What gets investigated for secret clearance?

Credit and criminal history checks will be conducted on all applicants. For a Top Secret security clearance, the background investigation includes additional record checks which can verify citizenship for the applicant and family members, verification of birth, education, employment history, and military history.

What do they investigate for a secret clearance?

The security clearance process typically includes a FBI reference check of former employers, coworkers, friends, neighbors, landlords, and schools along with a review of credit, tax, and police records.

What disqualifies you from secret clearance?

You were dishonorably discharged from the military. You are currently involved in illegal drug use. You have been judged as mentally incompetent or mentally incapacitated by a mental health professional. You have had a clearance revoked for security reasons.

How often are secret clearances investigated?

An individual is normally subject to reinvestigation approximately every five years for a Secret or Top Secret clearance. For what reasons would I be denied a security clearance?

What can jeopardize a security clearance?

Criminal sexual behavior, pornography and repeated, high-risk sexual behavior are all examples that suggest lack of self-control and trustworthiness to retain security clearance.

What it takes to get top secret clearance

What are red flags for security clearance?

A criminal arrest, financial bankruptcy, unreported foreign travel, drug abuse, mishandling of classified information, serious mental health disease, etc., could result in removal from access, if the government knew.

How often are secret clearances denied?

myth #1: Many security clearances are denied.

Less than 1% of security clearances investigations result in denial. Individuals may not be eligible for an interim clearance, and they may have significant issues that need to be mitigated.

Do security clearances check Internet history?

Emails, Internet Histories & Other Virtual Assets

Although security clearance background checks can be intensely thorough, the government can't view your emails, Internet browsing history, hard drive data, and other virtual assets without a subpoena or warrant.

Do they interview friends for secret clearance?

An investigator may show up to your current employers office. Not sure about your neighbors. I was interviewed by an investigator because I was listed as an associate or friend of a Soldier obtaining a Top Secret Clearance. So friends may be interviewed.

Does a secret clearance contact current employer?

It is a requirement of a background investigation that your current employer be contacted. We must verify your employment data and make other inquiries concerning your background. If you are a Federal employee, it may be that your current employer needs you to have an investigation for the work you do.

What can hurt security clearance?

Is it hard to pass secret clearance?

Obtaining a top secret clearance is a lengthy process that involves an in-depth background check. Denial of a clearance can occur for a variety of reasons, including financial problems, mental disorders and criminal violations.

Do drugs disqualify you from security clearance?

Anyone who indicates an intent to continue using illegal drugs in the future—including marijuana—will be disqualified from holding a security clearance.

What disqualifies you from a federal background check?

The agency may remove an employee or disqualify applicants who materially and deliberately falsify or conceal information (such as the omission of arrests, drug use, employment, medical history, assets, and liabilities, etc.)

Can family members affect security clearance?

Hardly. Previous questions have included if a spouse being listed on the sex offender registry for a decade-old arrest or if a jail stint would affect the applicant's security clearance. Those issues would likely only be an issue of the applicant was involved in some way.

How far back do security clearances go?

The SF-86 form requests information back 7 years for employment and residence; however, to comply with the investigative standards, 10 years is required.

Who gets interviewed for secret clearance?

For a secret clearance in a national security position, the investigation requires agents to interview people who have lived or worked with the applicant at some point in the past seven years, or sometimes farther back.

How long does a secret clearance take to get?

The security clearance process takes an average of three to four months to complete but can take up to a full year to complete depending on your background.

Do security clearances check text messages?

While it is true that security clearance investigators can dig deeply into all the financial, personal, and social aspects of your life, your text messages, and private online accounts are safe, for now.

Do security clearance look at social media?

Security clearance holders should know that comments made publicly can be used against them in the security clearance process. The best step to take to ensure information doesn't come back to bite is to keep your accounts locked down and private.

What happens if a security clearance is denied?

You may also be given a list of ways to remedy the rejection and then your application can be reconsidered. If that doesn't happen, you move into a more formal appeal process. You can receive this review in writing or a federal employee can ask for a review before an appeals board or an administrative judge.

What is the success rate of secret clearance?

“The denial rate for the DoD (which issues more than 90 percent of security clearances) has traditionally been reported at one percent to three percent,” she said.

What percentage of people get denied security clearance?

But don't lose heart – 20-30% of all interim security clearances are denied, but that is vastly different than the figure of final clearance denials, which hovers around 1%. Your interim Top Secret security clearance may be denied for a number of reasons.

Do they check your credit for a security clearance?

Imperfect financial circumstances, such as bad credit scores, can have a negative influence on your application and potentially cause your security clearance to be denied. In fact, financial issues comprise a large percentage of security clearance denials.

Can you do CBD with a security clearance?

Bigley goes so far as to caution clearance holders to not even touch CBD products – even if they claim to be federally compliant. The risks of mislabeling or a false positive drug test are too high.