Ok haha so I should be fine. Did those who did not get cleared till late August wait to give their employer's their resignation and make housing arrangements until after they were cleared? I'm trying to give as much notice as possible but don't feel comfortable putting in my resignation without a final offer. I just don't really know how to go about this or plan. It's going to be a pretty big move for me. My security person was pretty clear that I should not contact her again.. but do you think it is ok for me to contact her again?
Do you know the reasons why someone might fail E-clearance? I received my tentative on June 20, Security info on June 30, and did all the e-QIP and fingerprinting stuff the following week. and haven't heard anything. My HR person just keeps telling me she hasn't heard anything from security. I know the background check process takes a while but I'm starting to get worried now that we're in August. Does this seem normal to anyone? I'm trying not to stress.. but I just need to know because I'm about to have to make some very crucial decisions!
I'll do my best to answer all of your questions, last year before becoming a PHAP I reviewed 55 e-Quips prior to sending them to OPM for another agency. People can, and do fail the e-Quip, even though public trust has a comparatively low bar. Reasons are numerous but most often come down to:
1. Lying: if they catch you in a lie your generally done. This is different than on honest omission, if you forgot to put down the apartment you lived in for a 62 days between freshman and sophomore years of college that's fine, if you didn't put down the job you had for 3 years and were fired from when you were caught stealing, that's a lie. Somehow I forgot to put down my brother on my relatives section, they found this suspicious.
2. Criminal history: doesn't necessarily fail you but it can, especially if it's a violent crime, involves theft or shows a reason why you are not worthy of trust.
3. Drug use: sustained periods of drug use can cause you to fail, depending on the substance, duration and frequency of use, and how recent the use was.
4. Poor credit: (no credit is fine) A history of poor credit can cause you to fail, at some point you'll probably have access to records with people names addresses, social security numbers, and other PII that you could use to steal an identity or sell to those who could. This is a reason that people often are surprised to learn about.
These checks vary in the length they take, I was able to start my previous position before being cleared but when I first underwent mine in 2014, I submitted an e-Quip in March, heard from an investigator in July, was interviewed in August and cleared in October. It generally only takes a few weeks though, but sometimes investigators are busier than others, or the people they contact to verify your information may take longer to respond to them.
I was previously cleared but I still waited to hand in my resignation. I gave one months notice, in order to give them plenty of time, and so that I wouldn't be cut out of projects early due to my planned departure. I traveled to my host site a week prior to the start of the job, found a place to live and then returned home packed a truck and moved 12 hours away the weekend prior to starting.
Tl;dnr:
1. It's normal, and you'll probably be fine.
2. DO NOT contact your security person if they clearly told you not to. They're busy and bugging them will make them go slower, not faster.