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Holding a clearance

What every cleared person needs to know

Most of what is written about security clearances is written for the security office. These pages are for the person who holds the clearance: how continuous vetting watches between investigations, what you still have to report yourself, and what actually happens if something comes up. Short, sourced and in plain language, so you can read them without a security manager at your elbow.

Continuous vetting What you must report

Start with the question you have

01

Continuous vetting

What is being checked, how it replaced the five- and ten-year reinvestigation, what an alert is, and why you may never hear about most of them.

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Why this is hard to find out

Three things make the cleared person the least informed party in their own clearance.

The rules are written to the agency and the companySEAD 3, SEAD 6 and the NISPOM (32 CFR Part 117) direct agencies and cleared contractors. Your duties are real, but they reach you second hand, through a briefing and an annual refresher.
Continuous vetting works in the backgroundBy design you are not told what records are checked or when. Most alerts are closed by adjudicators without anyone contacting you, so the system is nearly invisible until it is not.
Many security officers are part timeAt most cleared companies the FSO holds the role alongside another job. They can tell you what to report, but rarely have time to explain how the whole system works.
Communication arrives in piecesDCSA announces changes through industry briefings, Voice of Industry issues and system notices addressed to companies. Little of it is written for you. These pages gather it and cite each source.

What you agreed to

Three commitments follow every clearance, whatever your employer or agency adds to them.

  1. 1

    Protect what you are trusted with

    You signed the SF 312 Classified Information Nondisclosure Agreement before your first access. It is a lifetime agreement that outlasts the clearance and the job.

  2. 2

    Report what the rules say to report

    SEAD 3 lists the events every cleared person must report, and your company's rule adds a few more. Continuous vetting does not do this for you. See your reporting duties.

  3. 3

    Stay in the vetting process

    Continuous vetting runs on records about you, and when asked you complete an updated questionnaire, cooperate with an interview, or answer questions in writing. See continuous vetting and when something comes up.

Questions people ask

Short answers. Each links to the guide with the detail and the source.

Does a continuous vetting alert mean I am in trouble?No. An alert is a lead. ODNI’s rule is that no action is taken on it without follow-up and review under the adjudicative guidelines, and you are contacted only if adjudicators need something from you. What an alert is, and is not.
Will I be told when my records are checked?No. The checks run in the background for as long as you hold eligibility. You hear from DCSA, through your FSO, when it needs information or a decision is proposed. What is checked.
Do I still have to fill out an SF-86 every five or ten years?The reinvestigation is gone, but every five years you complete an updated questionnaire, the SF-86 in eApp or the new PVQ, keyed to a date your FSO can see in DISS. What changed.
Does continuous vetting look at my social media?ODNI says no: it reviews publicly available electronic information but not social media. Credit checks are soft inquiries that do not affect your score. The seven record categories.
If the government is already checking, why do I have to report anything?Because the rule says so, and because an event you report arrives with your account attached while the same event found by a record check arrives without it. Your reporting duties.
Do I need new fingerprints for Rap Back?Almost certainly not. DCSA enrolls prints already on file. Only people with none on file are fingerprinted, and their FSO is told who they are. Fingerprints and Rap Back.
What happens to my clearance when I change jobs?Your eligibility stays. Your enrollment status in DISS lapses if no new security office picks up your record within 45 days, and is restored automatically when one does, with no new forms. Who is enrolled, and when it lapses.
My FSO is part time. Who do I ask?Still the FSO. Every cleared company must appoint one, and DCSA tells contractor employees to report through that person. Ask who covers when they are out, and put questions in writing so they can answer when they are back. How and where to report.
Something has come up. What happens now?Your FSO records it, DCSA adjudicators review it, and most matters end there. If a denial or revocation is proposed you receive a Statement of Reasons and can answer it, ask for a hearing, and appeal. When something comes up.
Can I see what is in my file?Yes. You can request your investigative records from DCSA under the Privacy Act, and the FBI advisements explain how to obtain your identity history summary. Your file and your rights.

Sources

Each guide in this section carries its own source list and the date it was checked. The frameworks behind all of them:

Checked . An independent guide for cleared employees, not legal advice and not a substitute for your FSO's or agency's instructions. If a rule here and your briefing disagree, follow the briefing and ask your security office which is current.