Common situation: A guy applies for a cleared job, submits the SF86, goes through the entire background check and maybe even a polygraph, only to be rejected at the end. This rejection could be for security and/or suitability. Then the guy reapplies for other clearance jobs and has to go through the whole process again.
Doesn’t this seem like a waste? One Top Secret clearance process cost the government thousands of dollars. If there is already an SF86 and completed background investigation (BI) file on an applicant, why can’t the new agency just use that? If the BI was not completed and just discontinued, why can’t a new agency just pick up where the previous BI left off?
I understand security denial letters tell an applicant to wait a year before reapplying. Suitability denials may also have this requirement at the same agency, but an applicant could theoretically apply for another job at another agency the next day.
If the applicant was rejected for some vague suitability reason, which agencies like the CIA are known for doing, then another agency could very well just use that same SF86 and clear the applicant, thus saving time and government dollars.
Do agencies just not trust each other’s own BIs? Should they be forced to in order to save government money and expedite this process?