A decided public DOHA case, shown for research, not advice or a prediction.
ISCR Case No. 17-01413.h1
GrantedDecided Jul 1, 2017 · Administrative Judge Jennifer I. Goldstein · Hearing
Case headnote
Summary
The applicant, a naturalized U.S. citizen with two U.S.-born children, faced concerns under Guideline B (Foreign Influence) and Guideline C (Foreign Preference) due to her Nigerian citizenship and family ties in Nigeria. The applicant admitted to using her Nigerian passport for travel prior to her employment with a government contractor but has since renounced her Nigerian citizenship. The judge found that the applicant's reliability and good judgment outweighed the foreign influence concerns, leading to a decision to grant her security clearance.
Why the applicant prevailed
- Applicant formally renounced her Nigerian citizenship.
- Applicant's father is a permanent U.S. resident with no plans to return to Nigeria.
- Applicant's contact with her Nigerian relatives is infrequent and casual.
Conditions referenced
Mitigating
- AG ¶ 8(b) The nature of the relationships with foreign persons is such that they do not pose a security risk.applied
- AG ¶ 8(c) The applicant has taken positive steps to reduce or eliminate the foreign influence.applied
- AG ¶ 11(c) The applicant has demonstrated a strong commitment to the United States and its interests.applied
Key rule quoted
“I also gave due consideration to the whole-person concept.”
Procedural posture
- SOR issued
- Answer filed
- Hearing held
- Decision date
- not specified
Cite for
- Mitigating Conditions Under Guideline B and C
- Consideration of Whole-person Concept in Security Clearance Decisions
- Impact of Renouncing Foreign Citizenship on Security Clearance Eligibility
Editorial summary generated for research. Not legal advice; not a prediction. Verify against the full decision before relying on any quoted language.
From the decision
Facts this decision states, each with the sentence it comes from. Descriptive of the record, not an assessment.
Allegations under Guideline B
Reading the 4 per allegation rows needs a free account.
4 rows in this decision.
It opens the per allegation record on every guideline: the amounts, the findings, and the sentence behind each row.
Allegations under Guideline C
Reading the 6 per allegation rows needs a free account.
6 rows in this decision.
It opens the per allegation record on every guideline: the amounts, the findings, and the sentence behind each row.
Descriptive standardized rendering of a decided public case. The verbatim source decision is below.
Full decision
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Decision text, by section
naturalized U.S. citizen. They have two children, who are natural born U.S. citizens. (Tr. 20-28.)
Under the guideline for Foreign Preference, the SOR alleged Applicant used her Nigerian passport to travel to Nigeria in March 2014. Applicant admitted this, but noted she used her Nigerian passport prior to accepting employment with a government contractor. She has formally renounced her Nigerian citizenship. (AE D.)
Under the Guideline for Foreign Influence, the SOR alleged that Applicant’s father, father-in-law, and cousins are citizens and residents of Nigeria. Her father is now a permanent legal resident of the United States and has no plans to return to Nigeria. He lives with Applicant’s mother. (Tr. 38-44.) Applicant has only met her father-in-law once. (Tr. 47.) He is a citizen and resident of Nigeria. Applicant’s husband speaks to his father “very rarely,” as his father had three or four wives and they are not close. (Tr. 45- 50.) Applicant only communicated with one cousin in Nigeria since immigrating to the United States. That cousin was alleged to be employed by the Government of Nigeria, and works for the Ministry of Engineering. Applicant’s contact with this cousin is infrequent and casual. (Tr. 50-55.)
Mitigating conditions set out in AG ¶¶ 8 (b), 8(c), and 11(c) have been established by the evidence. There is no doubt about Applicant’s current reliability, trustworthiness, good judgment, and ability to protect classified information. In reaching this conclusion, I weighed the evidence as a whole and considered whether the favorable evidence outweighed the unfavorable evidence. I also gave due consideration to the whole-person concept. Accordingly, I conclude that Applicant met her ultimate burden of persuasion to show that it is clearly consistent with the national interest to grant her national security eligibility for access to classified information. National security eligibility is granted.
________________________ Jennifer Goldstein Administrative Judge