How to Reapply for a Security Clearance After a Denial or Revocation as a DOD Government Contractor

If your clearance is denied or revoked after a lengthy adjudication process, you are probably asking yourself, “will I ever be able to obtain a security clearance again?” The answer is yes, on the assumption that you take the necessary steps to ensure that the previous reasons for your security clearance denial or revocation have been sufficiently resolved.

Under the Department of Defense Directive 5220.6, Enclosure 3, Paragraph E3.1.37, applicants who have had a security clearance denied or revoked by the Defense Office of Hearings and Appeals (DOHA) are unable to reapply for a security clearance until one year from the date of the initial unfavorable clearance decision. This means that if you are issued a Statement of Reasons and respond through either a written response or a hearing in front of a DOHA Administrative Judge, and have your clearance finally denied or revoked, the one-year time frame begins from the date of the Judge’s decision. If you elect not to respond to the Statement of Reasons, then the one-year time frame begins from the date your clearance was officially revoked or denied by the Defense Counterintelligence & Security Agency (DCSA).

However, an applicant cannot simply submit a reapplication request. An applicant must obtain sponsorship for a security clearance, and the reapplication request for a security clearance must be made initially by that sponsoring company or organization. This step typically begins with the sponsoring company requesting the applicant complete an updated security clearance application.

Once the security clearance application is processed, DOHA will notify the sponsoring company that the applicant’s previous clearance was denied or revoked, and the applicant will be required to supply evidence, typically within 60 days from the date of notification by DOHA, that the circumstances or conditions that previously caused the applicant’s security clearance to be denied or revoked have been resolved or sufficiently mitigated.