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The pool of Americans that can qualify for a clearance is very small. You'd be surprised how many people have poor credit, bad debt, foreclosures, foreign conne

The pool of Americans that can qualify for a clearance is very small. You'd be surprised how many people have poor credit, bad debt, foreclosures, foreign connections, drug use and/or arrest history. It's not a fair comparison to the applicant pool available to your typical industry business. When I got my TS out of college, the OPM agent went to my old frat house and interviewed people at random, then went to my girlfriend's sorority house and interviewed random people there. It can be brutal.

foobiekr 2y ago
past drug use does not preclude a clearance (edited)
- atlgator 2y ago
  It absolutely can. Depends on the drug and when it was last used, if you had any drug-related incidents or court ordered rehabilitation.
  - foobiekr 2y ago
    That’s going beyond simple use. The two year lookback is real but nobody is going to fail a basic clearance over college pot use.
    - atlgator 2y ago
      I didn’t say anything about pot. I said drug. That’s any illicit drug or controlled substance including prescription misuse. The look back for declaration is 7 years, not 2, and generally you are auto denied if use was within the last 12 months, college or not.
      - stonemetal12 2y ago
        >I didn’t say anything about pot. I said drug. That’s any illicit drug or controlled substance including prescription misuse. Pot is still illegal at the federal level where a clearance would be taking place.
  - chipsrafferty 2y ago
    It can, but not necessarily.
seanmcdirmid 2y ago
If you are a citizen but your spouse is not a US citizen, does that count as an out? I hard a while ago that having a spouse from China could ruin your chances of getting security clearance, but I’m not sure if naturalizing solves that problem or not.
- CrI0gen 2y ago
  Yes, it will make a huge impact during the investigation and adjudication process. For TS and TS/SCI, even with naturalization the chances for approval will be slim and naturalization likely won't help, especially if they have family in China. For the government, it's all about calculating risk of someones loyalty, character and having things that can be exploited by financial issues (debt is the biggest disqualifier), foreign contacts or family, and anything they'd want to keep secret that could be used for blackmail.
  - baq 2y ago
    > debt is the biggest disqualifier If they have a good candidate and the only problem is debt, they should offer to pay it off. They have no qualms printing billions to save some broken banks.
    - MichaelZuo 2y ago
      Someone with lots of debt likely has some aspirations of foreign travel to risky locales, regardless of what they say… so it makes sense why that would be a disqualifier.
      - lovich 2y ago
        Why would having a lot of debt make that person have “… some aspirations of foreign travel to risky locales…”? Plenty of people get into debt just doing normal shit at their homes
        MichaelZuo 2y ago
chipsrafferty 2y ago
None of those disqualify you, necessarily. They are first and foremost concerned about 2 things: can you be honest with them, and can you keep secrets. Even if both of those were false in the past, you could still pass.

foobiekr 2y ago

past drug use does not preclude a clearance (edited)

atlgator 2y ago
It absolutely can. Depends on the drug and when it was last used, if you had any drug-related incidents or court ordered rehabilitation.
- foobiekr 2y ago
  That’s going beyond simple use. The two year lookback is real but nobody is going to fail a basic clearance over college pot use.
  - atlgator 2y ago
    I didn’t say anything about pot. I said drug. That’s any illicit drug or controlled substance including prescription misuse. The look back for declaration is 7 years, not 2, and generally you are auto denied if use was within the last 12 months, college or not.
    - stonemetal12 2y ago
      >I didn’t say anything about pot. I said drug. That’s any illicit drug or controlled substance including prescription misuse. Pot is still illegal at the federal level where a clearance would be taking place.
- chipsrafferty 2y ago
  It can, but not necessarily.

seanmcdirmid 2y ago

If you are a citizen but your spouse is not a US citizen, does that count as an out? I hard a while ago that having a spouse from China could ruin your chances of getting security clearance, but I’m not sure if naturalizing solves that problem or not.

CrI0gen 2y ago
Yes, it will make a huge impact during the investigation and adjudication process. For TS and TS/SCI, even with naturalization the chances for approval will be slim and naturalization likely won't help, especially if they have family in China. For the government, it's all about calculating risk of someones loyalty, character and having things that can be exploited by financial issues (debt is the biggest disqualifier), foreign contacts or family, and anything they'd want to keep secret that could be used for blackmail.
- baq 2y ago
  > debt is the biggest disqualifier If they have a good candidate and the only problem is debt, they should offer to pay it off. They have no qualms printing billions to save some broken banks.
  - MichaelZuo 2y ago
    Someone with lots of debt likely has some aspirations of foreign travel to risky locales, regardless of what they say… so it makes sense why that would be a disqualifier.
    - lovich 2y ago
      Why would having a lot of debt make that person have “… some aspirations of foreign travel to risky locales…”? Plenty of people get into debt just doing normal shit at their homes
      - MichaelZuo 2y ago

chipsrafferty 2y ago

None of those disqualify you, necessarily. They are first and foremost concerned about 2 things: can you be honest with them, and can you keep secrets. Even if both of those were false in the past, you could still pass.