At the end of May, I met with a government contractor to discuss my possible involvement with one of their existing contracts. They extended a formal offer to me within the week and then we began the process of applying for secret clearance. I submitted my application promptly on June 5th and I was told I would start my job as soon as the Interim Clearance was issued. Three weeks after I submitted the application, I was contacted by the agency to get finger printed. I complied promptly. Tomorrow makes five weeks since the application was submitted, and I don’t have a yay or a nay, nor a definite start date. At this point in time I have turned multiple job offers and the wait has cost me almost $10,000 in potential earnings.
Given the length of time since the application was submitted, should I be concerned? Should I just move on? This is the first time that I ever apply for clearance. I have never been arrested, nor displayed any unbecoming conduct. The only two things I can think of that might be slowing me down is that my wife is a Cuban immigrant with Permanent Resident status, and that several years ago I had to stop paying my credit cards as a result of unemployment and we’re currently pursuing bankruptcy. All of which I declared on my application.