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Once the security package is received by the Office of Personnel Security and Suitability, it will be reviewed for completeness, and the information will be formally entered into a case management system. National agency record checks and scanned fingerprint checks are then conducted. A case manager will direct the background investigation to cover key events and contacts from the individual’s past and present history.

A critical step in the background investigation is the face-to-face interview the individual will have with a DS investigator. This interview usually occurs within a few weeks of an individual submitting a complete security clearance package.

DS investigators are located in the United States and overseas. These investigators verify the information an individual has supplied in his or her security package, such as where he or she has lived, gone to school, and worked. Investigators talk to current and former neighbors, supervisors, co-workers, and classmates, as well as to the references an individual provided. Investigators also contact law enforcement agencies in each of the places an individual has lived, worked, or attended school.

Once the investigators have completed a report, highly trained security clearance adjudicators will weigh the results against existing adjudicative guidelines for security clearances.

Most individuals will be granted a security clearance, although complicating factors or derogatory findings may delay a decision or result in a denial of security clearance.

THE INTERIM SECURITY CLEARANCE

In exceptional circumstances, the hiring office may request an interim security clearance. The Office of Personnel Security and Suitability may be able to grant an interim security clearance within a few weeks after the individual has submitted a complete security package. Final clearances usually are processed and adjudicated in less than 90 days.

THE PERIODIC RE-INVESTIGATION

Security clearances are subject to periodic reinvestigation every 5 years. The Office of Personnel Security and Suitability notifies the individual when it is time for their reinvestigation. The individual will submit an updated security package and another background investigation will be conducted. The investigation will again cover key aspects of the individual’s life but will start from one’s previous background investigation.