Refused SC clearance. Looking for people experienced with the SC process.

[hellsheep]

Hello,

This is my first post here. This Summer I finished my undergraduate degree and was one of the top members of my class. I was then approached by the University to undergo a PhD. The PhD would be funded by a top secret arm of the government and to do it I would need an SC clearance. This process begun at the very end of July of this year.

I was very honest on the form. I told them everything I could think of at the time. I will just tell you exactly what I told them at the time, obviously without revealing who I actually am.

I'm Male
I don't notice any immediate problems with my family. No criminal records etc.
I myself have never had any real problems with the law either. I have had a speeding ticket and I received a caution for driving the wrong way down a one way street (accidentally I might add). I forgot to declare this in my original form but I wrote to my sponsor about not including this information and that I wanted to formally declare this and they said it would be fine.
The only real problem I can see is that I have a foreign girlfriend from China who lives with me, which I declared. She's a student here. Could that be it? The work I would be involved with has nothing to do with foreign countries so I can't see that as a problem.
Financially, I obviously have student loans but I've never been in debt, had a ccj etc. I've never even taken out a loan apart from the incredibly standard student loan.

I know that just these small pieces of information are not a lot to go on [mod: ] if you feel there is something missing please leave me an enquiry. In particular, I want to know if people with experience in security clearance process think that the foreign girlfriend might be a problem, or if you feel that the late declaration of the speeding ticket and caution might be the problem. If you think this is relatively minor, perhaps it's something in my family that I don't know about. Working for this organisation is kind of a dream for me and I wonder if I can never ever get a clearance or if it's something I might be able to get in a few years.

I'm very grateful for any feedback on this, reiterating, I know that it's hard to deduce why I would be failed a clearance since you don't actually have access to what the vetting agency has access to.

[cojak]

Are you applying for SC or DV here?

I've removed a stack of info here - SC only needs a fraction of this stuff!

PS. And have you NEVER heard of big data? You put enough info on here to track you down relatively easily!

[SueEllen]

The particular country your girlfriend is from is an issue particularly as you live together as a couple.

The only people I know who were told not to bother even attempting to get security clearance came from that country.

Foreigners from friendly countries can get clearance if they live here long enough.....

[malvolio]

If someone tells you why you failed clearance, it rather blows the whole purpose of vetting since you then know what to lie about. You failed: shame perhaps, but end of story.

[cherhill]

Hello,

This is my first post here. This Summer I finished my undergraduate degree and was one of the top members of my class. I was then approached by the University to undergo a PhD. The PhD would be funded by a top secret arm of the government and to do it I would need an SC clearance. This process begun at the very end of July of this year.

I was very honest on the form. I told them everything I could think of at the time. I will just tell you exactly what I told them at the time, obviously without revealing who I actually am.

I'm Male, <mod snip>
<more mod snip>
Mother and father then split up in the early 2000s and remarried. On my adopted Father's side, I can't see that there would be any problems. He holds a very respectable job, no record etc. My mother has some debt issues but again, no serious problems with the law that I know of. I don't know much about her husband.
I myself have never had any real problems with the law either. I have had a speeding ticket and I received a caution for driving the wrong way down a one way street (accidentally I might add). I forgot to declare this in my original form but I wrote to my sponsor about not including this information and that I wanted to formally declare this and they said it would be fine.
The only real problem I can see is that I have a foreign girlfriend from China who lives with me, which I declared. She's a student here. Could that be it? The work I would be involved with has nothing to do with foreign countries so I can't see that as a problem.
Financially, I obviously have student loans but I've never been in debt, had a ccj etc. I've never even taken out a loan apart from the incredibly standard student loan.

I know that just these small pieces of information are not a lot to go on [mod: ] if you feel there is something missing please leave me an enquiry. In particular, I want to know if people with experience in security clearance process think that the foreign girlfriend might be a problem, or if you feel that the late declaration of the speeding ticket and caution might be the problem. If you think this is relatively minor, perhaps it's something in my family that I don't know about. Working for this organisation is kind of a dream for me and I wonder if I can never ever get a clearance or if it's something I might be able to get in a few years.

I'm very grateful for any feedback on this, reiterating, I know that it's hard to deduce why I would be failed a clearance since you don't actually have access to what the vetting agency has access to.

None of the reasons you state would prevent you from getting SC. SC clearance is not that difficult to get. However, DV is a whole different thing and you may get refused for having a Chinese girlfriend. However the DV process takes 6-9 months so I doubt if it was DV you are going for. Therefore I am a little confused. Only thing I can think of is you didn't inform them of something that they have later found as they are quite tight on that even if it isn't a big deal.

[hellsheep]

I thought it was obvious from the title but it's for an SC clearance. I could maybe understand if they refused me if I was actually working for them but I'm just doing research on an unclassified thesis. And addressing some of the other replies, I have nothing to lie about because I genuinely have nothing to hide. I fear that it's probably someone I'm close to instead which frustrates me because then I can never get clearance and that's not really in my control.

But anyway, keeping this post up is probably a bad idea so I'll request it to be closed in a few days. Thanks everyone for your contribution.

[turbowoowoo]

As someone who is cleared myself it is all about honesty.

from what you have written it boils down to two things:

1, you missed off your cautions (honesty and integrity are key)
2, your partner's country of origin (or her background)

SC is not really interested in your deeper background, just that you can be trusted and you would not be a potential blackmail target

[BlasterBates]

Surely you can do a PhD on another topic. I would move on.

Security has different classifications and top secret is the highest classification, so this may have been more rigorous than the SC other contractors go through.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classified_information

https://www.sis.gov.uk/careers/worki...clearance.html

There are four main levels of Government security clearance: Basic Check, Counter-Terrorist Check, Security Check and Developed Vetting.

I had a quick search, and in the US having a Chinese girlfriend may well block you for SC in the intelligence services. Apparently your dating history counts, and the argument is (according to a couple of blogs), if you fall out she may give sensitive information to her government. Didn't fnd anything on this in the UK, but if this is a high level of SC then it may well be relevant.

The other alternative is they found your minor traffic offence and although you informed them maybe the information didn't get passed on to the right person in a timely manner and they failed you. Personally I find this less likely.

I've never been through SC personally but I'm familiar with IT security policies, so I was aware of the use of classifications.

[malvolio]

...snip...
I've never been through SC personally but I'm familiar with IT security policies, so I was aware the use of classifications.

But I have, and I have worked with the Cabinet Office on clearance issues. You won't be told why you failed for the reason I gave earlier, so it's pointless speculating. It's a risk assessment exercise primarily so discussing the possible risks is not going to happen

[BlasterBates]

But I have, and I have worked with the Cabinet Office on clearance issues. You won't be told why you failed for the reason I gave earlier, so it's pointless speculating. It's a risk assessment exercise primarily so discussing the possible risks is not going to happen

No-one disputes that, but there's no harm in pondering what the problem was if the OP wants to work in this area, to assess his chances of getting work there in the future.

It's pointless for you, but not for him.

Obviously he's a security risk. From the information he's given either it was not "being honest" (traffic offence) or because he has a Chinese girlfriend. Could be either, but no harm in thinking about other problems.

It is precisely because they don't discuss the reason for rejection that we're discussing it instead.

I'm also familiar with the processes by which risk assessment is carried out, and it just involves common sense (i.e. threats analysis), so we can certainly speculate here and come up with reasonable answers.

Also through discussing it we've established there are different clearance levels, and hence because he failed this level doesn't mean he wouldn't pass less rigorous checks or even more rigorous checks in a different area.