You Already Have a Clearance. Why Are They Making You Start Over?

You spent months waiting for your security clearance investigation. You sat through interviews. You watched investigators talk to your neighbors. You filled out an SF-86 that felt longer than boot camp paperwork.

Then you got cleared. Secret, Top Secret, maybe TS/SCI. That clearance followed you through your military career. Every PCS, every new command, your clearance transferred with you.

Now you separate. You land a job with a defense contractor. Your clearance transfers fine. But then a better offer comes from a different agency. DHS instead of DoD. Or DOE instead of DIA. And suddenly someone tells you that your clearance might not transfer.

That sounds wrong. And in many cases, it is wrong. Federal policy says agencies must accept each other's clearances. But "must" and "will" are two different words in government. This guide breaks down how clearance reciprocity actually works, which agencies follow the rules, which ones drag their feet, and what you can do to protect yourself.

What Is Security Clearance Reciprocity?

Reciprocity means one federal agency accepts a security clearance granted by another federal agency. No new investigation. No new waiting period. Your Secret clearance from DoD should be valid at DHS, DOE, DOJ, or any other agency.

This is not a courtesy. It is federal policy. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) issued clear guidance on this. Executive Order 13467 and the 2012 Federal Investigative Standards both require reciprocity across the federal government.

The logic is simple. You already passed a background investigation. The government already spent $3,000 to $15,000 investigating you, depending on clearance level. Running the same investigation again wastes taxpayer money and slows hiring. If you want to see what those clearance costs actually break down to, we covered that in detail.

So ODNI says: if the clearance is current, the investigation is not older than the reinvestigation period, and there is no new disqualifying information, the receiving agency must accept it.

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How Does the DISS System Track Your Clearance?

Your clearance lives in DISS. That stands for Defense Information System for Security. It replaced JPAS in 2021. DISS is the central database where the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) stores clearance records for most of the federal government.

When a new agency wants to hire you, their security office pulls your record in DISS. They can see your clearance level, the date of your last investigation, any flags, and whether your clearance is still active or in a loss-of-jurisdiction status.

This should be simple. Pull the record, verify the clearance, grant access. But DISS only covers agencies that fall under DCSA jurisdiction. Some agencies run their own systems. CIA has its own. NSA has its own. DOE has a completely separate process called the Q and L clearance system.

If you are moving between two DoD agencies or between DoD and a standard executive branch agency, DISS makes reciprocity straightforward. The record is right there. If you are moving to or from CIA, NSA, or DOE, things get more complicated. We will cover those exceptions below.

One thing to know: if your clearance status shows as loss of jurisdiction after separation, that does not mean it is gone. It means no agency currently sponsors it. A new agency can pick it up without a new investigation, as long as the investigation is still within its validity window.

Which Agencies Honor Reciprocity Without Problems?

The good news: many agencies follow reciprocity rules without drama. If your clearance is active and current in DISS, these agencies will typically accept it within days or weeks.

For veterans looking at defense contractor jobs, this is good news. Your military clearance transfers to contractor roles with very little friction because they all use the same DCSA system.

Which Agencies Create Reciprocity Problems?

Some agencies are known for not honoring reciprocity smoothly. They have legal authority to conduct their own investigations, and they use it.

CIA (Central Intelligence Agency)

CIA runs its own security program outside of DCSA. They use their own polygraph standards and their own adjudication criteria. Even if you have an active TS/SCI from DoD, CIA will often require their own full-scope polygraph and may conduct additional background checks.

This is not technically a reciprocity violation. CIA argues that their access requirements are different from standard DoD SCI access. They have the legal authority to set their own standards under the National Security Act. But it feels like a violation when you are the one waiting an extra six months.

NSA (National Security Agency)

NSA is similar to CIA. They accept DoD clearances in theory but often require additional polygraph examinations. If you passed a counterintelligence (CI) polygraph for DoD SCI, NSA may still want you to take a full-scope polygraph that covers lifestyle questions as well.

The timeline for NSA additional screening varies. Some veterans report getting through in weeks. Others wait months. It depends on workload, your specific access requirements, and whether anything in your background flags additional review.

DOE (Department of Energy)

DOE is the biggest reciprocity outlier. They do not use the standard Secret/Top Secret system. DOE issues L clearances (roughly equal to Secret) and Q clearances (roughly equal to Top Secret). These are adjudicated under different criteria by DOE's own security office.

If you have a DoD Secret clearance and apply for a DOE job requiring an L clearance, DOE should accept reciprocity. In practice, many DOE sites still run their own investigation. The national labs (Los Alamos, Sandia, Lawrence Livermore) are especially known for this.

FBI (Special Agent Positions)

FBI special agent positions require their own background investigation regardless of existing clearances. Support staff and analyst positions at FBI typically honor reciprocity. But if you are applying for a special agent role, expect a new investigation.

How Long Does Clearance Reciprocity Take?

When reciprocity works as intended, it should take days to weeks. Not months. The receiving agency pulls your record from DISS, verifies the clearance is current, and grants access.

Here are realistic timelines based on what veterans report:

• DoD to DoD (or DoD to contractor): 1–2 weeks. Sometimes same day if the security office is responsive.
• DoD to DHS, DOJ, or DOS: 2–6 weeks. Usually involves some paperwork processing time.
• DoD to DOE: 4–12 weeks. Can stretch longer at national labs.
• DoD to CIA or NSA: 2–8 months. Additional polygraph and adjudication adds significant time.
• Secret to Top Secret upgrade at a new agency: 4–12 months. This is not reciprocity. This is a new investigation at a higher level.

Compare these to the timeline for a brand new clearance investigation. A new Secret investigation takes 2–4 months. A new Top Secret takes 6–12 months or more. Reciprocity, even when it is slow, beats starting from scratch.

If your clearance went into loss of jurisdiction status after you separated from the military, the clock matters. Your investigation stays valid for a set period. Secret investigations are good for 10 years. Top Secret investigations are good for 6 years (5 years under the old standard). If your investigation is within that window, reciprocity should apply. If it expired, you need a new investigation. Check whether your clearance is still active after separation if you are not sure where you stand.

What Can Block Reciprocity Even When Your Clearance Is Current?

Reciprocity is not automatic even when the policy says it should be. There are legitimate reasons a receiving agency can slow down or deny reciprocity. And there are illegitimate reasons that happen anyway.

Legitimate Reasons for Delay

• New derogatory information: If something happened since your last investigation (arrest, financial problems, foreign contacts), the receiving agency can flag it for review.
• Different access requirements: SCI access at one agency does not automatically mean SCI access at another. Each agency controls its own SCI programs. You may need to be read into different compartments.
• Polygraph requirements: Some positions require a polygraph that your original clearance did not include. This is a new requirement, not a reciprocity denial.
• Upgrade needed: If the new job requires a higher clearance level than what you hold, that requires a new investigation. Reciprocity only applies at the same level or lower.

Common Problems That Should Not Happen (But Do)

• Security office backlog: The receiving agency's security office is overwhelmed and takes months to process a simple reciprocity request. This is not a policy issue. It is a staffing issue.
• DISS access problems: The security officer cannot find your record in DISS or does not have proper access to pull it. This happens more often than it should.
• Agency policy override: Some agencies have internal policies that go beyond what ODNI requires. They add extra steps even when the policy says they should not.
• Contractor FSO inexperience: Your new employer's Facility Security Officer (FSO) does not know how to request reciprocity properly. They submit the wrong paperwork and the whole process stalls.

How to Make Sure Your Clearance Transfers Smoothly

You can not control every agency's security office. But you can control your own preparation. These steps reduce the chance of delays.

How to List Your Clearance on a Resume for a Different Agency

When you apply for a job at a different agency, your resume needs to clearly state your clearance status. Hiring managers and security officers want to see this information fast. It tells them whether they can bring you on quickly or whether they need to budget time for a new investigation.

Put your clearance information near the top of your resume. Include the clearance level, the investigation type, and the status. Here is what that looks like:

That second version tells a security officer everything they need. They know the level, the investigation type, the date, and that it is in the system. They can pull your record and process reciprocity immediately.

For more on how to list your security clearance on a resume, we have a full guide with examples for every clearance level.

Your clearance is one of the most valuable things you bring to the civilian job market. A current TS/SCI can add $10,000 to $30,000 to your salary compared to an uncleared candidate. We broke down the actual salary premium for a Top Secret clearance if you want the numbers.

BMR's Resume Builder formats your clearance information correctly and positions it where hiring managers and security officers look first. It takes the guesswork out of clearance formatting across different agencies and contractor requirements.

What to Do If an Agency Denies Reciprocity

If an agency refuses to accept your current clearance, you have options. Reciprocity is federal policy, not a suggestion. Here is how to push back.

Step 1: Ask for the specific reason. Get it in writing if possible. "We require a new investigation" is not a sufficient answer. Ask what policy or regulation requires it. If they cite an internal agency directive, ask for the directive number.

Step 2: Reference the ODNI reciprocity policy. Intelligence Community Policy Guidance (ICPG) 704.4 covers reciprocity for personnel security clearances. You can reference this directly to the security office. Many security officers know the policy but their leadership has not prioritized compliance.

Step 3: Escalate within the agency. If the local security office will not honor reciprocity, ask to speak with their headquarters security division. Reciprocity problems are often local, not agency-wide. A different office at the same agency might handle it correctly.

Step 4: Contact the ODNI reciprocity hotline. ODNI has a mechanism for reporting reciprocity failures. This is a real tool, not just a complaint box. ODNI tracks reciprocity compliance across agencies and follows up on reported violations.

Be professional through this entire process. You are dealing with security professionals who control your access. Burning bridges does not help. But being informed about the policy and willing to escalate politely does help.

Continuous Evaluation and What It Means for Reciprocity

The federal government is moving toward Continuous Evaluation (CE), also called Continuous Vetting (CV), through the Trusted Workforce 2.0 initiative. This changes how clearances are maintained and has a direct impact on reciprocity.

Under the old system, you got investigated once, then reinvestigated every 5 or 10 years. Under Continuous Vetting, automated checks run on an ongoing basis. Financial records, criminal databases, and other data sources are monitored continuously between formal investigations.

This should actually improve reciprocity. Why? Because the receiving agency can see that you have been continuously vetted, not just investigated once years ago. The data is fresher. The risk is lower. That should make acceptance easier.

Trusted Workforce 2.0 is still rolling out across agencies. Some agencies are fully on board. Others are still transitioning. But the trend is toward more information sharing and easier reciprocity, not less.

Where to Find Cleared Jobs That Honor Reciprocity

If you want to use your clearance effectively, focus your job search on employers and agencies that have smooth reciprocity processes. That means DoD agencies, major defense contractors, and the executive branch departments that use DCSA.

We put together a list of the best job boards for cleared veterans that specialize in positions requiring security clearances. Sites like ClearanceJobs.com, ClearedConnections, and IntelligenceCareers.gov list thousands of positions where your existing clearance is the entry ticket.

When evaluating job offers, ask these questions about clearance reciprocity:

• Does the hiring agency use DCSA and DISS?
• Will they accept my current clearance through reciprocity?
• If additional screening is required, what is the expected timeline?
• Can I start work at a lower classification level while higher access is processed?
• Who is the FSO, and how experienced are they with reciprocity requests?

Use BMR's career crosswalk tool to find civilian jobs that match your military specialty and require security clearances. Filter by clearance level to find positions where your existing clearance gives you an advantage over other candidates.

Your clearance is a career asset worth real money. Do not leave it sitting unused because an agency made the reciprocity process harder than it needs to be. Know the policy, know your rights, and push for the smooth transfer that federal law says you deserve.