The Unofficial SMART Scholarship Forum

Timelines vary. Generally SMART starts in August and connected me to clearance forms September. As part of that, they will ask for FBI finger printing.

If you are on a study abroad, get in touch with SMART and reach out to a local embassy. This happened to me, there was -1- person in all of Japan able to do FBI fingerprinting and that had the cards. I had to run into the consulate general I believe, which was pure coincidence, to find this out.

The time it takes depends on a lot and they are not clear. You will not receive any updates on where things are or how they are progressing, and they gave no one to call to check on it.

My interim clearance was denied, but I was in Japan, so potential for "foreign influence". My second one was denied, I was confused but okay. I had graduated for 8 months before getting approval. It took 3 years, but I think I am an outlier on this one by a wide margin.

I will say, having interim clearance denied was actually kind of nice. They tell you to do classes, but you cannot speed up the program, so you take what interests you at that point. In my case I extended my unemployment, took a class I wanted, and took one of my required math courses a semester early, so I could take something else I wanted.

question wrote: ↑

Sat May 08, 2021 8:48 pm

If someone were to be completely truthful on the SF86 form and is denied a clearance, do they have to pay SMART back? Lots of discussions going on about this and I’m just curious.

Failure to obtain a security clearance will result in a violation of your service agreement and likely termination from the program with the possibility of repayment. In my experience, SMART was not willing to make any kind of statement on whether repayment would be requested if I failed to obtain a clearance. You can always give it a whirl though.

If someone were to be completely truthful on the SF86 form and is denied a clearance, do they have to pay SMART back? Lots of discussions going on about this and I’m just curious.

Step1AWhile wrote:I had to get TS/SCI and even then, they did not talk to my family members. They did, however, talk to all my friends and occupational references who I listed on the SF-86. Choose wisely who you put down.

I got a secret clearance and they mailed questionnaires to every person I listed on my paperwork. Half the people I listed didn't know this would happen (nor did I) and threw away the forms. It didn't help I had to refill out the paperwork 3 times because SMART lost it twice so it was close to a year after I filled out the paperwork initially and notified the people I listed before they got the questionnaires. That being said, I think the program was transitioning security officers during that time and the process should be less agonizing in the future.

Thank you sir. It really helps me. It's one of the countries that are close to US.
Because of my background, I also have sympathy towards to others who have concerns in their background check.
My support is only a year, so hopefully it will be resolved soon. Thank you again for sharing your insight!
Have a great weekend!

guestt wrote:Thanks for sharing the info. Everyone has different stories in their lives. I am worried a bit because of my family's citizenship. I am the only US Citizen in my family, and I hope this won't prevent me from getting the security clearance. When did you start your process? I just want to know how long it took for you to get the clearance.

Thanks!

Roger that. I've run into quite a few people that say things like "Oh, I had a minor B&E or drug charge, will that matter? Oh yeah I still smoke dope on the regular, do they still piss test?" Those people need to get their stuff in check. Yours may take longer because of the family, but that really depends on the scope (likely just a secret) and what country. It may be that you don't get your full clearance until after your internship, but are granted the interim. I'd just make sure you coordinate with the SMART security office in advance to see if they want to get the ball rolling on yours early. Mine was quick, mostly because I'd had clearances in the past. You also may not need the clearance for your internship work. Don't sweat it, just be prepared to stand the hell by and hurry up and wait.

Thanks for sharing the info. Everyone has different stories in their lives. I am worried a bit because of my family's citizenship. I am the only US Citizen in my family, and I hope this won't prevent me from getting the security clearance. When did you start your process? I just want to know how long it took for you to get the clearance.

Thanks!

Step1AWhile wrote:I had to get TS/SCI and even then, they did not talk to my family members. They did, however, talk to all my friends and occupational references who I listed on the SF-86. Choose wisely who you put down.

Or, y'know, don't be a dumbass and get yourself into situations that could compromise your clearance and the national security interests of the United States. Quite frankly, if you are worried about the results of your clearance based on who they may talk to, you might want to reconsider your field of work, for everyone's sake.

Getting back to OP's post though, my clearance came through the April before my internship, so I had a full (non-interim) clearance when I arrived at my duty station.

I had to get TS/SCI and even then, they did not talk to my family members. They did, however, talk to all my friends and occupational references who I listed on the SF-86. Choose wisely who you put down.

For the secret clearance do they talk to family members and those close to you as well? What are these questions like?

Thank you for your answers.
I am a 2016 Cohort, so I am not going to do a summer intern this year.
I am going to be honest, but I have one probation that will be ending in November.
So I am debating whether I should make a petition for early probation because that's the only thing that I am concerned at this point.

Unless your SF is super high security, generally you will get a Interim clearance so that you can do the summer internship.

If you have any red flags you will have to wait for a full clearance adjudication. That can take anywhere from 90 days to years if you have to appeal up the chain. The following site really helped me when I had to appeal. The site contains Industrial Security Clearance Decisions posted by the Government.
http://www.dod.mil/dodgc/doha/industrial/

For Secret the process is fairly painless. Lots of questions that you need to be honest about. It is much simpler to mitigate a mark in your past if you were upfront about it, whereas an intentional lie will get you kicked. Higher levels just add more questions and more investigation into those questions.

I would guess the clearance process can't start until the actual start of an award (August). In case of those who may withdraw after a site visit. The process itself varies person to person and there is no general timeline for how long it can take. The SMART website has a sample questionnaire in their FAQs section on Security Clearance Process, which is helpful.

Hello,

Does anyone know when the security clearance process starts?
How did it happen in previous years? How long does it usually take?