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CASE

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

All stagesQuestionnaires and releasesFingerprintsInvestigation and case statusAdverse action, hearing and appealAccess agreements and briefingsGetting your own recordsSuperseded and obsolete

Where it applies

EverywhereGovernment-widePublic trust and suitability

Showing 9 of 45 documents.

Questionnaires and releases

The forms that start an investigation and the permissions that let it proceed.

Questionnaire for National Security Positions

SF 86

You normally see or sign this.

What it is
The long personal-history questionnaire behind a national security clearance. It is completed online in eApp, and it becomes the spine of the investigation: almost every later question traces back to an answer, or an omission, on this form.
What you do
Complete every section, then certify and release it to the sponsoring security office. The record treats a discovered omission as more damaging than the underlying issue, so an awkward disclosure is the safer disclosure.
Also called
SF-86, SF86, security questionnaire, eQIP form, eApp questionnaire, clearance application

Full entry for SF 86

Source: OPM — Federal Investigation Forms. Listed by form number and title on OPM’s federal investigation forms page.

Personnel Vetting Questionnaire

PVQ

You normally see or sign this.

What it is
The single modernised questionnaire that will replace the SF 86, SF 85, SF 85P and SF 85P-S. It shortens the look-back on most questions from seven or ten years to five, narrows mental-health questions to a five-year window aimed at conditions affecting judgment, separates marijuana from other drugs, and drops the physical-description and Selective Service questions. The rollout began on 1 June 2026 with ten companies, for five-year updates only; the government target for using it in all vetting scenarios is September 2027.
What you do
Almost certainly nothing yet. If you are completing a questionnaire today it is still very likely the SF 86, and the SF 86 look-back periods still apply to it.
Also called
PVQ, new SF-86, SF-86 replacement, personnel vetting questionnaire

Full entry for PVQ

Source: DCSA Vetting Operations newsletter, June 2026. DCSA newsletter records the 1 June 2026 start with ten companies; Trusted Workforce 2.0 quarterly report FY26-Q2 sets September 2027 for all vetting scenarios.

Questionnaire for Non-Sensitive Positions

SF 85

You normally see or sign this.

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

Full entry for SF 85

Source: OPM — Federal Investigation Forms. Listed by form number and title on OPM’s federal investigation forms page.

Questionnaire for Public Trust Positions

SF 85P

You normally see or sign this.

What it is
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

Full entry for SF 85P

Source: OPM — Federal Investigation Forms. Listed by form number and title on OPM’s federal investigation forms page.

Consent for Access to Records

SF 713

You normally see or sign this. · Edition 05/2002

What it is
A general consent allowing investigators to obtain records held about you by third parties.
What you do
Sign it as part of the questionnaire package. Investigators cannot obtain much of the record without it.
Also called
SF-713, SF713, consent for access to records, records release

Full entry for SF 713

Source: GSA — Standard Forms. GSA forms page gives form number SF713 and revision date 05/2002.

Specific Release for Investigative Information

OFI 16A

You normally see or sign this.

What it is
A targeted release for a specific category of record — medical, financial or similar — used where the general consent is not sufficient on its own.
What you do
Sign it when a particular record has to be obtained. It is narrower than the general consent, not broader.
Also called
OFI-16A, OFI 16A, specific release, medical release, financial release

Full entry for OFI 16A

Source: DCSA — Terms and Definitions. DCSA defines OFI 16A as the specific release for medical, financial or other information.

Declaration for Federal Employment

OF 306

You normally see or sign this.

What it is
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

Full entry for OF 306

Source: DCSA — Terms and Definitions. DCSA lists OF 306 as the Declaration for Federal Employment.

Electronic Questionnaires for Investigations Processing

e-QIP

You normally see or sign this. · No longer in current use.

What it is
The former online system for submitting the questionnaires. It has been replaced by eApp within NBIS. Older decisions and older guidance still refer to it by name.
What you do
Nothing. If you are directed to e-QIP today, check with the security office — the current portal is eApp.
Also called
eQIP, e-QIP, electronic questionnaire

Full entry for e-QIP

Source: DCSA — e-QIP. DCSA’s own e-QIP page records its replacement.

How the process worksDocuments arrive in a published order. The stages below follow that order, from the first questionnaire to a request for your own records.

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

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.

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