Very technical question regarding appeal

I was recently denied a clearance. I am in the clearance appeals process for Agency A.

If I am hired and granted a clearance by Agency B, would a subsequent failed clearance appeal from Agency A revoke an existing clearance?

Furthermore, would I even be eligible to apply for a clearance with Agency B while in the process of a clearance appeal with Agency A?

*I have mitigating factors and reasons to believe I would be eligible should Agency B be willing to sponsor me.

Thanks!

Hi Bluesky,

I can’t answer your question definitively but I can offer a personal anecdote; I was denied FSP by Agency A but later approved for vanilla TS from Department A about a month after. That was all about three months ago, and I initiated an appeal with Agency A. Since that time I was offered a job requiring FSP with Agency B and am now in security processing. No word yet on my appeal with Agency A, but so far no obvious impact to other security clearance processes. Time will tell. I would recommend you apply outside the denying agency and see what happens.

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Hey Domino,

Thanks for your reply. If it changes anything - Agency A was for a TS/SCI. Agency B will be for a secret level clearance. People on here will chirp that all agencies grant clearances with the same criteria and that clearance level does not matter - I don’t buy it.

Hopefully things will work out.

If I can provide an additional personal anecdote to @LDomino, I was denied a TS/SCI w/ FSP from Agency A (with an SOR and everything), but later adjudicated for a TS/SCI for Department A. My Agency A appeal is still ongoing but had no effect on my TS/SCI, and the SF-86s I submitted were practically identical for both. Both should have used the same adjudication guidelines, but it’s clear that one decided that my situation was worth denying over and the other didn’t.

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Hey there; lemme guess, you were denied under “foreign influence” concerns? That seems to be the adjudication guideline with the most wiggle room for interpretation and the one that tends to trip up the most applicants who are otherwise clearable. I notice this is especially true whenever a denial from “Agency A” is compared to “Department A.” An IC agency is far more likely to deny you for foreign friends or family members compared to a “department” branch of gov.

Yep, foreign influence. From what I’ve seen, SCI eligibility is highly variable depending on agency and even program. My SCI eligibility for Department A was granted with a waiver under ICD 704, meaning that Agency A either couldn’t grant a “waiver” due to program requirements or doesn’t have “waivers” in the first place.

On another note, when you submitted an SF-86 for Agency B, I’m assuming you listed the denial from Agency A. Did Agency B ask any questions about it? Was it also foreign influence?

Yup, I also got denied due to FI. I noted the denial in my app for Agency B and said a copy of my appeal would be provided if needed. That was months ago and so far radio silence, so who knows. Real pain in the ass.

If you were granted a waiver that means you do not actually qualify under the adjudicative guidelines but the guideline that disqualified you does not apply or affect the security in the particular company you will be working at so a waiver is granted. That waiver is ONLY good at the agency that issued it and is not automatically transferable to another agency. If you wanted to change agencies then the new agency would have to decide whether that waiver could continue with them.

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This is surprising to me. I had an active TS/SCI and then was denied SCI eligibility by Agency A (foreign influence, too). I passed a full scope poly. I was initially told that my TS and S were good and I was read out of TS, but told I could work at the S level. The next day I was told that it was all suspended. Later my security office said that I could be reconsidered 1 year after the SCI denial, and that I should appeal the denied SCI. One year passes and then security comes back and says they can’t reconsider my package until the appeal is done. So I’m 15 months essentially “working” at the unclassified level.

How bizarre. Did the SCI investigation reveal any new information? If not, I don’t see how they could revoke your other, previously adjudicated, clearances with this SCI investigation. In my case, I kept my clearance and even obtained SCI eligibility during my ongoing appeal.

Nothing that should have mattered. In 2007 I accidentally took a classified document home, realized it and then brought it back in and told my boss. DoD recognized that I did the right thing and adjudicated favorably, CIA didn’t.

My case apparently went several levels up at the DoD CAF and they came back to my security office and said that according to policy they can’t do anything until the appeal is done. The SCI is well over a year old now too.

Must be who ends up getting your case and what agency is adjudicating. I’m not convinced security has consistent policies at this point.

If you are granted an exception, does that mean adjudication for you is done at that point? Or could there still be additional security checks after you’re granted an exception?