Extensive background checks are necessary to obtain a federal security clearance.
Federal security clearance is necessary for many jobs that require access to sensitive information. Although almost any agency could potentially require security clearance, agencies that routinely deal with matters of national security, such as the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), require most if not all employees to gain security clearance. Private contractors who work with government agencies may also be required to have security clearance.
FBI
Secret clearance is for people who need access to Confidential or Secret information. To gain Secret clearance, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) performs a background check with a number of other government agencies as well as a credit check. The applicant must fill out forms with extensive background information to assist the FBI in conducting this check. For Top Secret clearance, a 10-year background investigation is conducted in addition to the normal background checks.
CIA
Getting security clearance to work for the CIA is a lengthy process meant to determine whether or not an applicant can be trusted with national secrets, has conflicting loyalties, either with foreign nationals or foreign governments or has committed acts that open the applicant up to future coercion. All applicants undergo a polygraph as part of the clearance process, and even those who are eventually given security clearance will be re-investigated on a regular basis. The initial investigation begins when an applicant accepts a conditional offer of employment from the CIA.
State Department
The U.S. Department of State may require Confidential, Secret or Top Secret security clearance, depending on the decision of the Bureau of Human Resources. The Department of State lists clear "adjudicative guidelines" for security clearance: "allegiance to the United States; foreign influence; foreign preference; sexual behavior; personal conduct; financial considerations; alcohol consumption; drug involvement; emotional, mental, and personality disorders; criminal conduct; security violations; outside activities; and misuse of information technology systems."
Denial of Security Clearance
According to the CIA, a person who has illegally used drugs within the last 12 months will generally be denied security clearance; older instances of drug abuse will also be taken into account. Both the CIA and the Department of State point out that extensive foreign activities and contacts require longer investigations, even though they do not disqualify a person in and of themselves.
Maintaining Security Clearance
If someone who has already obtained security clearance applies for a new job that requires the same level of clearance, the former clearance will often be accepted if there have not been any major changes in the applicant's living situation and the prior investigation was relatively recent. For a person has not worked for the federal government for 2 years, the security clearance will generally be considered to have lapsed.
