Do you think I will fail security clearance?

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Several_Village7935@reddit

I have two convictions for possession and supplying Class C drugs. Would it be a definite no for me getting a security clearance. Both offences more than 10 years ago and spent.

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I have an SC clearance coming up. I have two spent convictions for traffic (2011 & 2019), both LC20 " Driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence." I received 3 points each time and a fine of £180. I will be 100% honest on the form. Would convictions of this sort result in clearance failure?

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Fearless_Lemon7848@reddit

Guys this is a full disclosure. I am applying for SC and I am stuck on how much to disclose. 5 years ago, I was Stealing money from the tills at my job which I have declared on the form. I had a meeting and meeting notes were taken, and I was suspended. Should I add this to the additional information section? I have since had 5 cash handling jobs with no further incidents and do not intend on doing this ever again.

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Djinjja-Ninja@reddit

Assuming this is SC then the trick is to admit *everything*. Generally they don't care what spent convictions you have, as long as they aren't fraud related, *because they already know*, they are seeing if you are truthful about it. Security clearance is about whether you can be trusted and whether there is anything that could be used to compromise you in the future. That's why (IIRC it's been a few years now), the question says something like "all official interactions with the police or security services including traffic offences but not parking tickets". **List. Everything. They already know.** First time I went through it, one of my colleagues nearly didn't get his because he neglected to put down a street caution for cannabis possession from when he was 14, because spent juvenile convictions don't generally turn up. I admitted to regular cannabis use on my last one and still got a 10 year SC clearance.

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St2Crank@reddit

This is great advice. I’ve not been through security clearance myself, but I’ve been questioned as someone who was a friend of someone needing clearance. They gave me a right grilling, it came across like they were trying to make sure everything they said matched up.

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awaywithu1234@reddit

What sort of questions did they ask?

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Djinjja-Ninja@reddit

If they were talking to non-family members then that likely even higher than SC, something like DV or even eDV.

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jonewer@reddit

> They already know Should add here that if they don't know and they later find out and you didn't disclose it, you're fucked.

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Admirable_Buddy_972@reddit (OP)

You sir are a hero. I thank you.

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-WilliamMButtlicker_@reddit

Juat to elaborate, I was convicted of a serious assault at 16 and received a custodial sentence. I then had a driving offence not long after. Got my SC no bother. I did, however, almost lose my SC when renewing by being lazy with my answers. Just be entirely honest, list everything, regardless of how important you think it is (or isnt) and you shouldn't have any problems.

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TheRiddler1976@reddit

This is great advice. They are essentially looming for two things. Can you be trusted, and can you be bought. This is why they go into details of your finances etc

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Nahgetout@reddit

Hi, sorry to jump in on this. Currently doing a clearance form myself. If there’s an investigation/court hearing against someone else where I’m the victim (assaulted), will I have to list that? Or is it any investigations against me?

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Djinjja-Ninja@reddit

> Currently doing a clearance form myself. If there’s an investigation/court hearing against someone else where I’m the victim (assaulted), will I have to list that? I would do. Its better to list it and them not care than not list it and you get refused clearance.

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Nahgetout@reddit

Great, thank you!

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Kronenburg_1664@reddit

Damn I know my forgetful ass would forget something from 15 years ago and they'd burst into the room like "WELL WELL WELL MISTER BUS LANE!"

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soiledpantsforsale@reddit

This is correct. A colleague of mine who has worked at a prison for 2 years lost his job when renewing his SC by forgetting to mention something that he had previously told them about. Some minor offence from when he was a teenager

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Djinjja-Ninja@reddit

> forgetting to mention something that he had previously told them about. Funnily enough, this is why I declared ongoing cannabis use on my SC *renewal*, as I couldn't remember if I had put it down before 5 years previously.

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narn555@reddit

so they just don’t care about your cannabis use or maybe you have medical card? what about drug testing in any environment including random tests at traffic stop? if it proves there’s thc in your system but you smoked two days ago, you are propably still gonna get screwed. also idk what’s your position and won’t ask but maybe it’s irrelevant to drug tests and i’m just theorising

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Djinjja-Ninja@reddit

They don't care about the use, just that I admit to it so that it's not leverage for someone to blackmail me (and no its not medical). Security Clearance is not generally about what you have done, but whether it could be used against you. I freely admit to both the Security vetting process and my employers that I smoke, it has no direct relevance to my work or my ability to perform it.

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Particular-Fix3630@reddit

I am not dissimilar and I got through.

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windol1@reddit

This is bang on the money. From what OP has said, none of the offences sound as if they could cause a problem, like you said so long as OP is honest with them then they'll feel they are able to trust OP.

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sundowner777@reddit

Excellent answer from someone who has clearly been through the process.

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Djinjja-Ninja@reddit

Yep, twice through the Home Office and once partially through the Border Agency (due to needing a variance as apparently a FCO SC isn't the same as a BA SC), and 3 times through similar processes for different UK police forces (NPPV Level 3)

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sundowner777@reddit

Welcome to the wild wonderful world of the FCDO… 🤦‍♂️

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BennyInThe18thArea@reddit

This is the only correct answer in this thread.

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BiteAccomplished9329@reddit

I doubt it as long as you're honest. I have a conviction for importation and selling of class A drugs and I got SC cleared in my tech role. However, one of our clients was NCA who had their own clearance forms to do (had to list everything to the tiniest detail about you and all your family and friends) and denied me repeatedly, which is kinda fair enough given that's one of the big things they deal with lol. Anyways it didn't affect my job there, just meant I couldnt work with that client. Side note - I always inform the employer of my criminal record before signing the contract, just to be safe

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XiiMoss@reddit

Meh I’ve worked with people who have been security cleared and had convictions for assault when they were younger. You’ll be fine

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_thebills@reddit

Well for a start you’ve just publicly stated that you’re going for a job at a defence firm on a forum. Not off to a good start chief.

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mpsamuels@reddit

Another voice to echo, just make sure you mention the conviction and driving offences where appropriate on the forms and you'll likely have no bother at all. The purpose of the check is to ensure you are trustworthy, not to ensure that you're a model citizen who's never been in any form of bother! For example, I'd imagine they are more likely to approve someone who's served a prison sentence but fully declared this on their application form, than they would be to approve someone who is perceived to have knowingly been dishonest about an outstanding bank loan or their monthly mortgage payments. The applicant who deliberately lies about their outstanding debts will be seen as having something to hide and potentially open to compromise/bribery while the one who willingly declared a prison sentence (depending on what the offence was, of course) will probably just be seen as having made a daft mistake that they served their punishment for.

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slightly_OCD@reddit

I got SC even with court appearance and being bound over to keep the peace for some stupid argument at a football match which escalated in to an arrest, as others have said, I included this on the form and no issues You just need to be honest

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Flashbambo@reddit

My mate has a criminal record after getting into a fight. He's a civil servant with DV clearance, awaiting confirmation of STRAP

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ambadawn@reddit

You should tell your mate that he isn't supposed to tell people that he has been read onto STRAP.

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Flashbambo@reddit

I'm sure he knows that

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ambadawn@reddit

Then why did he tell you? And why did you post it on the Internet? Time to submit aftercare incident reports!

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Flashbambo@reddit

Probably because he's an idiot, and I posted because I didn't know. I'm going to delete that comment now anyway, just to be safe

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Impossible_Dot_9074@reddit

The law was changed a few years ago so that even certain minor offences, even if you have multiple ones, can be filtered and will not appear on a DBS check. But it does depend on what the offences were.

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Djinjja-Ninja@reddit

Security Clearance *is not* DBS. Security Clearance will 100% flag *everything*, sealed juvenile, traffic convictions from 20+ years ago, everything. They *explicitly* tell you to put down *everything* with the exception of parking tickets.

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Impossible_Dot_9074@reddit

In that case the OP just has to honest and declare all past offences.

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LarryLaurence@reddit

I have SC and a spent conviction. The key here is SPENT convictions, these are usually spent 5 years after the offence. (Excluding serious offences) You might struggle to get DV though so bear that on mind for the future 👍🏻 Just be truthful, lying will get you knowhere

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bushidojet@reddit

Virtually everyone here is correct. I knew people with historical convictions who sailed through DV vetting . They get pissy about dishonesty and weird financial things but if you tell them literally everything you will be fine. A DV interview can be quite fun as you get to admit to everything you have ever done!

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test_test_1_2_3@reddit

Security vetting is not about finding candidates who have never done anything wrong. It’s about identifying if there are personal details that could make you a risk in revealing classified information. If all your previous exploits are more than a year or 2 in the past and don’t present any ongoing risks then they will not reject you on that basis. They will reject your clearance if they believe you can be leveraged (any kind of addiction, bad breakups where threats to reveal details could be used against you, debts, etc). They will also reject you if they think you might voluntarily reveal classified information. If you’re going for SC you likely won’t even have an interview, you’ll just fill out the form and then find out a few months later. If it’s DV you will have a minimum of a 3hr interview where the vetting agent will go through every aspect of your life (using the information you provided in the application form) and ask you a lot of questions. They will then do further follow up interviews if they find any areas of concern or need more information. DV is invasive in this regard, SC far less so. Just be completely open and honest throughout the process and you have nothing to fear.

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Scary-Jury1059@reddit

You'll be fine. I've seen people get SC and even DV with worse. Don't lie on the application. Notify them of everything and you'll be fine

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External-Piccolo-626@reddit

Just to add to this, the last one I did asked for any betting I’d done and also any Social Media accounts for me or any family. That was a new one for me.

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qcinc@reddit

Just hammering home what everyone else has said - you will almost certainly be fine as long ad you tell them a out literally everything.

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Twizard-Twerling@reddit

You’re way over the time that it could effect you, don’t worry good luck

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Admirable_Buddy_972@reddit (OP)

Really appreciate this thank you.

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Djinjja-Ninja@reddit

In case you haven't read the rest of the thread, this is 100% wrong. You *must* list them or they will very much affect your application. The fact you have them doesn't really matter, but you **must** list them on the forms, not putting them down is grounds for refusing security clearance due to the fact that you are willing to hide them from the people *who hold all of the records and already know what you did*, and this makes you a possible target for extorsion.

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Djinjja-Ninja@reddit

They won't affect the clearance *unless they do not mention them*. Security clearance is more based on whether you can be trusted and/or compromised. The most basic test of this is whether you answer their questions truthfully, because they already know about any/all convictions. A colleague of mine had a juvenile caution flagged up when he went through SC in his 40s.

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LinkedInInquisitor@reddit

AFAIK the goal of looking at stuff like this and your financial situation when it comes to security clearance is mostly to see if you could be corrupted by a foreign country. If you have a lot of debts you're a risk because you're likely to accept money for example. I don't see the kind of pressure you'd be under for crimes you've committed 20 years ago that have already been judged.

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Tuarangi@reddit

It's also about honesty, they *will* know if someone had a police caution at 16, it's not about you getting caught smoking weed at 16 but rather checking you're declaring it so show you're trustable rather than hiding it and thus what else you might be hiding

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a3diff@reddit

Assuming SC and not DV, then you will most likely be fine. Just be 100% honest with them - they will know if your not. If DV, then they might dig in to the old offences a bit more, but as long as you are 100% honest and open, you should be OK. One of the main things they are looking for when clearing you is that you are honest. They already know the answers to most of the questions they ask you.

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anunkneemouse@reddit

20 years on, I'd highly doubt it. They mostly check for a criminal record in the past 10 years or if you've murdered someone/done a treason.

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Djinjja-Ninja@reddit

No, that is wrong. For SC clearance they check *everything*, spent, sealed, whatever. They expect you to be 100% truthful and if you neglect to mention anything then they can *and will* deny you clearance. Cannabis warning from when you were 14? That turns up in your 40s, happened to a colleague of mine. I have gone through official SC twice, and equivalent for UK police forces 3 times.

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Tuarangi@reddit

Exactly, for SC at my old job we had to provide the nth degree of data down to parents *place* of birth let alone DOB, plus any credit problems like if you were *ever* a bankrupt etc. People who haven't done SC checks shouldn't comment

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Admirable_Buddy_972@reddit (OP)

No murder or treason thankfully. This makes me feel better thank you.

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keep_giving_up@reddit

Other than the fact that this comment is wrong…

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Shot-Fruit782@reddit

> No murder or treason thankfully. No murder or treason *yet*. Don't worry, there's still time.

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CassetteLine@reddit

SC is not as intense as you’re fearing. You’ll be fine with those. Like others have said, be honest, list everything, and you’ll have no issues.

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Mr_Gaslight@reddit

The point is to look at the whole person. Everyone has done something dumb - covered for a pal who was not worthy of our friendship, loved in the language of Shakespeare not wisely but too well, made a bad investment, made bad choices with alcohol in your youth. That's life. That's growth. Christ, 16 to 36 is more than half your lifetime ago and I've no doubt they've seen worse. Fess up and be done with it.

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WraithCadmus@reddit

Consider that everyone serving in the Navy has a clearance. No-one has lead a blameless life.

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Ethicsgradien7@reddit

As Northwood let one of our guys in who had done time for armed robbery, I should think you will be okay.

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SirLoinThatSaysNi@reddit

From what I've heard the important thing is to be honest and don't try and hide any of it. They will most likely flag up, but as you've described them I wouldn't have thought they be an issue but if you don't tell them and they do find out that could be bad.

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BrissBurger@reddit

No, I know a couple of people that got cleared with positive vetting to secret level in the 90s with minor criminal records (it was called PV(S)). If you were being negatively vetted then it likely would have an impact but I've never been NV'd and only know one person who has been and he said it was not a pleasant experience as they interviewed friends and family and asked intrusive questions about his private life.

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