Security Clearance for U.S. Foreign Service Officers

[pakigirl]

Dear friends,

I want to become a Foreign Service Officer, but I am worried about GETTING A SECURITY CLEARANCE as a 2nd-gen immigrant whose parents are still Pakistani citizens. I was born in America (U.S. citizen by birth) and I haven't been to Pakistan in over 2 decades. However, my parents go every now and then and may own property there. On top of this, I also have some relatives in America in jail. Another problem: I studied abroad A LOT as a ugrad.

The only thing that works in my favor is that I have 'rare' critical language skills in Urdu (not completely fluent, but I was formally tested by the State Dept as 'advanced intermediate', whatever that means). Is it worthwhile for me to try to become an FSO with my critical language skills, or should I just drop the dream?

[verdigris]

While I'm no expert on the security clearance process, given the amount of time that it takes from taking the initial written FSO exam to even reaching that step of the application process, I would certainly recommend that you take the first step and make a go of it. Don't self-select yourself out of the service if it really is your dream to pursue a FSO career; go ahead and make your application with no regrets and let the government decide for themselves.

In any case, you can expect to wait for months or even a year to reach the security clearance phase if you pass the exam, so it gives you time to gain other skills and pursue other opportunities while you wait, so at least you can have a Plan B.

[FSOonthego]

First of all, no one can tell you for sure whether you're going to get a security clearance until you've actually been investigated and adjudicated through the security clearance process.

While each situation is different, I know many first and second generation immigrants who have been able to obtain security clearances without any major problems. Diplomatic Security will look at the big picture of your circumstances and use all the info available to them to adjudicate your security clearance. They will look at your ties to the USA vs ties to other countries, your criminal history, your credit and financial history, and look to see if there are any vulnerabilities that would make you more likely to divulge classified information.

Your travel history may require additional information and it may require additional time to resolve, but many, many FSO applicants have spent significant time overseas and the Dept of State is used to dealing with this. For example, I had to sign a form allowing the Dept of State to request the equivalent of an FBI criminal record check on me in a country where I had previously lived. It didn't add too much time to the request, but did require me to look up some additional info.

Whether or not you speak a Critical Needs Language or not will have no bearing whatsoever on your security clearance. Diplomatic Security does not care that you speak a language, they just care whether or not you can be trusted with classified information.

Hope this helps a bit. Unfortunately, it's impossible to say whether or not anyone will get a clearance or not with any degree of certainty until that person is actually investigated and all of the facts are examined.

[washdc]

Are you a dual citizen or solely a US citizen?

I think most of all, with your background your security process will take *much* longer than say the average person.. for each study abroad experience you have to list a person you knew who can verify you were there.. and if you studied or traveled often it's quite a pain in the butt, not to mention you start running out of people.

How high of a clearance you get cleared for might also be dependent upon your background. I don't think you should have a problem it just might take a really long time because they will throughly investigate your familial ties to Pakistan and you will have to list that your parents are from Pakistan, etc.

But I wouldn't worry about it.. as someone else mentioned. The Foreign Service exam could take well over a year, and even if you get through until the very end, the security process will be out of your hands anyway.

[charlotte_asia]

Echoing what others have said: having family in Pakistan or other sensitive country is not going to bar you in and of itself from a security clearance. I know Pakistani-Americans and Kashmiri-Americans who were born overseas, naturalized, and received clearances. I also know FSOs with family members with records or run-ins with the law who have obtained clearances.

It certainly will take some time. One thing you can do in the meantime is start gathering all your old addresses, contacts, references, their contact info, etc. e-Quip (the form you fill out for your clearance) is dozens of pages long and asks for extensive information. Getting all of that in place now could help when you quickly turn around your e-Quip and start the clearance process.

Your critical language skills (by advance intermediate I'm guessing that's a 2+ or a 3 on the language scale?) are certainly going to give you a bump on the waitlist if you pass your orals. In other words, you will receive extra language points over someone who just knows Spanish. Like FSOonthego said though, it doesn't impact your security clearance.

The FS really values diversity, so you could be quite an asset to the Department. It would be worth applying, if that's really what you want to do.

[MYRNIST]

I would echo what Charlotte said about filling out your EQuip ahead of time. Not only will it make you better prepared, it also will hopefully let you identify and eliminate any perceived conflict of interest ahead of time (rather than letting the investigators find it.) Part of a family trust fund held in Pakistan? Stand to inherit money/land from there? etc. When I filled out my SF-91 (basically the same thing), I found several minor things like that I never even thought of before.

I also would say that the traveling abroad as an undergrad is what you should be least concerned about. The nature of universities means there is an extensive paper trail documenting when, why, with who, etc. you did things with. Not that they won't look into it (obviously they will), but it's clearly above-ground and legit. What freaks investigators out (this is direct from a family friend in the FBI who works in background checks) is long unexplained trips, few/sketchy references, and circumstances where the host country gained some monetary or emotional leverage over you (fell in love with a foreign national and moved there, long-time foreign employee, etc.)

Edited May 7, 2012 by MYRNIST

[OregonGal]

I have to say this is a very edifying thread for me on the security clearance process! I've always found it odd when people tell me that it can be difficult for those who have been overseas to gain clearances, since those are the same people that agencies like State are targeting.

[FSOonthego]

A couple of extra points, first, be 100% up front with your investigator. It's far better to admit something up front than to conceal it and let an investigator find something of concern. A lot of things can be discussed and worked through, but concealing something really hurts your credibility.

Second, it is possible to be granted a security clearance with the Dept of State but then be precluded from serving in a particular country because of especially strong ties to that country, ties to government officials, etc. All of that is adjudicated on a case by case basis and there's no way to know how it will shake out until you get your clearance at the earliest, but possibly not until you're considered for a specific assignment later in your career. I've known a few people who have been assigned to a place but had the assignment broken when Diplomatic Security reviewed them for that specific assignment.

[MYRNIST]

For anyone looking for more information on how the security clearance process works, and how you can best prepare for it: this is a professionally written guide put out by ClearanceJobs (a large job search service for cleared professionals). It covers most anything you, as an applicant, need to know. On their website they have a wealth of additional information.

Hope this helps.