Why didn't I get interim clearance 2nd time

SECURITY CLEARANCE Q&A
1

I received an offer of employment with secret security sponsorship in July 2017. I received a call from investigator about a month later and informed her I was not local as of yet. Even with me not being local my Interim was approved in October 2017, however, I did not finalize the offer due to bad timing. The position was in another state and I was hoping to relocate before school started. By the time interim came through school was already in session in both States so we decided it best to finish out school year in old state.

I reapplied to position in July 2018 got another offer for SC. Relocated and I accepted a lower scaled position which did not require SC while waiting for the interim as recommended by the recruiter.
I met with investigator btwn Nov 2018 until Feb 2019. 2 -3 months had passed so I reach back to investigator to find out if investigation is complete, he says, Yes. I then reach back to recruiter for update only to be told I did not get Interim. Asked if that means denied SC but recruiter has yet to respond to my inquiry.
It’s been 3 months since last interaction.
Why wasn’t I given Interim for same position again?
Could it be bc I didn’t accept the 1st Interim?
Who or can I contact for SC update?
Does process begin when investigation is started or ended?
Should I apply to other places that say may sponsor TS/SC or wait this one out?
If did begin sponsorship somewhere else would I have to do E-qip SPF86 all over again?
Thank you for any clarification and understanding provided

2

You can read plenty of posts here that will tell you that being denied an interim does not mean that you will be denied a clearance. If it did, why would they continue on? It would only be a single decision.

Interims are not always easy to get. Your sponsoring company has to request it when they forward your application and they need to satisfactorily document the need to get you on board sooner. This doesn’t always work, it depends on the job position, your skills, how difficult it would be to fill the position with someone already cleared and other factors.

Now . . . It is certainly possible that the fact that you dropped your prior investigation may have been a factor. Can’t say . . .

3

Typically it also means “something” requires a full scoping and adjudication. In the interim time your credit habits may have changed, perhaps their was a termination, arrest etc or any other aspect of adjudicative reasons. It doesn’t make you guilty of anything, and it doesn’t mean you will not clear. Normally the candidate themselves is the best person to understand what the specific issue would be as you lived your life. Foreign connections? Travel? it can be any of these. And maybe they did not put you in for an interim or justify it as Ed said.

4

Nothing had change then. I credit score and FICO have improved a great deal since the 1st Interim. I have not noticed any unwarranted inquiries to any of my reports. I was questioned during the 2nd investigation about my family members who are of Caribbean descent- needed to confirm citizenship status.

If I knew what the issue was then there would not be a need to seek inquiry would there?

5

You didn’t get an interim . . . People here are only suggesting reasons, we can’t really tell you why it happened. It seems to me that you could have avoided the inquiry by doing some research here and discovering that interim denial is the norm.

What you should have done was complete the application first submitted in July 2017 and then declined to start the job. You would have had to two years to accept a position on that adjudication and then you wouldn’t even have needed an interim in order to start this job.

It is certainly possible that the incomplete investigation from 2017 is the cause of your interim denial.

6

Thank you Ed. When the first Investigator called me I was still living in my home state. I asked her is my presence was required bc I would travel to meet with her; and, her response was she would assign it to a local investigator. I never heard anything after that from any investigator. I did, however, that receive the email from FSO Security congratulating me on getting Interim.

7

The interim has little or nothing to do with the investigator contacting you. You need to get in touch with the investigator who contacted you and find out what is going on.

8

I did, and he told me that his investigation is complete. He doesn’t have anymore questions for me.

9

No, you were not denied a security clearance. You are likely being processed for final clearance. Interims can be granted, not granted, withdrawn, etc. at any time for any reason. It’s possible their requirements have changed for interims, who knows. There are so many factors. Plenty of people are denied interims at different stages and they get their final clearance. The only people who can give you updates are your company’s security office and FSO. Unfortunately, all you can do is wait and wait, sometimes it’s fast, sometimes it takes forever.

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10

Im new to the process. And I have been searching the site for days prior to my inquiry. I saw nothing that exactly speaks to MY situation.

I did complete the SF86 in 2017, and again in 2018.

In 2018, I asked if I my previous SF86 could be used and was told I needed to submit another one bc investigation stopped after it didn’t start working in 2017. Was told just answer the same as I did the first time.

Here it is 2 yrs later since first application, but 1 year on current as application investigation complete, no Interim and no response. The contact I had at FSO Security is no longer there, original recruiter no longer with company, reached out to current recruiter a few times and have received no response.

11

Your 2017 application isn’t relevant to your timeline. That investigation was stopped and then a new one was later started. There’s no credit for the work done the first time. So, you are about a year in.

As is often noted here, not everybody gets an interim even if there are no issues. Your potential employer must request and justify an interim when they file your application. They don’t always do so and the government doesn’t always accept the justification. Even when they do, there may be some flag in the information that you provided which prevents the issuance of an interim. They are the exception, not the norm.

If the FSO is no longer there, find out who the new FSO is. They have to have one so there is a replacement on staff. They should remain your contact.

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13

My investigation was Closed Discontinuance in 5/2019. I was advised to contact VROC for an explanation. I did was told by VROC rep that my employers security had to call to get that info due to HIPPA laws. I contacted FS Security and advised them of what I was told.

This is the response I received from my current employer’s FS Security.
FYI names have been removed to maintain privacy of the individuals involved:

Per our conversation yesterday, we have reached out to VROC and they were unable to provide us further information. The reason they gave is because your profile in the system was separated from Unisys in March 2019. Because the profile is not attached to Unisys, they will not release any further information to us.

We have researched this matter further and have discovered your clearance process was stopped per program management. We have documentation stating to remove you from the process back in April 2018. This was due to you not being able to start until July 2018 (first email attached). When you began in July, you sent us your Security Clearance Request Form to begin the clearance process. We received notification in August 2018 that the Interim was denied. In December 2018, you notified former HR recruiter that you had meeting with investigators.

Based on that notification, the former HR recruiter sought further clarification. Our Director of Security informed the recruiter of the following “Once the Interim is denied, they continue with the investigation, which when completed, will result in a denial of a final clearance, or least likely an approval. “(second email attached).

The former HR recruiter was no longer a recruiter with Unisys after February 2019 and Senior recruiter took over. This recruiter was provided with a list that you were listed on regarding other employees whose Interim was declined. (Not attaching due to other employees personal information).

On March 27, 2019, we have an email from Senior Service Manager confirming to remove you from the process due to your Interim being declined (Not attaching due to other employees personal information).

Last email I have is from a current HR recruiter asking about re-starting the process. Our FS Director stated, “Her Interim was declined. She was removed for that reason per program management.” (third email attached)

Here are my concerns:

  1. I was not made aware about the Interim status until I asked the current HR person about it since I had been sending emails to the former, not getting any response, and hadn’t seen her in passing. I then realized she was no longer with company and reached out the current HR recruiter.

  2. Can a candidate be withdrawn from the JPAS process based on Interim denial? Apparently so, because everything I’ve read in this email states I was “removed” as a result.

  3. Does the sponsoring company have its own program management that it works from?

  4. Why take me through the process of an investigation if I was removed from the program?

  5. Does this now prevent me from ever getting any kind of clearance ever?

  6. Is this matter attestable?

I don’t want to be but I am annoyed and feel like this was handled in a very shady way. The lack of communication has me disappointed more so than anything.

14

What is VROC?

  1. Regarding to your situation… Yes, a candidate can be withdrawn from security clearance process and this is a management decision not a security clearance decision. In short, the company made that determination to stop the process. It seemed to me that the position required an interim and you didn’t get receive an interim. Thus, the company decided to stop. Keep in mind, holding a security clearance eligibility is a privilege not a right.

  2. Program management, I am a bit unclear on this. However, almost every federal contract requires a designated program manager to be assigned to the contact. Program manager can be anyone, but usually someone in position of authority within a company (ie: Director of Contracts, Vice President, CEO, CFO, etc.).

  3. See my response to 2. As said, the position may require interim for various reasons. This seemed to be a business decision. For that reason, many companies typically prefer candidates who have active clearance eligibility.

  4. No, since you did not receive a Statement of Reasons (SOR) and a security clearance denial. However, this does not mean you will you receive security clearance eligibility the next time you apply. It depends largely on what you put down on the security clearance form and what background investigator(s) may discover during the course of investigation.

  5. I am not sure what you mean by this question. Nonetheless, an interim denial is not security clearance denial and it is not reportable on security clearance forms. So, you do not need to speak to this.

15

Vroc-Vetting Risk Operation Center
Is there a waiting window before one can have another application sponsored?

16

Since you were not denial, there is no waiting period.

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17

HIPAA? What does this have to do with ANYTHING here?