I read on this site that a large debt is a disqualifying factor but mainly if its delinquent. I’m pretty confident I will get my final clearance but I need an interim as a part of my COE. I was debating whether I should’ve mitigated this on my SF-86 but didn’t because at the time, I didn’t think it’d be an issue since I have a relatively spotless history. Other than that, I have no other debts.

Any insight on whether this is a sure disqualifier for an interim TS would be appreciated.

DHS may have its own pre-foreign travel notificaiton requirement, in which case you need to ask someone in DHS security about the ramifications of your failure to comply.

There are some things that I don’t understand about your question. Security/suitability reinvestigations are conducted at periodic intervals, not because of promotion. Security/suitability investigations are conducted when an employee changes jobs from one sensitivity level to a higher sensitivity level, not because of a promotion. If this investigation is for a security clearance, you should have filled out an SF86, which asks for foreign travel information. Why was it necessary for the investigator to ask you for foreign travel information?

With India, my experience has been that people who surrender their passports receive both a letter of surrender and the Indian passports back (stamped cancelled with the date and seal of the authority). I believe that India can give you a ten year visitor visa for your US passport for travel. I think they deal with this a lot. If you have received the documentation prior to your interview, feel free to bring it with you. If not, make sure you let your investigator know the status and provide them with the date you sent the passport in and where you sent it to.

I am currently interning for the DoD and I have a question about the “Employment Record” part of the SF-86. I had a temp job one summer that had me standing in 100+ degree heat for 3 weeks straight. I was observing car sales for advertising purposes. The heat was very hard to bear, so I had asked for a chair, some shade, or a bottle of water to take with me on the job, and was refused. When the job was complete, they asked me to continue the work. I declined, and stopped working. Would this be considered “Leaving the job for reasons under unfavorbale circumstances”? Thank you for the help!

College Grad

My lawyer told him I did nothing wrong, no UCMJ,or civilian charges. He never gave me a chance to explain a LOC, and when I applied for my ten year renewal, he held my paperwork for over a year. When I ans. No to question 26, regarding counseling after returning from the war zone, he accused me of falsification. He also embellished the comments in the SOR, and admonished my behavior. I gave the attorney all the facts, the base legal had no input and the base I was at did not comment on the case.

The person who made the initial temp decert, retired, and I went PCS. Now I’m going to have to spend seven grand for an att, and go before a Adm Judge. Should I have a Phy eval, and Polgraph? This seems like an abuse of power on his part. Can you recommend the best approach to settle this? THANKS

Just a quick verification, if I do not get cancelled passport and surrender certificate before my interview, will it be ok to show proof of application sent to Indian embassy? Of course I will also have my FSO as a witness if the investigator has any specific questions.

I also bought your book from Amazon “Security Clearance Manual” to be better prepared for my interview. Thanks for all the help.

Thanks very much for your comments. You are correct. Since I have not surrendered my Indian passport, Indian Embassy still thinks that I am an Indian citizen.

Now going forward, during investigation if I am asked to surrender my Indian passport, who should I surrender it to? (DISCO or Indian Embassy?) I checked on Indian Embassy website online that they want all naturalized citizens to surrender their Indian passports to Indian Embassy and obtain a “surrender certificate” in order to get visa for travel purposes. I do have plans to travel to India in future with my US passport but in order to do that, I have to surrender my old Indian passport to obtain the visa (otherwise they will consider it lost and will not issue me a visa for traveling)

So, when the investigator asks me to surrender my indian passport, is it ok to say that I will surrender it to the Indian Embassy (since it’s their property) and and will obtain a “surrender certificate”?

Please advice.

DISCO probably declined to grant you an interim clearance because you possess a valid foreign passport. Of course there could have been other reasons. DISCO is not required to disclose why they decline to grant an interim clearance. On November 20, 2009 DSS posted a notice on their website entitled: Foreign Passport: Disposition Influences Personnel Clearance Eligibility:

“DISCO will not grant or continue a personnel clearance if the clearance applicant or cleared individual possesses a current foreign passport. In instances where the foreign passport is the sole potential disqualifying factor in the personnel clearance adjudication, DISCO will send a Joint Personnel Adjudication System (JPAS) message to the Facility Security Officer (FSO) stating that if DISCO receives reliable documentary evidence that the foreign passport has been destroyed, invalidated, or surrendered, DISCO will grant or continue the clearance. The passport holder may surrender the foreign passport to the FSO for safekeeping, but the FSO is not required to perform this service. . . .“

The entire notice is posted at http://www.dss.mil/psco/psco.html It seems that the FSO at your new company needs to stay abreast of new developments. You could have surrendered your Indian passport to your FSO when you filled out the SF86 and it might have made the difference between having your interim clearance declined or granted. For more information about security issues related to foreign preference and foreign influence see my articles posted at http://www.clearancejobs.com/defense-news/91/dual-citizenship-and-security-clearances and at http://www.clearancejobs.com/cleared-news/54/foreign-influence-and-security-clearances

Thank you very much for your information. You stated “The investigation for a contractor Secret clearance is an NACLC. The NACLC does not include any written inquiries.”

If a NACLC doesn’t include any written inquiries, who does the education/employment verification portion for a contractor? Is that done by the contractor themselves by whatever standard BI they do on prospective applicants/employees?

Again, thank you for your time.