# What would have happened to my clearance

**URL:** <https://discuss.clearancejobsblog.com/t/what-would-have-happened-to-my-clearance/6744>\
**Category:** SECURITY CLEARANCE Q&A\
**Created:** [April 11, 2019, 2:08pm UTC](https://discuss.clearancejobsblog.com/t/what-would-have-happened-to-my-clearance/6744 "2019-04-11T14:08:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![user2019](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/7ab992/32.png) [@user2019](https://discuss.clearancejobsblog.com/u/user2019)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 2:08pm UTC](https://discuss.clearancejobsblog.com/t/what-would-have-happened-to-my-clearance/6744/1 "2019-04-11T14:08:46Z")

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I was a software engineer for a major DoD contractor back in 2000’s and got Secret clearance around 2008/2009. I was laid off in 2011 and left the DoD industry. I’d like to get back into the DoD industry again but can’t due to lack of a clearance. Just wondering what would have happened to my prior clearance? Can it be easily re-activated or is a brand new investigation required? Thanks.

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**Author:** ![EdFarmerIII](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discuss.clearancejobsblog.com/edfarmeriii/32/122_2.png) [@EdFarmerIII](https://discuss.clearancejobsblog.com/u/EdFarmerIII)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 3:04pm UTC](https://discuss.clearancejobsblog.com/t/what-would-have-happened-to-my-clearance/6744/2 "2019-04-11T15:04:23Z")

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You have been out of cleared positions for more than two years so your clearance went inactive. In any case, you would be due for a reinvestigation since your prior investigation is more than 10 years old. You will basically be starting over from scratch.

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**Author:** ![Jobseeker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@Jobseeker](https://discuss.clearancejobsblog.com/u/Jobseeker)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 3:08pm UTC](https://discuss.clearancejobsblog.com/t/what-would-have-happened-to-my-clearance/6744/3 "2019-04-11T15:08:45Z")

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After 2 years of not using it, it expires and must be done from scratch.

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**Author:** ![pawngobbler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8c91f0/32.png) [@pawngobbler](https://discuss.clearancejobsblog.com/u/pawngobbler)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 4:41pm UTC](https://discuss.clearancejobsblog.com/t/what-would-have-happened-to-my-clearance/6744/4 "2019-04-11T16:41:21Z")

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You’ll need to start from square one again unfortunately.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![user2019](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/7ab992/32.png) [@user2019](https://discuss.clearancejobsblog.com/u/user2019)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 6:22pm UTC](https://discuss.clearancejobsblog.com/t/what-would-have-happened-to-my-clearance/6744/5 "2019-04-11T18:22:27Z")

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do I have a better chance getting a clearance on the East coast? from looking at [clearancejobs.com](http://clearancejobs.com), seems to be more job opportunities there that doesn’t require an active clearance to start with.