Who This Service Is For
This service is for anyone who has had a Security Clearance denied or revoked and wants to regain a clearance.
- You have had a Security Clearance denied because of government concerns. You’ve spent time since then cleaning up all concerns and documenting your efforts. It has been at least a year since you were denied. You want to reapply for security clearance and you have a job offer that requires a clearance.
- You have had a Security Clearance revoked because of government concerns. You’ve spent time since then cleaning up all concerns and documenting your efforts. It has been at least a year since your clearance was revoked. You want to reapply for a clearance and you have a job offer that requires a clearance.
- Your clearance becomes inactive once your service ends. Although your clearance is inactive, you have 24 months to re-activate your clearance. This is an easy process that your new employer can fix through JPAS. If your clearance has been inactive for over 24 months, then you will have to reapply for Security Clearance.
How The Security Clearance Process Works
You Receive A Job Offer Requiring A Security Clearance
You’ve waited a year and have cleared up anything that caused the government concern. Time heals, and your chances to regain your clearance will be greater. If you’ve spent that time complying and mitigating government concerns, you likely have taken care of the issues that caused revocation of your clearance. However, the Government will do another background check to see if you have any “new” concerns. At that point, once you’ve received a job offer, you can reapply for Security Clearance.
Because you’ve had a Security Clearance denied, or revoked, you need help. Your situation is intense, but you CAN get a fresh start. It’s absolutely imperative that you hire a knowledgeable security clearance attorney to help you complete a new version of the SF86.
Why We Emphasize You Hire Help To Complete A New Questionnaire For National Security (SF86)
You receive a Questionnaire For National Security (SF86) as part of a new job hiring process. Since your Security Clearance was previously revoked, or denied, it will benefit you if you were to hire counsel to guide you through this process. With clearance issues in your rear view mirror, it’s smart on your part to hire counsel.
Note that transparency is your best approach. It’s in the best interest of all if a potential employee informs their potential employer that they previously had issues with their clearance. This shows that you are being upfront and honest with them, rather than they find out through your JPAS record. These are the reasons why it’s a must for you hire counsel.
- The background check for your new Security Clearance will cover your whole history. This includes the problems you had that got you denied or revoked. It becomes even more of a minefield for you to “keep your story straight”. This doesn’t imply that you would be dishonest, but rather that your application will attract additional scrutiny.
- If we have worked with you through your previous issues, we have the whole history of all your responses and evidence. It will be easier for us to update what we already have than for you to start from scratch.
- If we’ve been working with you, we’ve given you clear direction on how to correct government concerns. You’ve also made sure to document your mitigating activities. Because of the advice you’ve gotten, you’ve saved all documentation, and you’re better prepared for the SF 86 application process.
- Every answer you provide on the form will be investigated. You don’t want to give an answer that could inadvertently contradict a previous answer you gave. You must document in both written answers and with evidentiary exhibits all your mitigation efforts.
- You want to get a Favorable Outcome without a single snag. You do not want to receive interrogatories or have any other type of Security Clearance problem. You want to do this right the first time.
You Submit The SF86 Questionnaire And The Government Begins Investigating You
- Once you have filled out the form, you submit it electronically.
- The Security Manager reviews it and submits it to the appropriate agency for further processing.
- Note that you must mitigate all government concerns before you can even get an interim clearance. If you had your clearance denied or revoked, you can only get the clearance once the adjudication process is complete.
- The investigation begins.
The Government Investigates Your Answers And Background
The higher the Security Clearance access you are seeking, the longer the investigation takes. Top Secret Security Clearances sometimes can take up to three years to adjudicate. It depends on the level of clearance. It also depends on the issues/concerns that the Government has had in the past. Such issues will prolong the granting of the clearance.
- The higher your clearance the more extensive and comprehensive your background check will be. The depth of investigation depends on the level of clearance you are seeking:
- Confidential Security Clearance
- Secret Security Clearance
- Top Secret Security Clearance (SCI) Special Compartmented Information (1-3 years investigation)
The Gravity Of The Government’s Previous Concerns Affect The Investigation
- The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM)— the Human Resources Organization for the Federal Government—performs most background checks.
- Government investigation typically involves some or all of the following:
- An investigator is assigned to your case. The investigator interviews your family, friends and neighbors. His/her job is to dig into your entire background as deeply as possible to discover any disqualifying information.
- These are the most common areas that the Government will investigate:
- Warrants for your arrest
- No fly lists (TSA), including incidents with any type of airline
- Drug or alcohol-related issues
- Foreign contacts
- Financial Records
- Criminal Records
- Some agencies may require a polygraph test.
- When you have previously had a Security Clearance denied or revoked for any of these reasons, expect extra scrutiny. Your background check may take longer and that will delay your clearance.
Security Clearance Re-Application Ends In One Of Three Ways
The application part of the Security Clearance process ends in one of these three ways:
1 You receive the requested Security Clearance—a favorable outcome.
OR
2 You receive interrogatories from the government requesting additional information. This is not the optimal outcome. It means that the government still has some concerns about your responses and background. It will take additional time for you to satisfy their requests. Your job hangs in the balance.
OR
3 You receive a Letter of Intent To Deny, skipping interrogatories. The government still has serious concerns, and they have chosen to go straight to the more serious Letter of Intent with a Statement of Reasons. This is a very concerning outcome.
It is very difficult to find employment if you have had your clearance denied or revoked. Potential employers will run a “quick” JPAS check and will most likely shy away from hiring you. If you are one of the lucky ones to find employment, you will have to still go through the appeals process as you did before your clearance was denied.
Why You Need This Service
- You’re in grave danger of not being able to get your Security Clearance back. This is not a time to take risks because your livelihood and career are at risk.
- Reapplying after denial or revocation is a lot more complex. There are many ways that something minor could sabotage the entire process.
- You’ve got a strong chance to prevail if you’ve done the hard work of mitigating concerns. If you make a mistake, it becomes a much more difficult process to salvage your re-application.
- In a lot of ways, the process is stacked against you. You have an extra burden of proof. It’s a high bar to reach. If you can’t succeed in this, you may have to start a new career.
How This Service Helps You
- We help you fill out this form. We’ve helped hundreds of clients regain their Security Clearance. We know what works, and understand what the government needs to see from you.
- We show you how to document or mitigate anything that has ever been a concern to the government.
- We guide you through the minefield of potential mistakes that would cause you to not have a Security Clearance reinstated.
- We interview you extensively, making sure that no stone is unturned in documenting your application.
- We provide you with written responses to submit. You do not have to write the responses. We do that for you.
- We guide you in supplying the evidentiary documents you need in support of mitigation. We annotate and organize them for submission with the form.
- We do everything possible, and share every bit of information we know to help you get a favorable decision.
Engage Us To Help You Reapply For Security Clearance (Form SF86)
We Want To Provide You The Kind Of Counsel That Gets Favorable Outcomes
You’re in a tight spot and it’s challenging to regain a clearance after denial or revocation. Fischer & Van Thiel is a security clearance attorney firm dedicated to helping you regain your livelihood—and clearance. Contact us now to get started.
We consider it an honor to support personnel who serve our government and military. We actually enjoy the challenging cases and helping clients serve our country. We do everything we can to help you regain your Security Clearance.
Request a No-Fee Consultation
Where To Next?
Now that you understand how this service works, you may want to review our JPAS Joint Personal Adjudicative System Report service to see how it might help you. For the full details on that service, go to Joint Personal Adjudicative System (JPAS) Report.