What is this clearance document?
A directory of the forms and notices that appear in a security clearance case. Search by form number or by a phrase from the page in front of you. Each entry says what the document is, whether it is something you normally see, and where the description comes from.
Many of these are routine processing notices between agencies rather than decisions about you. For the correspondence in a contested case — the interrogatory, the Statement of Reasons, the hearing notice, the decision and the appeal — see correspondence in a DOHA case, which covers those in more depth.
Stage
Where it applies
Showing 4 of 45 documents.
Questionnaires and releases
The forms that start an investigation and the permissions that let it proceed.
You normally see or sign this.
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
Source: OPM — Federal Investigation Forms — Listed by form number and title on OPM’s federal investigation forms page.
You normally see or sign this.
The questionnaire for public trust positions. It sits between the SF 85 and the SF 86 in scope, and it supports a suitability or fitness decision rather than a national security eligibility decision.
What you do: Complete and submit it. Section numbers do not correspond to the SF 86, so guidance written for the SF 86 will not map cleanly onto it.
Also called: SF-85P, SF85P, public trust questionnaire
Source: OPM — Federal Investigation Forms — Listed by form number and title on OPM’s federal investigation forms page.
You normally see or sign this.
A supplement used alongside the SF 85P for certain positions, covering additional medical and related questions.
What you do: Complete it with the SF 85P when the agency asks for it.
Also called: SF-85P-S, SF85PS, supplemental questionnaire
Source: DCSA — Terms and Definitions — DCSA defines it as the supplemental form for use with the SF 85P.
You normally see or sign this.
An employment-suitability declaration used in federal hiring. It is a separate form from the clearance questionnaires and asks its own questions on its own timescales.
What you do: Complete it for the hiring action. Answers here are compared against the questionnaire, so inconsistencies between the two are worth resolving before submission.
Also called: OF-306, OF306, declaration for federal employment
Source: DCSA — Terms and Definitions — DCSA lists OF 306 as the Declaration for Federal Employment.
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If the document you have identified is an adverse one, these are the next steps available.
Each entry was checked against the issuing agency’s own published source, and documents that could not be verified against an official source are deliberately not listed. Descriptive research on published procedures. Not legal advice, and not a prediction about any pending case.