Transferring from one Fed agency to another - how long does the security process take?

[Anonymous]

Currently a Fed and accepted an offer with another agency. Slated to start in December, the agencies’ HR departments are already talking to each other.

I’ve got a Public Trust clearance with my current position; I had to fill out SF85P again, as it’s been a decade.

How long does this process usually take? Will they want an interview, or do they usually skip that for a current Fed?

I’d really like to start my new job before year end, so I’m hoping this doesn’t get hung up. It’s not clear to me how long the process is taking these days and the onboarding agency couldn’t tell me much about timing. Stuff was approved by the agency and sent to the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) for final approval.

[Anonymous]

IME they technically don't transfer it: the new agency does the investigation over again. It goes faster because all the paperwork already exists and you're a "known quantity" but they still do the legwork.

However, it should be fine. Public Trust is not that high, people with higher clearances transfer agencies all the time and just have an interim clearance until everything's complete.

[Anonymous]

It depends on the clearance level but it seems like it’s another public trust, so it shouldn’t take too long. Some clearances are reciprocal but public trust isn’t technically a clearance.

[Anonymous]

Mine took about 4 days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mine took about 4 days.

Good to know. Was this recent? Did you have to do an in-person or Zoom interview with the investigator?

[Anonymous]

when i did this (public trust to public trust) pre-pandemic, the agency did a investigation, and sent an interviewer to my previous agency while i was still there *and* interviewed colleagues and my on-paper boss at the time. (who hated my guts but prudently approved the transfer.)

but i started while the investigation was still pending, I think it cleared a few months after.

my first job, the background investigation didn't complete until over a year.

[Anonymous]

SF85 should be easy and probably would be a week or so. It is a fancy background and credit check and not a Clearence. For Clearence, you would be filling out SF-86.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Currently a Fed and accepted an offer with another agency. Slated to start in December, the agencies’ HR departments are already talking to each other.

I’ve got a Public Trust clearance with my current position; I had to fill out SF85P again, as it’s been a decade.

How long does this process usually take? Will they want an interview, or do they usually skip that for a current Fed?

I’d really like to start my new job before year end, so I’m hoping this doesn’t get hung up. It’s not clear to me how long the process is taking these days and the onboarding agency couldn’t tell me much about timing. Stuff was approved by the agency and sent to the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) for final approval.

You might want to ask the HR point of contact you're working with for the new job (whoever sent you the offer letter). When I transferred internally within an agency it took months, oddly, with no background investigation difference. The internal badging/security people were just slow.

When I transferred outside to another agency, I had to fill the paperwork again but they did the deeper dive when I was already on board.