had my first interview today and this lady kept groaning at some of my answers, and made faces as well.

there were multiples times I wanted to ask her if my answers were bothering her.

Per the title, my little brother just got out of active duty army (about 9 months ago) and still holds an active secret clearance.

He’s using his gi bill in Florida to go to school but started a job at a government contracting company doing simple site security (sit behind a desk and makes sure people badge in basically but still requires a active t3).

The problem I found out today was that for 3 months after he go out he didn’t work, just school and got incredibly depressed, started drinking and had to self admit to medically withdraw at a hospital… he was going through a really bad rough patch, and after kicking drinking his ex gf convinced him to try weed to help him sleep, he went about it the legal way and got a medical card in Florida… but he never self reported it.

He said he tried it a few times and it wasn’t for him and the card has gone un used since and has no plans on renewing it.

I pointed out to him that he will probably get dinged during his re investigation for CE. but he’s convinced hippa will protect him as long as he keeps his mouth shut…

He also mentioned a possible promotion to do persec which would require a t5 investigation and I don’t see any way they he could hide it.

I found out last night I was granted my TS/SCI. I am in a unique situation where I am in the National Guard and have an active secret clearance already. My battalion security manager confirmed that my TS/SCI was approved.

04/15/2026 - Applied to NGA Hiring event

05/18/2026 - NGA Interview

06/16/2026 - Received pre-conditional job offer

06/26/2026 - Complete SF-86

07/01/2026 - TS/SCI Investigation officially begins

07/14/2026 - Meet with investigation officer to review SF-86 (Foreign born, Naturalized citizen, use to have duel citizenship, hella student loans, some credit card debt, still have family overseas, spouse born overseas with family still living overseas)

07/20/2026 - Investigating officer meets with coworkers, neighbors, and friends in person to interview them

07/30/2026 - Flew to DC for my polygraph, drug test, and fingerprinting.

08/14/2026 - Same investigation officer meets with me again for additional information

08/18/2026 - Investigation closed

08/24/2026 - TS/SCI granted

I've spent days searching online for answers, but never really found one for my case. I was born here in the U.S. but had to live and grow up in Egypt, came back to the U.S. at 18 and traveled back to Egypt twice to visit family. Now, I'm 20 years old and want to work in intel/linguistics for the army or navy since I'm pretty fluent in Arabic and open to learn other languages.

Now I'm willing to renounce my Egyptian citizenship and even burn that passport, never step back into that country ever again, I'm not even talking to my foreign contacts, we never had anything in common anymore. But I'm scared to enlist now and get my security clearance denied because of my travels and my previous foreign contacts (I never really had time to make U.S. friends here).

Now my question to you guys is whether I should risk enlisting and getting denied? or should I continue my civilian job and go through college and get to know more people and then earn my commission, but will that even make a difference?

I wanted to give back to this sub since so many of these posts helped me stay sane during the wait. My case had a lot of foreign-connections red flags, so hopefully this is useful for anyone in a similar boat.

Background: New DoD contractor position, first-ever clearance investigation, Secret level, clearance required before start date.

Timeline:

• 05/05/2026 — Offer accepted
• 06/09/2026 — SF-86 submitted
• 06/18/2026 — Interim clearance NOT granted
• 07/01/2026 — DCSA investigator interview
• 08/31/2026 — Employer confirmed all offer contingencies met and asked me to pick a start date

I never got an explicit "your clearance has been granted" email... I inferred it from the contingencies being cleared, since the clearance was the only outstanding one. I reached out to my employer's security office to confirm directly and haven't heard back yet, but I'm moving forward with my September start date.

My red flags:

1. US citizen since birth, but born abroad and lived virtually my entire life overseas (friendly countries)
2. Dual national of a friendly country (also since birth)
3. Extensive foreign travel, including to non-friendly countries, always on my foreign passport (barely used my US passport before this)
4. A huge number of foreign contacts, including in non-friendly countries
5. Wife is a foreign national (friendly country, I sponsored her green card)
6. Ongoing foreign ties in my country of birth (family I financially support)
7. Never registered for Selective Service (was living abroad and didn't know it existed)
8. Years of unfiled federal tax returns while living/working abroad (didn't know I had to file... resolved via Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures + delinquent returns, all settled now)
9. One instance of marijuana use, though with a lot of mitigating context

Green flags:

• Clean police record everywhere I've ever lived
• PhD, postdoc, and professor positions at top institutions, US and abroad
• Strong references
• Never voted in foreign elections, no foreign political or military involvement
• None of my foreign contacts are military, government, or otherwise sketchy

Total time: offer to clearance confirmation was just under 4 months, interview to confirmation about 2 months... genuinely faster than I expected given how much foreign nexus was in my file.

It was rough not knowing whether all the foreign travel/contacts/dual citizenship would sink an offer I'd worked hard for, especially reading posts here from people waiting a year or more. If you're in the middle of the wait with a similar profile: it's not automatically disqualifying. The whole-person concept really does seem to apply. Good luck to everyone still waiting out there.

On legal help: I retained a top attorney (chosen based on researching DOHA case outcomes that ended in granted clearances) to help with the SF-86 submission, and ended up paying about $1,700 for roughly 3 hours of their time. In the end, they essentially just told me my submission was good to go... I'd already done most of the prep work using this subreddit extensively, along with the SEAD guidelines, to figure out how to fill out the SF-86 properly and prepare my DCSA interview. In hindsight, I'd probably recommend against retaining a lawyer at that early stage.

Hello! I recently put an offer in to purchase my first home. My father offered to cover the down payment which comes out to be around $80k. For context, both of us are U.S. citizens.

My question is: Do I need to report this to my FSO as it is a “large infusion of cash”? My father will be wiring the money directly to the lender but the home and other equity will be in my name. I have no problem reporting it, I just don’t know if I need to.

Any insight or knowledge would be much appreciated!

So, I have been in the military. Clean record. I want to get into a contractor work with company that will see me as an asset. IT 20 years, Military 13 - Reserves. How does one get into a line of work that might be worthy of Project Management, AI, Programmer, Manager skilled person. MBA, SCM, Working on PMP. Advice appreciated.

This is something I had never considered before but hypothetically, if someone had a reportable mental health concern (like self harm or SI) would they technically be required to report every instance of that? Like let's say someone self harmed once a week are they technically supposed to be reporting that every single week?

It's obvious to me that foreign travel, financial problems etc all have to be reported everytime but these are discrete events. I'd like to hear what the experts think, assuming the self harm or whatever was already reported once if the behavior continued would that need to be continuously reported?

I have always wondered about this. Say I am employed at a company doing non-clearance work. I apply and get an offer for a job requiring clearance. Do I quit the first company, join the new one and wait for the clearance? What happens if it is denied? Or can I continue working in my old job until clearance is granted?

Given some of the timelines posted by people here it sounds like a big risk to quit a solid job if you don't know clearance is assured.

Thanks!

Here's my timeline for a role with a TS:

Jan/Feb 2025: Applied to a hiring event with the DIA
May 2026: Received a CJO and submitted the necessary documents
June 2026: Submitted SF86, Completed drug test and fingerprints. first poly results were inconclusive, had to reschedule
July 2026: Background investigator reached out for my interview and contacted my references
Aug 2026: Passed my second attempt at the poly, interviewer stated I should hear something back within 2-3 weeks

Was my interviewer referring to something else or would that timeline be accurate? This upcoming monday will mark 3 weeks since passing my poly. I already tried reaching out to my POC for an update but all she sent was the generic next steps guide for me to refer to.

If anyone has any knowledge on what i should do or am i just stuck waiting like everyone else?

Thanks!

Expect there to be hiccups and minor issues as things finish switching over. More info can be found in this article:

https://www.clearancejobsblog.com/dcsa-has-moved-the-submission-of-eapps-from-nbis-to-diss-jvs/

I initially turned in during the month of May and received an email 2 weeks ago saying there was an issue with my form and I had to resubmit it..has this ever happened to anyone before? He didn't say what the issue was and hasn't responded to my email. I did resubmit the form though

Hi Everyone 👋 made a quick burner account to share this

For context, I work for a small contractor, I’ve been employed there a little over a year. i have some financial concerns but everything is documented, being worked on, or was able to pay off certain debts during investigation, about under 15k total debts with old old accounts that were charged off. I’ve had various jobs and moved around a bunch back in 2018-2020 so documenting all those addresses and workplaces was a PAIN. I also had some recreational use of marijuana documented, at the time I was not in any job or position holding clearance and it was legal in my state. Again, documented the dates of purchase to the best of my ability and do not have any of the products still in my possession. Otherwise my life has been pretty boring

May 2026- Put in for Clearance
Mid June- Completed SF-86 and Fingerprints
Early July- Completed Initial Interview
End of August- Follow-Up Phone Call
Today 9/2/26- TS Clearance Received

So for all of you sitting on the edge of your chairs waiting for an update. It will come, I promise 🙏

Trying to determine if its even worth it for me to move for a job that requires a clearance. Can anyone here help me understand what my chances realistically look like?

I’m a US-born citizen and have never needed a clearance before. No other citizenship. Wife and kids are all US citizens.

Lockheed Martin sent me to the UAE about 14 years ago and I’ve lived here since. I worked for US defense companies for most of that time and have been working for a british defense company for the last 2 years. I own a small property in the UAE and have local bank accounts. My parents are foreign citizens.

No arrests, drugs, criminal history, etc.
The hiring manager said that if I proceed, they would apply for an interim clearance first. The concern is that I’d potentially be leaving a stable job to join them, and if I don’t receive the final secret clearance within a year, they would have to let me go.

Anyone know whether my overseas history is more likely to cause problems getting the interim clearanxe versus the final clearance. Reading reddit seems like interim wont happen for someone on my case- living overseas for so long.

Hello I am looking for advice on what to put on the SF86 form for the Ever section for crimes.

So when I was 18 I was arrested for domestic disturbance. I don’t remember the exact charge because it is so long ago. I went to court plead not guilty, my lawyer made me take an anger management course. I never went back to court after that. And I know the case was expunged but I don’t remember the exact outcome if the charges were dropped or not. I cannot get record since they are expunged. Would I still disclose that information in the SF86 form?

Also in college I had an incident that was dealt with internally where I was accused of something I didn’t do and I fought it and won but the school just charged me with a lesser violation. Where would I disclose that information or would I have to?

All these happened over 10 years ago in college and not have any issues with the law or anything since then. Will these mess up my chances on getting a secret security clearance? Thank you!

I currently have a ts/sci, I’ve been active army going on 3 years, I got a call this afternoon about continuous vetting and I need to schedule a appointment with the investigator, did I do something wrong? Or do people just get these calls out the blue time to time? I asked why and she told me she couldn’t say other than in person.

Edit:Ts/sci with poly if it matters lol

Obviously there are so many variables that go into adjudicating foreign travel (especially the country visited) but curious to know what would be considered a lot of foreign travel on an SF86?

I myself have about 29 trips listed on my form (mostly NATO countries) and would be curious to hear from others what their ballpark looks like!

It’s been a bit of an emotional roller coaster. But here’s my timeline:

May 2026:SF-85 completed/Interim Secret Granted. However, Tier 3 investigation was paused with no explanation.
June 2026: Interview with investigator
June - July 2026: Back and forth between my investigator and myself on foreign contacts
August 2026: Tier 3 Completed/ Submitted a request with my Senator to follow up on my investigation**
September 2026: Clearance granted

Background: Prior minor drug use, extensive travel and foreign contacts due to family and prior jobs, lack of information on distant family members, incomplete Secret investigation from the State Department, unpaid state taxes from college(on a payment plan), student loan debt amounting in more than $200k, and cc debt more than $10k (none in collections).

**Note: I reached out to my Senator’s office the second I learned my case went to adjudication because I had a new job offer contingent on my Secret Clearance, and couldn’t afford an employment gap, since my current role ends this month and I had nothing lined up after.

Hi everyone, I'm so happy to finally be able to post after lurking this subreddit for months :D I got my secret clearance this morning, and throughout the whole process, these posts gave me so much hope, so I thought I'd pay it forward and share my timeline/red flags (in detail lol). For context, I'm a new grad, and I've never gone through the clearance process before, so my red flags definitely made me nervous, but I'm here to hopefully give some reassurance to everyone else going through it right now!

Timeline:

6/3/26: offer accepted

6/15/26: fingerprints

6/16/26: sf-86 submitted to fso

6/18/26: sf-86 submitted to government

6/29/26: interim denied

7/10/26: interview with investigator

8/23/26: investigation concluded (emailed fso to get this status update)

9/2/26: clearance granted!

red flags:

drugs:

- marijuana: less than 10 times between 2021 and 10/2025, very infrequent and in social settings. purchased a couple times between 2021-2022

- lsd: one time in 2023

- ecstasy (molly): once in 2023, once in 2024

- shrooms: once in 2/2026 in the Netherlands (legal there, illegal here, so I initially didn't include it in my application, but I later emailed my fso to include it as an amendment and also told my investigator during the interview)

foreign travel/contacts:

- 12 instances of foreign travel

- foreign contacts (3 family, 3 friends)

After reading the other posts, I wasn't super nervous about the drugs, except for the recency of the marijuana and shrooms usage (I didn't think I was going to apply to a job that needed clearance at the time). But try not to worry too much (feels impossible I know) even though you feel completely in the dark about your status (the portal never updated for me) and just BE HONEST. I sent in like 3 amendments (drugs and foreign contacts) after I submitted my sf-86 and had my interview. Maybe I was being paranoid, but better safe than sorry I guess. Happy to answer any questions about the process, and good luck!

I have a history of smoking weed before I was in the army as well as 2 times while in the army (and holding a secret clearance). As well as being an alcoholic. I was honest about it on my form. I have been completely sober from all substances including alcohol for over 5 years now and I’m active in the recovery community. How do my chances look? I currently hold an active secret clearance and was filling out my CE application.

Curious if anyone with a security clearance has been through a situation like this.
I initially reported my personal debts, including one account that was already in collections. I went through the clearance interview, but afterward I realized that I also have some business-related debt that I didn’t report.
Since then, I’ve lost my job and have started falling behind on some of my payments while I’m waiting to find out whether my clearance will be approved.
This is the situation I’m currently in. If you’ve actually been through something similar, I’d really appreciate hearing how it worked out for you. Am I completely screwed, or is there a way to address this and move forward?
If you haven’t been in this exact situation, that’s completely fine too—I’m just looking for any advice or insight.

Have held a TS clearance since service 30 years ago. Have held various contractor positions since separating from active duty with TS maintained at all employers and customers. Have been in an IC position for most of the last 4 years except a 5 month USAF stint all requiring TS and CI polygraph.

During last year's shutdown I was non-essential and applied for a position on a DoD contract not affected by the shutdown. After a screening interview and submission of personal information to verify my clearance, potential employer came back and said the security officer saw that a reinvestigation that had occurred in 2022 was completed but was not adjudicated. However, he said I was active in continuous evaluation. I had left a Navy contract to go to the IC late 2022 with no crossover issues. In 2024 I left the IC for a USAF contract for a brief stint and was crossed over without issue before returning to IC. Checked with current employer FSO who said he cannot check DISS for me while with an IC customer.

Is there a way for me to inquire with DCSA regarding this situation? I would like to know at least one way or another if the clearance has in fact gone into a status that may preclude me from being eligible for DoD TS positions and rectify it if possible. One caveat is that I have a suspicion the contractor to whom I was applying was not fully truthful as a means to suspend the application process.