Your security clearance after you separate

Getting out ends your access to classified information. Your eligibility can outlast it, which is what lets a new employer skip a fresh investigation, but the rules on how long it lasts are being rewritten.

If you're getting out with a clearance and aiming at a defense contractor or a federal job, one question matters most. Can a new employer use the eligibility you already have? If it can, the government accepts it without a new investigation. If it can't, you start over. At the level used for Top Secret, the fastest 90% of new cases were projected to take about 146 days in April to June 2026.

Separation ends your access to classified information. It doesn't, by itself, end your eligibility, and it isn't a revocation. How long eligibility stays usable is the hard part. DoD's written rule, for every branch, is 24 months. Public trust jobs dropped that limit in 2025 and point to a tiered window of up to 60 months. And the whole system is being rebuilt under a reform called Trusted Workforce 2.0.

Eligibility and access are two different things

The word "clearance" covers two things. Eligibility is the decision that you can be trusted with classified information up to a certain level. Federal rules define a personnel security clearance as that decision. Access is the actual chance to see the information.

Eligibility alone never lets you see anything. Under Executive Order 13526, access takes three things: a favorable eligibility decision, a signed nondisclosure agreement, and a need to know the information. Your unit or employer sets your access based on your eligibility and the job. Some people are given eligibility with no access until their agency decides they need the information.

That split is why leaving doesn't erase your clearance in one step. Executive Order 12968 says access "shall be terminated when an employee no longer has a need for access," and it counts members of the armed forces as employees. Eligibility is a separate record, and it can outlast your access.

You'll see job postings and recruiters call a clearance "active," "current" or "expired." No official source we checked defines those words for a clearance, and official texts use "current" in more than one way. The Army's regulation calls an investigation current if it's no more than 5 years old. The contractor rules speak of a "current eligibility determination," and OPM's résumé guidance lists "Current Security Clearance," defining neither. When a posting uses one of these words, ask the company what it means.

What happens when you separate

When your duties no longer call for access, you're debriefed and your access is withdrawn in DISS, the Defense Information System for Security, where DoD records eligibility decisions. Under the Army's regulation, a withdrawal like this, based on changed duties, isn't an unfavorable decision.

It isn't a revocation either. The SF 86, the clearance form, asks in Section 25.2 whether your eligibility or access was ever denied, suspended or revoked. Its note says "an administrative downgrade or administrative termination of a security clearance is not a revocation." SEAD 7, the directive on accepting another agency's clearance, says the same about leaving a sensitive position or the government. Leaving, by itself, isn't a "yes" to that question.

If you're Army and less than 18 months from getting out, don't expect a new investigation or an upgrade first. AR 380-67 tells units to make sure people have at least 18 months left before requesting a background investigation, except for Soldiers in Recovery. What you hold then is most likely what you leave with.

Before you go, find your last SF 86 if you kept one. The form's instructions say to keep a copy and warn that your answers may be compared with earlier ones. Keep it with your personal papers, not on a job site. If you don't know a past investigation's exact dates, the form lets you check "I don't know" or "Est."

How long your eligibility lasts

DoD's personnel security manual, DoDM 5200.02, covers every branch. Someone retired or separated for no more than 24 months "will be granted eligibility" if their investigation was favorably adjudicated within the previous 5 years. Three conditions apply. There must be no sign they no longer meet the standards. They certify on an SF 86C that nothing relevant has changed. And a records check must find nothing unfavorable. After a revocation, denial or suspension, the case is adjudicated again.

Coming back into any military department after a break in service of more than 24 months means a new investigation. The manual also says eligibility isn't limited to a set number of years, except as it prescribes. It dates from 2017, with a 2020 change, so it predates Trusted Workforce 2.0.

The Army's regulation, AR 380-67, implements that manual. Reissued on April 15, 2026, it says national security eligibility "remains valid until an individual has no further official relationship with Federal agencies for more than 24 months," unless it's withdrawn, denied or revoked first.

For the Army's 24-month test, federal service includes active duty, federal civilian jobs, and Army National Guard or Army Reserve membership, including the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR). Contractor work counts only if it needs direct, unescorted access to classified information under the National Industrial Security Program. So a soldier who moves from active duty to the Guard, the Reserve or the IRR hasn't started a break. The DoD manual passages we checked don't say how Reserve time counts, and this guide couldn't check the other services' rules. In another branch, ask your security manager before you leave.

Public trust jobs have already moved. An Office of Personnel Management (OPM) rule effective January 17, 2025, removed the 24-month break-in-service rule for suitability, the vetting behind public trust jobs. OPM said investigative standards issued by the Suitability, Credentialing and Security Executive Agents replace it. They expand the window "up to sixty months using a tiered, risk-based approach." The regulation leaves the exact length to "supplemental guidance." OPM's rule says it doesn't specifically address clearance investigations, and no source we checked applies 60 months to clearances.

Under Trusted Workforce 2.0, people who have been away from federal work "for a time period" get only the checks needed to re-establish trust for the new job. A 2023 training guide from the Center for Development of Security Excellence (CDSE) says that vetting depends on the new position, the time away and the person's vetting record. Neither source gives a number of months. The data system for re-establishing trust was due in September 2026 and was still being built as of the mid-2026 progress report.

The contractor rules don't give a number either. After a break in employment, a company can give you access again only under its government security agency's guidance, and only if you remain eligible and have a current investigation of the right scope.

So don't rely on your own count of the months. When a company offers you a cleared job, its facility security officer (FSO) checks your record in DISS. That record, and the government's decision on it, tell you where you actually stand.

Reinvestigations are over; continuous vetting replaced them

If you've heard a clearance needs a new investigation every few years, that model is gone at the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA). At the end of June 2026, DCSA retired periodic reinvestigations. With a few exceptions, it now only enrolls people in continuous vetting, while it finishes reinvestigations already ordered. Those scheduled fell from 7,716 in January to March 2025 to 73 in April to June 2026.

More than 4 million people in national security positions are enrolled. Across all populations, enrollment was 78% in mid-2026, with everyone due by September 2028.

It runs only while you're affiliated. The Federal Personnel Vetting Guidelines enroll a trusted insider "throughout the individual's Federal affiliation." SEAD 6 tells agencies to stop continuous evaluation for anyone "no longer affiliated with the USG." That isn't always the day you leave active duty. The Army's regulation covers its Guard and Reserve, and it requires Army personnel in national security positions to be enrolled. The sources we checked don't say whether the IRR keeps you enrolled. If you're found eligible for a sensitive job again, you're enrolled again.

The age of your last investigation still matters. Under the Army's regulation, an investigation is current for 5 years. SEAD 7 lets agencies treat an investigation more than 7 years old as an exception to reciprocity, though they may accept one case by case. The sources we checked don't say how years in continuous vetting count toward that age.

Public trust is not a clearance

Many federal and contractor jobs ask for a public trust determination, not a clearance. They're different decisions. Public trust is a suitability designation for jobs at moderate or high risk, such as law enforcement, public safety, money or major programs. It's about the integrity of the service, not classified information. A clearance is a national security decision.

The five investigation tiers are being cut to three: Low, Moderate and High. In April 2026, the FBI became the first provider approved to run the new investigations. Every provider is due to offer them by the end of fiscal 2027.

Who can check your status

In DoD, security managers work in DISS and can verify continuous evaluation enrollment there. At a defense contractor, the company keeps its employees' records in the government's system of record. A hiring agency searches government databases, such as Scattered Castles and OPM's Central Verification System, for earlier investigations and eligibility decisions.

While you're still in, that's your security manager. After you leave, the FSO at a company hiring you checks, or a hiring agency's security office does. If the job needs access from day one, a company can start your paperwork early, but only after a written offer you've accepted in writing. It can't sponsor you just to keep you cleared. The rules bar "a cache of cleared employees."

If you want your own records, you can make a written Privacy Act request to DCSA, the Army's investigative agency. That gets you copies of your investigation and adjudication files. DoD's notice for these records covers armed forces members and says a request must include:

• your full name and any other names you've used
• your Social Security number, and your DoD ID number if you have it
• your date and place of birth
• a notarized statement, or an unsworn declaration under 28 U.S.C. 1746

That notice dates from 2018 and still names DCSA's predecessor, the Defense Security Service. Get DCSA's current address for Privacy Act requests from DCSA before you send anything.

Getting cleared again for a new job

If your eligibility is still valid and rests on a recent enough investigation, a new employer doesn't have to start over. Under the contractor rules, current eligibility on an investigation of the right scope "will provide the basis for a new eligibility determination." The old investigation is used without more checks, unless the government has learned of serious adverse information it hasn't weighed.

SEAD 7 sets a similar rule for agencies. When reciprocity applies, an agency can't ask for a new SF 86 or start new checks. It may ask you to list changes since your last SF 86, and if you report a change, it should run checks on that change. Reciprocity decisions are due within five business days.

If your eligibility has lapsed, the company can request a new investigation, and temporary eligibility can let you start work while it runs. It can't last more than one year unless the agency's authorized security staff approve. Temporary Secret needs a favorable review of your completed SF 86, citizenship verification, an expedited investigation and an FBI fingerprint check.

In April to June 2026, the fastest 90% of new cases were projected to take about 146 days at the High tier and 82 days at Moderate, against targets of 75 and 40. Preliminary determinations, which can let someone start before the investigation finishes, took 24 and 11 days.

A new Personnel Vetting Questionnaire is replacing the SF 86 family. It's due to be used for every vetting case by September 2027.

Your clearance on a résumé

For federal jobs, OPM's guidance on the two-page résumé lists "Current Security Clearance" among optional details to include "when relevant." OPM gives no wording and doesn't say to list the level, investigation type or dates. On USAJOBS, you can filter announcements by clearance to see which federal jobs ask for one.

For contractor and other private-sector résumés, the Department of Labor's Employment Workshop guide calls the summary of qualifications "a good place to identify your security clearance," and its sample résumé shows "Security Clearance: Secret." It sets no rule on wording. For public profiles such as LinkedIn, no official source we checked sets a rule or a wording. Two limits apply anywhere.

First, whatever you write has to match the record. After an offer, the FSO reads DISS, which shows your access was withdrawn. Any new SF 86 may be compared with your earlier ones. Knowingly falsifying or concealing a material fact on it is a felony, with fines and up to five years in prison. A résumé line that claims more than DISS shows sets up a conflict you'll have to explain.

Second, no reader of your résumé has a need to know. A recruiter or interviewer with a clearance has no right to classified information because of their own eligibility, rank or position. Describe your work in unclassified terms.

What you can never share

You couldn't have had access without signing an approved nondisclosure agreement. The standard one is the SF 312, an agreement between you and the United States, which the government keeps for 50 years after you sign. Agencies can choose whether to use its debriefing section, and keep another record if they don't, so you may never have signed that section on your way out.

ODNI's SF 312 questions and answers say a signed agreement "remains in full force and effect for the lifetime of the individual." If you're cleared again as a contractor, the agreement is again between you and the government, not the company.

A leak doesn't change any of this. Executive Order 13526 says classified information isn't declassified automatically because the same or similar information was disclosed without authorization. "It was in the news" doesn't make it safe to repeat. The same order says no one leaving agency service may remove classified information from the agency's control.

If you plan to write a book or an article while you're serving, ODNI tells signers to contact their security manager first, to keep classified information out of it. Failing to coordinate "may result in an unauthorized disclosure," ODNI says, and the government "might seek monetary damages" for the harm, including any payment from a publisher.

Once you're out, the route is DoD's prepublication review. A DoD instruction says retired and separated service members "will use the DoD prepublication review process." The Defense Office of Prepublication and Security Review (DOPSR) runs it. Former members can submit with a cover letter or an email giving their contact details and any publication plan. DOPSR says book-length reviews are currently taking several months.

One example, start to finish

Example (fictional) Darnell Price is an Army staff sergeant, an information technology specialist with 10 years in. He holds Secret eligibility from a Tier 3 investigation completed in March 2024 and has been in continuous vetting since. He separates on January 29, 2027, and isn't joining the Guard, the Reserve or the IRR.

In May 2026, a new role in his unit would need Top Secret. With about 8 months left, under the Army's 18-month floor, no investigation request goes in. In January 2027, he's debriefed, his access is withdrawn in DISS, and his continuous vetting stops. He keeps his saved 2024 SF 86. With no further federal service, the Army's current text keeps his Secret eligibility valid through January 29, 2029, 24 months after separation. The rules may change before then.

His two-page résumé for a USAJOBS announcement asking for Secret lists his clearance under optional details, as OPM allows. In March 2027, about six weeks after he separates, he accepts a contractor's written offer for a Secret job in writing. The FSO checks DISS. His break is under two months, and his investigation is three years old. If reciprocity applies, he won't fill out a new SF 86, though he may be asked to list changes since 2024. If not, the company can request a new investigation, and temporary eligibility could let him start. He waits for the FSO's answer before planning around either. His SF 312 binds him for life, so his résumé keeps his Army work unclassified.

This is general information, not legal advice or a promise that any agency or company will accept your eligibility. While you're still serving, your unit security manager is the person to ask about your record and about anything you plan to publish. After you separate, the facility security officer (FSO) at a company that offers you a cleared job checks your status in DISS, and DoD's prepublication office, DOPSR, reviews what former members plan to publish.