How easy to get Security Clearence (SC) for non-BRITs..???

[Peoplesoft bloke]

Getting security clearance is less about how long you have been in the UK and more about how easy it is to trace your whereabouts and activities. Obviously being in the UK for the period they are checking on makes this easier.......
K

We were told by the MOD penpushers who were (not) processing our clearance that we couldn't have SC unless we'd been in Blighty for 3 years - but it could be bobbins, they regularly lost the paperwork and seemed to make the rules up as they went along anyway.

After I had to fill in all the forms a second time (did I mention they lost the fist set?), they demanded a load of info not asked for on the forms........

Frankly, I am glad to be away from the place.

[Keldin]

Getting security clearance is less about how long you have been in the UK and more about how easy it is to trace your whereabouts and activities. Obviously being in the UK for the period they are checking on makes this easier.
I have had a 10 year background check done (non-governmental) and they were able to check the exact dates for my employment history and the places I was living even though it was mostly out of the country.

Unfortunately I think your biggest hurdle will be getting past the agents to get yor cv sent off to the client.
Most agents either believe incorrectly that you have to have clearance to begin working at a secure site and don't put you forward or prefer to send people who have clearance as the client may only pick them.
Many of them also believe that you have to be British to get security clearance or have lived in the UK for the last 5 or 10 years, or both.

Regardless your biggest hurdle will be getting you cv to land on the clients desk rather than getting clearance.

K

[xpatjock]

Security Clearance

Took me almost 6 months to get to BC (Basic Clearance). This because, as a Brit Citizen I had been abroad for over 5 years, and only back in the country for two years when the application was submitted. Apparently even Brits have to be resident in the UK for a min of 3 years to get SC.

(Note: the places I was working abroad were Germany & Spain, on NATO projects with security clearance, (but not via the DVA).

[Peoplesoft bloke]

Not great news, I'm afraid.

In theory this should be possible, even easy, provided you've been in blighty a while (I think 3 years helps) but the poor guys I worked with (all Aussies) were run ragged by the morons doing (or not doing) the paperwork (in fact they kept losing my paperwork too, so it wasn't just directed at the Aussies). In the end they agreed that Basic Check would be enough for the guys they couldn't or wouldn't process ( we weren't doing anything very secret)

[malvolio]

..snip.. The DVA site displays the target clearance timescales, in reality it takes a lot longer.

Yes, but what 99.99% of agents don't realise is that the Cabinet Office used those targets to define their new rules: basically, you can only be refused a role for not having clearance if the role will finish in less time than those targets. They're unrealistic, of course, but they are used.

[Mailman_1]

If you are from OZ (No dual nationality), you probably wont get higher than an SC clearance. SC usually takes around 2-3 months in standard cases. (UK citizen, not lived out of the country in the last 10 yrs with no criminal record and a good credit history etc). I know a nigerian guy whose SC took 18 months to come through though as a marker for people who dont hold a UK passport. BC usually comes through in a few weeks. The DVA site displays the target clearance timescales, in reality it takes a lot longer.

[Mr Crosby]

Mine took 6 weeks but that was the end of 2004.

[TheFaQQer]

SC took me 6 months to get last year, but I'm not foreign so that doesn't really help answer your question I guess.

[malvolio]

thanks for the reply..

You miss the point. There are too many variables, so read the website quoted or even read through the dozen or so threads on this subject that a search for "Security Clearance" will throw up.

Then ask a better question...

[The Lone Gunman]

There was an issue 2 years ago which meant the DVA could not do foreign checks. I fell foul of it as I had been abroad for a number of years. I felt it was fishy as I was working with a number of Indians who had been cleared.
I have been told that this issue has been resolved but I wouldnt be to sure.

Use the link from Mal and drop their customer support and email. They were pretty easy to talk to last time I did.

[Meerkat]

Practically impossible and lengthy. Took them 8 months to tell me 'no' and i'm not in any way a security risk. honest.

[Darren_Test]

thanks for the reply..

[malvolio]

www.dva.mod.uk

Then ask again.

[Darren_Test]

..