Applying for a security clearance can feel intimidating, especially when you know your background isn’t spotless. While many applicants worry about a single issue, others face a combination of concerns that seem far more difficult to overcome. Foreign contacts, prior arrests, employment terminations, and past drug use can each raise questions during the clearance process. Put them all together, and it’s easy to wonder whether it’s even worth applying.
Attempting TS/sci with a few major red flags:
Foreign Contacts: I have a friend who is a Chinese citizen that I stay in contact with. I met them during college. They currently have an IT job with my state’s transit authority. I also have a friend from Taiwan whom I met in college. I believe he either completed or is required to complete Taiwan’s mandatory military service. We mostly just send each other Instagram reels.
Legal History:
June 2023 – I was accused of a hit-and-run. At the time, I was driving a beat-up car, and the investigator was not able to determine what damage was old and what damage was new. I had time-stamped pictures and videos of my vehicle, which I provided to the investigator. Despite this, he told me he had enough evidence to issue a citation for hit-and-run. At the time, I was not in the state, so he issued a warrant for my arrest without informing me. I was eventually arrested in January 2024. I provided the same evidence to the prosecutor, and the case was dismissed.
December 2024 – My ex-girlfriend and I got into an altercation that resulted in my arrest and a charge of CDV 2. I will not go into too much detail because there are many aspects to the incident, and it would require a separate discussion. Basically, she was trying to destroy my PlayStation, and I was attempting to prevent her from doing so. We ended up wrestling over it. She called the police, and I was arrested for CDV 2. After realizing that I was going to be arrested, she told the officers that she did not want to press charges. Later, she texted me saying she was going to sign an affidavit to get the case over with. She later changed her position and said she would only sign the affidavit if I paid her approximately $2,500. Believing this to be an attempt at bribery, I declined. The prosecutor ultimately dropped the case. Following the incident, I voluntarily completed anger management and domestic violence courses.
Employment Terminations:
March 2024 – I was terminated from my part-time internship for failing to disclose my arrest within the company’s mandatory one-business-day reporting requirement. This was not a cleared position, and I was not aware of the policy at the time. I did disclose the arrest and charge, just not within the required one-business-day period.
December 2023 – I was terminated from a part-time warehouse job. I had only worked two shifts in addition to orientation. I was informed that I did not meet the order-picking speed requirements during my probationary period and was let go.
Drug Use:
I have used marijuana approximately 10 times total, from high school through January 2025. I stopped using it for personal reasons before applying for a cleared position. I also purchased THC products from a licensed dispensary in California around January 2025. Marijuana is the only drug I have ever used. I have no intention to continue usage.
Of course, I have disclosed everything and am ready to talk about any and everything at length as required.
MITIGATING RED FLAGS IN A BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION
The question isn’t whether red flags exist in a background. In this case, they clearly do. The real question is whether those concerns can be mitigated.
One of the biggest misconceptions about the security clearance process is that adjudicators are looking for perfect applicants. They’re not. If perfection were the standard, the cleared workforce would be much smaller than it is today. Instead, adjudicators evaluate whether issues in an applicant’s background create a current security concern and whether there is evidence those concerns are unlikely to recur.
FOREIGN CONTACTS
Nothing described about the foreign contacts appears unusual on its face. Many clearance holders maintain friendships with foreign nationals. The government isn’t concerned that someone met international students in college. Investigators are interested in the nature of those relationships, the frequency of contact, and whether those relationships create a vulnerability to foreign influence. A friend who works for a state transit authority and a college friend in Taiwan with whom someone occasionally exchanges Instagram reels are not automatically disqualifying relationships. What matters is that those relationships are disclosed fully and that questions are answered honestly if investigators request additional details.
THE LEGAL ISSUES
The arrests will almost certainly receive scrutiny. In both incidents, the charges were ultimately dropped. Investigators will still examine the circumstances surrounding the arrests, but adjudicators will also consider the outcomes and extenuating circumstances.
One factor that may help mitigate concerns is the effort made following the domestic incident. Voluntarily completing anger management and domestic violence courses demonstrates an attempt to address the situation rather than ignore it.
That doesn’t erase the incident, but adjudicators often look favorably on applicants who take proactive steps to improve themselves after a problem occurs. In addition to any steps required by the legal system, the applicant will want to demonstrate clear changes in behavior that would reduce the likelihood of a recurrence.
EMPLOYMENT TERMINATIONS
Being terminated from a warehouse position after only a few shifts because of failure to meet performance expectations is unlikely to carry significant weight by itself. The internship termination may receive more attention because it involved failure to follow a reporting requirement. Investigators will likely consider the circumstances, including the fact that the arrest was eventually disclosed and that the position itself was not cleared.
As with many security clearance issues, intent matters. A misunderstanding or failure to appreciate a reporting requirement is generally viewed differently than an intentional attempt to conceal information.
MARIJUANA USE
Recent marijuana use is a factor, but not the most significant one. The good news is that the most important mitigating step has already occurred: use stopped before the clearance application and there is a stated intent not to use again.
Adjudicators will evaluate factors such as frequency of use, recency of use, and the likelihood of future use. Approximately ten lifetime uses presents a very different fact pattern than habitual or ongoing use. The closer the use is to the application date, the more questions an applicant is likely to receive. But recency alone does not automatically result in a denial.
In this case, the facts were disclosed. Many clearance denials occur not because an applicant had problems, but because they attempted to hide them. Investigators routinely encounter applicants with arrests, employment issues, foreign contacts, and prior marijuana use. What becomes difficult to overcome is dishonesty.
The security clearance process isn’t designed to identify perfect people. It’s designed to identify trustworthy people. Those are not always the same thing. It’s difficult to say if the applicant will be able to obtain a clearance. What is likely to be true is that the investigation and adjudication process will be lengthier than usual. A denial or revocation is definitely a possibility, but with the overall denials and revocations of clearances at a mere 2%, the applicant has a decent chance of obtaining the clearance upon appeal – if they decide to pursue that route. Applicants with complicated histories don’t have to be perfect. But they almost always have to be patient.
Much about the clearance process resembles the Pirate’s Code: “more what you’d call guidelines than actual rules.” For this reason, we maintain ClearanceJobsBlog.com – a forum where clearance seekers can ask the cleared community for advice on their specific security concerns. Ask CJ explores questions posed on the ClearanceJobs Blog forum, emails received, and comments from this site. This article is intended as general information only and should not be construed as legal advice. Consult an attorney regarding your specific situation.
