I’m a civilian engineer at a DoD contractor working on UAV technology, and a recent graduate of a 5-year BSE/MSE program (Aerospace Engineering); I am 25 years old. My team is heavily dependent on high-side work, and my clearance timeline is starting to have a negative effect on my role (not being able to help with deadlines), and may soon mean that I am placed on other work that would not be nearly as helpful toward my career. However, I am patiently waiting and hoping I hear good news soon.
A summary of my timeline:
- Oct. 18, 2025: SF-86 Submitted
- Dec. 9, 2025: Notification of “Eligibility Pending” (I assume just means not offering an Interim clearance)
- Dec. 16, 2026: Interview with investigator (I understand the investigator does not adjudicate, but they said I had a “pretty simple” case, and only wanted to discuss one matter, prior drug use, to which I was open and honest. Interviewer told me that she would only reach out to one reference and she successfully did within the week.)
- May 27, 2026: Made a request to my FSO for an update and they told me my Eligibility Pending means they cannot request an update from DCSA. FSO mentioned that Eligibility Pending usually takes “fairly longer” as they need to look deeper into whatever made them make that decision, which is completely understandable.
Potential Red Flags:
- Prior drug use: marijuana regularly for a few years in college, and 4 experimental instances of LSD, but nothing (marijuana or LSD) within 3 years of my SF-86 submission.
- Technical “distribution” which I outlined honestly and in detail in my SF-86. The only instance of this was one time buying LSD off of a classmate and then having my roommates pay me back for their portion. Poor, embarrassing judgement in hindsight, but I was honest and detailed in my SF-86 with everything.
- Significant amount of college student loan debt, but with perfect payment history and a great credit score. Nothing in default or collections ever.
One other concern:
During my interview, I had a printed version of my SF-86 and promptly let the interviewer know that there was a small error with the form which removed some of my - dashes. Purchasing marijuana pens 5-6 times in college and edibles 2-3 times was incorrectly listed as “56 times” and “23 times” respectively. Really frustrating to find that! Interviewer told me that happens sometimes but it was not a concern, though she told me she added that to the notes for adjudication.
Given that there has been no update for over 200 days (my interview), should I consider making a congressional inquiry? Please keep in mind this is for a Secret (Tier 3) clearance and not TS, which is why the timelines is more surprising to me and my colleagues. I am patient, but I’d really like to make sure I remain diligent with preventing delays. My team really needs my help and some colleagues are earning TS clearances before I even hear back about my Secret.
My Secret clearance will be paired with SAP access, so even if I had an interim clearance, I would still need to wait for the full clearance to begin my SAP. Thank you in advance for any help or guidance!