Quarterly docket report
State of the Clearance Docket, Q3 2025
← Q2 2025 · full-year 2025 · next quarter →
The quarter in brief
DOHA judges decided 197 industrial security-clearance cases in Q3 2025, granting 25% of them. That is 3 points higher than Q2 2025 (22% of 147). A year earlier, Q3 2024 recorded 30% of 208. Financial Considerations was the most common concern, appearing in 97 decided cases. The typical case decided this quarter took 296 days from Statement of Reasons to decision, 9 days shorter than the prior quarter.
Month by month
- July62 decided
- August59 decided
- September76 decided
Outcomes by concern
- Financial Considerations (F)20%19 granted78 denied
- Personal Conduct (E)23%17 granted56 denied
- Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H)21%14 granted53 denied
- Criminal Conduct (J)16%5 granted27 denied
- Alcohol Consumption (G) †38%6 granted10 denied
- Foreign Influence (B) †23%3 granted10 denied
- Psychological Conditions (I) †20%2 granted8 denied
- Sexual Behavior (D) †38%3 granted5 denied
- Foreign Preference (C) †0%0 granted1 denied
- Handling Protected Information (K) †0%0 granted1 denied
- Outside Activities (L) †0%0 granted1 denied
- Use of Information Technology (M) †0%0 granted1 denied
| Concern | Granted | Denied | Grant rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Considerations (F) | 19 | 78 | 20% |
| Personal Conduct (E) | 17 | 56 | 23% |
| Drug Involvement & Substance Misuse (H) | 14 | 53 | 21% |
| Criminal Conduct (J) | 5 | 27 | 16% |
| Alcohol Consumption (G) | 6 | 10 | 38% † |
| Foreign Influence (B) | 3 | 10 | 23% † |
| Psychological Conditions (I) | 2 | 8 | 20% † |
| Sexual Behavior (D) | 3 | 5 | 38% † |
| Foreign Preference (C) | 0 | 1 | 0% † |
| Handling Protected Information (K) | 0 | 1 | 0% † |
| Outside Activities (L) | 0 | 1 | 0% † |
| Use of Information Technology (M) | 0 | 1 | 0% † |
† fewer than 20 decided cases, too few to generalize. Cases often raise several concerns, so rows overlap.
Time from Statement of Reasons to decision
Cases decided in Q3 2025 took a median of 296 days from the Statement of Reasons to the decision (measured on 194 cases with both dates in the text). The prior quarter’s median was 305 days.
Full timeline breakdowns are available on Measured timelines.
Hearing and written record
- In-person hearing31% granted · 121 cases
- On the written record14% granted · 70 cases
Representation
- With an attorney43% granted · 44 cases
- Self-represented19% granted · 151 cases
An association in the decided record, not a measure of what representation causes: represented and self-represented cases can differ in many ways.
Population: decided hearing-level STANDARD_ISCR decisions dated 2025-07-01 through 2025-09-30; appeals counted separately. Definitions and checks: methodology. Cite as: CASE, State of the Clearance Docket, Q3 2025 (clearancesearchengine.com/reports/quarterly/2025-q3). Computed live from the record as it stands today; decisions DOHA publishes late are added to their quarter automatically.