Security Clearance (SC) Q&A Read first before asking questions

[ujjain]

I must have been wrong, I got confused a few times, maybe it was a condition of the US SC. I hope not to be spreading false information.

I should be fine as a EU national getting a security clearance in the UK then?

[stek]

I have read somewhere that foreigners cannot get SC before they spend some time in the country, correct? I have been in the UK since March 2014.

And where before?

[ujjain]

I have read somewhere that foreigners cannot get SC before they spend some time in the country, correct? I have been in the UK since March 2014.

[stek]

Which bit: the Canadian bureaucracy or advising people to lie on the clearance application?

Quite easy to get away with it, they are just as incompetent as any other UK Gov agency.

They totally missed my membership of SPGB and CND when a student when they PV'd me in the 90's and this time didn't know I was previously cleared a short time ago or that my Russian partner recently became British.

They're not some fantastic mystical Super-Agency......

[malvolio]

This is ridiculous.

Which bit: the Canadian bureaucracy or advising people to lie on the clearance application?

[knight007]

it's a pain in the ass.

I lived and worked in Canada for 6 months and then went back in the UK, landed a job that required SC. They asked me to prove I had no criminal record for the time I lived in Canada. According to the Canadian Police, to get this criminal record you'd need to:

1) get your fingerprints taken (UK police don't do it so you need to go to a private company and pay £100 give or take for paper fingerprints...because if you apply from outside of Canada you can apply just with paper fingerprints)

2A) send your paper fingerprints to the "royal mounted police", pay the fee and wait for 22 ******* weeks (the amount of time it takes them to process paper fingerprints)

2B) send your paper fingerprints to a private company based in Canada. Such company will scan your paper fingerprints and make an electric copy and they will send everything to the royal mounted police, which will process your electronic fingerprints and application in more or less one week (Cost of this...a couple of hundreds Canadian dollars)

Just lie and tell you never lived in Canada

This is ridiculous.

[MattZani]

I am born n raised in the UK. I have worked in UK all my career. However the last contract I did was based over in Canada for 5 months.

I am now back in the UK and applied for a Home office job. However the agent said there's no point in him putting me forward for the job because I worked in Canada for the last 5 months.

Has my agent got this right?...is my Canadian job history going play a part in getting SC clearance?

it's a pain in the ass.

I lived and worked in Canada for 6 months and then went back in the UK, landed a job that required SC. They asked me to prove I had no criminal record for the time I lived in Canada. According to the Canadian Police, to get this criminal record you'd need to:

1) get your fingerprints taken (UK police don't do it so you need to go to a private company and pay £100 give or take for paper fingerprints...because if you apply from outside of Canada you can apply just with paper fingerprints)

2A) send your paper fingerprints to the "royal mounted police", pay the fee and wait for 22 ******* weeks (the amount of time it takes them to process paper fingerprints)

2B) send your paper fingerprints to a private company based in Canada. Such company will scan your paper fingerprints and make an electric copy and they will send everything to the royal mounted police, which will process your electronic fingerprints and application in more or less one week (Cost of this...a couple of hundreds Canadian dollars)

Just lie and tell you never lived in Canada

[knight007]

Overseas work history

I am born n raised in the UK. I have worked in UK all my career. However the last contract I did was based over in Canada for 5 months.

I am now back in the UK and applied for a Home office job. However the agent said there's no point in him putting me forward for the job because I worked in Canada for the last 5 months.

Has my agent got this right?...is my Canadian job history going play a part in getting SC clearance?

[Scruff]

Read the prerequisites, and if that stipulates 5 years then that answers your questions? If you have a partner then there are other prerequisites for him/her which will be taken into account, such as nationality, residence, criminal record etc. The most important thing when applying is not to lie or withhold the truth.

[mlucch]

nearly 4 years in the UK, Powerchex done recently. can I get SC?

Hi all,

I'm an Italian citizen, been in the UK for nearly 4 years now (january), have been PowerChex d for my current employer around 1,8year ago (bank in the city) and now consideing another job offer which demands SC.
I've heard that PowerChex does CTC, but not too sure. In anyway CTC I think is not a concern for me but unsure in relation to the 5 year UK residence treshold. It stats it should be 5 year so I understand there is some flexibility there.
I am quite sure all the other items will be alright, finance, edudaction, background and all that. The only bit that concerns me is the nearly 4 years residence.
If I go ahead and take the offer and get SC denied then I lose both my current and prospect job. big deal.

Anyone been in similar situation or know anyone that got SC with less than 5 year residency?
Wondering if its the case that if less than 5 years than the other items will become more important and more strict.

Any thoughts much appreciated.

Cheers
M.