I’m interviewing for (and will most likely be offered) a job requiring security clearance (Secret, I think). My fiance is a foreign national from Morocco and I’m sponsoring his visa. I know him from my previous job in Morocco for 3 years. He has no terrorist or government ties, no financial obligations or criminal background. He’s never had an issue with US immigration or the Moroccan legal system. He even worked for a US government agency for a while in Morocco. How likely is my sponsoring him to derail my chances of getting security clearance?
[I also don’t have any other issues: no debt (not even student loans), no legal issues, or anything else I can think of.]
Absolutely. Do you think it will get in the way of an interim clearance? I would need that to start the job. I read somewhere that having a foreign spouse or significant other would probably prompt them to deny an interim clearance, even if wouldn’t prevent a full clearance. I’m planning to give a lot of detail and explanation on the SF86 for how I know him and his background.
Thank you for your quick responses. They’re really helpful.
This kind of gets away from the actual clearance screening process, but perhaps you have advice. At what point should I tell the employer in the interviewing process? They don’t know yet because it’s personal and I just found out about the security clearance. But they didn’t really even ask me if I could pass one. They just mentioned it for why it would be several before I could start working. Should I tell them about my fiance? Now or after the job offer? Or should I just go through the screening and see?
Concur across the board with Marko, particularly on having no obligation to tell them employer about fiance. Employers have many reasons for getting cold feet about a hire. If they don’t think they will get you cleared you can lose an offer without anyone of import actually reviewing the info. As Marko said make sure you report the connection on the SF86 and fully explain to clearance your intent.