Secret Clearance Granted
Timeline:
May 2026: submitted SF-86
June 2026: interim secret denied
July 2026: interview completed, 2 follow up questions from an investigator later in the month
August 2026: reached out to my security specialist to ask for a status update, 2 days later the secret clearance was granted
One reference contacted. Whole process was less than 3 months.
Yellow / Red flags:
Numerous foreign contacts but all from friendly countries; one contact served in their country’s government. Lots of drug use that stopped around 3 years ago. Included psychedelics (one time in a foreign country), cocaine, frequent marijuana use, and a couple other things like that. Funny enough, they didn’t seem to care about the drug use, they really cared about the foreign contact from another country’s govt (obvious in hindsight I guess).
If I could offer any advice: in addition to being 100% honest, I’d be as specific and give as much context as possible (especially in the interview). On the form, I didn’t leave anything blank - if I didn’t know something, I hunted down a family member or friend and got that info from them. Giving them all the info (I think) means they don’t have to find it themselves.
Finally, this subreddit is awesome and provided lots of good advice. Good luck everyone!