SF 85
Questionnaire for Non-Sensitive Positions
What it is
The short questionnaire for non-sensitive federal positions. It is not a clearance form, and its questions and look-back periods are materially narrower than the SF 86.
What you do
Complete and submit it. Do not assume an SF 86 answer carries over; the windows differ between the forms.
Also called
SF-85, SF85, non-sensitive questionnaire.
Where this comes from
OPM — Federal Investigation Forms. Listed by form number and title on OPM’s federal investigation forms page.
Where this sits
Stage: Questionnaires and releases · Applies to: Public trust and suitability
Other documents at this stage
How the process worksA contested case follows a published sequence. Open this for the short version, or put a question to Ask Mode on the home page. Accounts are free and include up to 25 questions per day.
A contested case follows a published path: a Statement of Reasons, the government's written list of its concerns (an SOR), a written answer, a hearing or a decision on the written record, the judge's decision, and in some cases an appeal.
Read the stages of a DOHA case · Ask a question about the process
Checked against the issuing agency's own published source. Descriptive research on published procedures. Not legal advice, and not a prediction about any pending case.
Where to go from here
I do this for clients
Rank every decision by how closely it matches a matter, see how the assigned judge has ruled, and keep it together with cited exports.
For attorneys and firms →I am researching or teaching
Statistics, exports, monitoring, and the API, arranged individually. For scholarship and public interest work that usually means no charge.
Request access →Decided public cases: descriptive, never a prediction.