to show is that your current delinquent debt was caused by factors out of your control, you have had good finances since then, and you are following through with a clear plan to fix the issue.
TS/SCI is a high level clearance and you can’t be surprised if they deny over seemingly small issues. In this case, I still think you have a good chance if this is your only issue and you do a good job of mitigating this through planning, execution, and explanation on the SF-86.
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While it is highly unlikely they will pull your credit from another country, the SF86 does not ask where the debt occurred. The questions are like “Have you in the past 7 years been 120 days or more late…”
You can explain it there and they won’t have the background details because they aren’t going to pull credit from your native country. The point of the question is to see if you will be susceptible to blackmail.
There has to be credible information for you to be granted a clearance and be trusted.
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Thank you compsci36, true but i would still have to explain the details on #26 FINANCIAL RECORD. I believe what is more of a susceptible factor for blackmail beyond financial issues is if i share similar ideologies with an opposing power. I think people act more according to their ideologies than to just financial needs. I for instance would never jeopardize my life, job, income and family just because i have credit cards.
If needed i can produce proof that i have applied to hundred of jobs in order to get my finances and career straight yet did not succeed in landing a well paying job. It would be counter-logical to be denied a well paying cleared job that would help erase my financial hurdle.
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Thank you Danorou, i appreciate your tips. I am planning to move forward with my plan as soon as i consolidate settlements with all parties. This is indeed my only issue and it was caused by factors outside of my control. Will i be eligible for an interim clearance pending follow through, or cleared with condition?
Interims are hard to come by right now, even for people with absolutely clean files. I would presume that you have plenty of foreign travel and foreign contacts on top of this debt, so you have a few things that they will want to investigate before clearance.
You might surprise me and still get an interim if you do a really good job of explaining and mitigating every issue, but the deck is stacked against that outcome.
Understood. Thanks for your help Danorou.
People have sold secrets to pay debts in the past. Just look at Hansen. It’s not about ideologies or whatever. If they think you can’t be trusted then you won’t get a clearance. It’s a big responsibility
That is the problem with the clearances, they are many times as you say, counter logical. for example denying someone their clearance for financial issues and costing them their job so now they cannot pay their debts.
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There is nothing counter logical in denying someone their clearance for financial issues.
Please elaborate Ed, what data do you have to support your position? What are the statistics in the last 5 years that show a clearance holder being bribed into selling secrets for a few outstanding delinquent debts?
First . . . Financial reward is one of the most common reasons for SELLING secrets. But, beyond that coercion, financial or otherwise isn’t the only reason to potentially denying someone a clearance. Excessive debts, unpaid or negotiated away, show a propensity to not follow the rules.
The clearance process isn’t about helping the applicants solve their problems, financial or otherwise. How about this one . . . The applicant has a drug problem but wants to get clean. We should grant his clearance so that he can get a job and insurance so that he can afford to go to rehab.
If it is counter-logical to deny someone a job because of financial issues, it must be LOGICAL to pursue those with financial issues and grant them clearances . . .
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So greedy people who have no debts would be considered safe? In my opinion there are other more critical factors in play here: Loyalty, integrity, ethics & morals etc. And i’m sure security investigators are well versed and aware of the concept of the entire person when it comes to financial issues, or at least i hope.
Yes . . . Of course investigators (to an extent because they don’t make decisions they just gather facts) and adjudicators are aware of the “whole person” concept. And, of course, loyalty, integrity, ethics and morals are in play.
What do we say about the ethics and integrity of someone who walks out on the their debts or over extends their finances? This is only PART of the reason that finances are looked at.
Over and out . . .
Ed your drinking the kool-aide and I am surprised at the way you pass judgement on others considering you did exactly the same by not paying your debts.
Hypocrisy is acceptable when the truth is being told. Ed can be just as harsh as he wants to others as long as the advice he is giving is solid.
I’m not drinking anything Merlin . . . I’m explaining the thought process that you have you understand in order to get cleared. Frankly, I don’t give a crap. I know how I got cleared with financial problems. If you, or anyone else, want to play it differently, if you want to complain that the deck is stacked against you or if you want to think the system is broken, I don’t care.
I’m interested in helping people who want to get their clearance. I’m not here to debate the system.
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