DV Clearance 15 August 2022 at 8:53AM in Employment, jobseeking & training 4 replies 816 views

Martin_o03

Morning all, I'm looking for some advice regarding DV clearance for a job.

I currently work in the civil service and have been offered a job within another department which requires security clearance - dv level. 

Firstly, I went through DV clearance 3 years ago for a job working abroad and did not pass. I had a security interview in London and they covered absolutely everything. I don't know why I failed but the only reasons I can think of are my financial history and historical defaults on my credit file which I admitted to and explained.

So I am concerned that having failed once I will fail again, does anyone have any experience with applying for DV having failed before? A few of my defaults have fallen off in recent years and I haven't missed a payment in 3 years so my credit rating is improving.

Secondly, I have been told they will start me on SC clearance to get me started early and then whilst I am in the job I will be able to go through the DV process.Does anyone have any experience of this? My worry here is that I am leaving a well-paid secure job to move to this one on SC clearance and I then fail the DV, am I out of a job then?

springmagpie

The point of DV vetting is to look at how "blackmailable" you are. I was always told that as long as you disclose everything then there shouldn't be a problem.

When I went through it they asked me about online gambling, I insisted I had never done it, had no accounts etc. The vetting officer came back to me a few days later asking the question again, I again said none, it was only when she asked me if I played the lottery I realised that I did in fact have an online gambling account, it wasn't an issue thankfully as she said many people don't think about the lottery as gambling. 

Could there have been something they found which you didn't disclose? I would definitely disclose to your new potential employer that you have previously failed the vetting as there will be a record of it and I'm guessing given you need DV vetting, being honest and trustworthy is a key part of the role.

Martin_o03

springmagpie said:

The point of DV vetting is to look at how "blackmailable" you are. I was always told that as long as you disclose everything then there shouldn't be a problem.

When I went through it they asked me about online gambling, I insisted I had never done it, had no accounts etc. The vetting officer came back to me a few days later asking the question again, I again said none, it was only when she asked me if I played the lottery I realised that I did in fact have an online gambling account, it wasn't an issue thankfully as she said many people don't think about the lottery as gambling. 

Could there have been something they found which you didn't disclose? I would definitely disclose to your new potential employer that you have previously failed the vetting as there will be a record of it and I'm guessing given you need DV vetting, being honest and trustworthy is a key part of the role.

Thanks for your reply. The only thing in my eyes that it could have been was my defaults which I did disclose and said I was in the process of paying off. They have since been paid off and a number of dropped off my file. There was one job on my record where I worked for my father's business and was paid cash in hand, this won't have shown up in any hmrc record so that was my other concern but it was just a job whilst I was a student. I did have online gambling account at the time but I don't recall them asking me any questions regarding this. 

I've emailed them and disclosed everything so we shall see.

Admiral_Barbarossa

Q Is it worth the money to have your underwear checked every 3 months? Stay at SC End of!

techwatcher

There are a number of possible reasons for being refused DV clearance. Financial history is certainly one possibility and any criminal record can be a problem. The other possibility is family history - family members linked to radical groups for example can be a problem.

Or the vetting people found something you didn't disclose. 

Only thing you can do is to be completely honest and transparent both when completing the forms and at interview.