Do I have to be a U.S. citizen to receive a security clearance from the Department of State?

Yes. When the Department of State’s mission has compelling reasons, however, immigrant aliens and foreign national employees who possess special expertise may, at the discretion of the Department of State, be granted limited access to classified information only for specific programs, projects, contracts, licenses, certificates, or grants.

How many types or levels of security clearance are there?

There are three levels of security clearance: confidential, secret, and top secret.

Who decides the level of clearance?

The Department of State’s Bureau of Global Talent Management determines whether a position will require a security clearance, as well as the level required, based upon the duties and responsibilities of the position and using OPM’s Position Designation Tool.

What is a public trust? A non-sensitive position?

Public trust and low-risk/non-sensitive determinations are not security clearances.

Public trust determinations are requested for applicants whose positions will require access to information at the high- or moderate-risk levels, based upon duties and responsibilities of the position. A public trust background investigation will include many aspects of a full security clearance investigation.

Low-risk/non-sensitive determinations are requested for applicants whose positions have low-risk levels, based upon duties and responsibilities of the position.

What work does a security clearance allow a person to do?

A security clearance allows an individual filling a specific position to have access to classified national security information up to and including the level of clearance that they hold as long as the individual has a “need to know” the information and signed a non-disclosure agreement.

Will my clearance be transferable to other federal agencies?

Reciprocity is the acknowledgment and acceptance of an existing background investigation conducted by an authorized investigative agency; the acceptance of a national security eligibility adjudication determined by an authorized adjudicative agency; and the acceptance of an active national security eligibility determination granted by an executive branch agency. Federal agencies will normally accept another agency’s investigation as the basis for granting a security clearance in accordance with SEAD 7: Reciprocity of Background Investigations and National Security Adjudications. Any significant changes in an applicant’s situation since his or her last investigation may be considered. Some federal agencies might have additional investigative or adjudicative requirements that must be met prior to their accepting a clearance granted by another agency.

Can I transfer my security clearance for private sector employment?

Security clearances only apply to positions that fall under the purview of the federal government. Executive Order 12968, Access to Classified Information, provides that security clearances are only granted to persons employed by, detailed, or assigned to, or working on behalf of the federal government.

How long is my security clearance valid after I leave the federal government?

The security clearance must be administratively removed when the employee no longer has a need for access. DSS will revalidate a security clearance in accordance with SEAD 7: Reciprocity of Background Investigations and National Security Adjudications.

Does having a security clearance guarantee employment with the Department of State?

The hiring process addresses whether someone will be initially selected for a particular position within the Department of State. The security clearance process does not begin until after a conditional offer of employment is given.

Are members of my family or people living with me subject to a security check?

There are circumstances in which limited records checks or an investigation may be conducted on a spouse or cohabitant.

How often is a security clearance renewed?

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?

Various reasons exist for the denial of security clearance. Honesty, candor, and thoroughness are very important factors in the process of obtaining a security clearance. Every case is individually assessed, using the National Security Adjudicative Guidelines, to determine whether the granting or continuing of eligibility for a security clearance is clearly consistent with the interests of national security. See Security Executive Agent Directive 4, National Security Adjudicative Guidelines, for more information about the guidelines and specific concerns and mitigating factors.

How long does it take to process a typical security clearance?

Each case varies based on the specific circumstances of the individual subject and the level of security clearance requested.

What happens if I’m denied a security clearance? Is there an appeal process?

If you are denied a security clearance, or your continued eligibility for access to classified information is revoked, you will be notified of the reason(s) and be provided with the procedures for filing an appeal. You will be given the opportunity to address derogatory information that is provided as the basis for denial or revocation.

What are some typical delays that occur in the security clearance process?

Some of the most common areas of delay include the submission of incomplete forms and information, poorly collected fingerprints, and investigations that involve coverage of extensive overseas activities. Applicants can help the process by ensuring that they have completed all forms thoroughly and accurately, and when possible, providing additional references who can verify their activities. A lot of detailed information is required to conduct a background investigation. When preparing to fill out your e-QIP, collect and verify information such as names, addresses, telephone numbers, and dates of birth for immediate relatives. Collect additional references, when possible, in case we are unable to reach those provided initially.

The government is not keeping up with the demand for clearances. As of last month, the National Background Investigations Bureau within the Office of Personnel Management -- which performs 95% of federal background checks -- had accumulated a backlog of 570,000 applications. Delays in granting initial Top Secret clearances are averaging over 500 days. Average time required to receive an initial Confidential/Secret clearance, one of the least demanding in terms of required background checks, is 262 days.

These delays have been particularly hard on industry, because it is difficult to attract and retain talent when new employees may have to cool their heels for a year or longer before beginning work on classified programs. One big contractor reports that as of April, 72% of the clearances it has requested since January of 2016 were still awaiting initial clearance determinations. Another contractor reported 75% of requests for background checks or periodic reinvestigations were still pending after 18 months; 10% were still pending after 24 months.

The hidden cost to taxpayers of these long delays is huge. An engineer hired at a defense contractor for $100,000 per year will cost the company $725 per day in salary and benefits, which gets added to overhead if they cannot work on the project for which they were hired. If the wait to receive an initial clearance determination is 300 days, it will cost the company $217,500 -- which then gets billed to the government as a price of doing business. Multiply this number by the tens of thousands of workers awaiting clearances, and you see the problem.

But the waste does not end there. When clearances take a year or longer to process, programs are delayed, workers are under-employed, and holding on to the people who are most in demand becomes a challenge. Nobody rigorously tracks what all this inefficiency costs the government, but over time it is undoubtedly in the billions of dollars. Imagine hiring a bright young employee and then having to wait 351 days to receive final determination on a simple Secret clearance before they can actually be assigned to the tasks for which they were sought.

The problem has gotten so bad that OPM has begun loosening its standards to cope with the backlog. In February it modified its requirement for five-year reinvestigations of Top Secret clearances on some special-access programs because it couldn't keep up with demand. So now the delays are not only wasting money, they are potentially compromising the security of programs for which clearances were granted in the first place. Obviously, the system needs major reform.

The Obama Administration belatedly recognized the problem during its last year in office, and began transitioning to a new approach with the creation of the National Background Investigations Bureau, which superseded the old Federal Investigative Service. Under the Obama plan, OPM would partner with the Department of Defense in replacing antiquated computer systems, barriers to accessing criminal history records would be torn down, and much of the current clearance and credentialing process would be automated.

It's hard to argue with any of that, but the last year of an administration isn't the optimal time to launch a major reorganization. The new bureau is a work in progress that so far hasn't gotten much attention from the Trump administration. Even if it does, the unpredictable way in which the government budgets could undermine whatever progress is occurring. The delays in granting clearances grew worse after the Budget Control Act imposed arbitrary caps on discretionary spending, beginning in 2012.

This seems like the kind of challenge that bodies such as the Aerospace Industries Association could help shepherd through the bureaucracy to a successful outcome. Few organizations understand the nexus between industry and government better than AIA, and reform of the clearance process needs an advocate outside the government. Every military contractor that belongs to the industry associations is being harmed by defects in the current system, so perhaps places like AIA could weigh in to keep the reform process on track.

The onslaught of cyber crimes in recent years has yielded a host of innovations for continuously tracking the behavior of cleared personnel, identifying the telltale signs of insider threats, and otherwise assisting in the protection of sensitive information. Somebody needs to be identifying new tools that can help streamline the security process and minimize the waste associated with delayed clearances. Leading industry associations like AIA seem well positioned to help fix this problem.