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CASE

Correspondence in a DOHA case

Each letter in a contested case: what it is, what it means, what to do, what happens next, and what the decided record shows. Select the letter you received.

Before any decision

Interrogatory (LOI)

The government's case

SORFORMNotice of Hearing

Decision and appeal

The decisionAppeal Board

Statement of Reasons

In plain terms

A Statement of Reasons, or SOR, is the government's written explanation of why it is considering denying or revoking your clearance. It is not a final decision. It is the point at which the process becomes formal and the applicant responds.

What it looks like

It is a short, formal letter made up of numbered paragraphs. Each numbered paragraph is one specific allegation (for example, one particular unpaid debt, or one specific event), and the paragraphs are grouped under the security guideline they fall under, such as finances or foreign influence. Along with it come a cover letter and a one-page form on which the applicant chooses how to respond, ending in a signature block that must be notarized.

How it reaches you

For a contractor it does not come directly to the applicant. It is sent through the company's facility security officer, usually in a sealed envelope, and the applicant signs and dates a receipt on delivery. The date of that receipt, not the date printed on the letter, starts the response period.

The deadline

A written answer, signed under oath (a formal statement that it is true), is due about 20 days from the date of receipt. The answer addresses the allegations one by one and admits or denies each, with an explanation and any supporting documents. Extensions of another 20 to 30 days are routinely granted when requested before the deadline. If no answer is filed, the Directive allows the case to be decided against the applicant.

The deadline printed in the letter you received always controls. Work out your exact dates with the deadline calculator.

The choice you make

The form asks the applicant to choose one of two paths: a live hearing before a DOHA Administrative Judge (in person or by video), where the applicant presents a case with witnesses and documents; or a decision on the written record, where a judge decides from the paperwork alone, with no hearing. About 70% of applicants who respond elect the hearing. The next two cards, FORM and Notice of Hearing, cover each path.

What the record shows

Across 26,827 decided hearing-level cases in the public record

34% granted · 9,173 granted · 17,654 denied

Search decisions like these.

Points to note

The SOR lists only the concerns the government believes it has; it is not a finding that any of them are true, and the answer is where they are contested. Everything submitted becomes part of the record and can be used later.

For an applicant holding an SOR, the CASE Prep report compares each allegation against similar decided cases.

If the document received is not correspondence in a contested case (a questionnaire, a release, a fingerprint request, a processing notice, or an access agreement), see the clearance document directory, which identifies each form and notice by its number.

How the process worksThe letters sit inside a published sequence: interrogatories, the SOR, a hearing or the written record, a decision, and an appeal.

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

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Decided public cases: descriptive, never a prediction.