What will disqualify you from a secret clearance?

Those include criminal convictions that lead to a prison sentence of a year or longer, receiving a dishonorable discharge, “criminal incompetence,” and drug addiction.

What will stop me from getting a secret clearance?

What do they check 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.

Why would you fail a security clearance?

In some cases, a security clearance investigation may be stopped and the application returned. This is due to problems with the application itself, rather than the applicant's background. This means that procedural rules were not followed or not followed properly and the application must be re-accomplished.

Do security clearances check Internet history?

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.

Top Reasons Applicants are Denied a Security Clearance

What percentage of security clearances are denied?

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%.

Can family members affect security clearance?

Under national security adjudicative guidelines family members or cohabitants living with you who are engaging in criminal activity can pose a risk to your ability to obtain or retain a security clearance.

Do they contact references for secret clearance?

Do they call references for secret clearance? In most cases, references are not contacted for a Secret security clearance, but they may be contacted in specific cases to verify issues. If an investigator needs to clarify something about your background, it's less likely you'll need to undergo a subject interview.

Can you get a security clearance if you have debt?

No branch of the military has a set amount of debt that is the breaking point for security clearance. You could owe $5,000 or $50,000 and be granted or denied clearance. It's all a matter of how you deal with the debt. Responsible behavior in tackling your debt problems is considered a positive.

Can you get a Top Secret clearance if you've done drugs?

Persons who have used drugs in the past may be approved for access to classified information. In accepting a security clearance, however, government employees and contractors also accept an obligation to remain drug free in the future.

What questions do they ask in a security clearance interview?

Can you tell me about your law enforcement experience? Have you ever held a security clearance before? Have you ever had access to classified or top-secret information before? What do you consider your most important technical skills?

Does security clearance check bank accounts?

They run a credit check and run your name and SSN through NICS. If there are problems you'll be asked to provide more information. You don't have to provide the information (such as bank statements) but the clearance process will stop if you don't provide it.

Does credit score affect secret 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.

Will credit card debt affect security clearance?

Under the Department of Defense's guidelines, the “failure to live within one's means, satisfy debts, and meet financial obligations” may be cited as grounds for rejecting or revoking a clearance.

What is bad credit considered?

Poor Credit Scores From VantageScore

The company says a credit score is poor if it's between 500 and 600, while a score from 300 to 499 is called very poor. “In general, people with higher scores can get more credit at better rates,” VantageScore says.

Do security clearances look at text messages?

INTERNET HISTORY, EMAILS, TEXT MESSAGES AND iCLOUD

Security clearance background investigators do not check your browsing history, read your emails, surveil your every move, bug your telephones, or photograph you commuting to work. That's just not feasible, or allowable.

Who do they interview 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.

What is a Top Secret background check?

A Top Secret, or "TS", clearance, is often given as the result of a Single Scope Background Investigation, or SSBI. Top Secret clearances, in general, afford one access to data that affects national security, counterterrorism/counterintelligence, or other highly sensitive data.

Do they interview spouse for secret clearance?

It depends. If your spouse is the only person who can verify certain periods (overseas coverage, social coverage, etc), then your spouse will be interviewed. Interviewing spouses is not preferable but it is sometimes necessary, depending on the circumstances. They interviewed my husband for my "public trust" clearance.

Can my spouse credit affect my security clearance?

Your spouse being behind on debt payments does not have to kill your chances of obtaining a security clearance. If none of the accounts in your own name show a poor credit history or delinquency, then your spouse's poor credit will not likely affect your security clearance application.

Will a divorce affect my security clearance?

In most cases, the divorce process itself will not affect an employee's security clearance. However, the employee or their former spouse may do something that could ultimately cost the employee his or her clearance and potentially a job.

Is it hard to get Top Secret clearance?

Contrary to popular belief, the criteria for getting a Top Secret security clearance are exactly the same as obtaining a Secret clearance. The difference is the depth and extensiveness of the investigation. There are three basic levels of security clearance: Confidential/Public Trust.

What is calculated in your debt to income ratio?

To calculate your debt-to-income ratio, you add up all your monthly debt payments and divide them by your gross monthly income. Your gross monthly income is generally the amount of money you have earned before your taxes and other deductions are taken out.

Does a security clearance require a polygraph?

According to William Henderson, a retired federal clearance investigator and author of "Security Clearance Manual," polygraphs are usually only issued "for Sensitive Compartment Information (SCI) and other Special Access Programs (SAP)." Some federal jobs do require a polygraph regardless of the clearance level ...

Do security clearances check tax returns?

The Security Clearance Application Process

This is a 120-page document created by the U.S. Department of Personnel. Following submission of the questionnaire, you will undergo a stringent background screening, which could unveil your previous tax delinquencies, liens, or unfiled tax returns.