Security Clearance and Foreign Marriage Question

[armada1651]

Here is the name of the guy I was telling you about (OUSOONER).....

I think he's actually almost done with primary in Corpus.

 

[m26]

It will affect whom I marry.

+1 for proper use of 'whom'

-1 for phrasing it as though it's the difference between choosing the Russian mail-order bride and the Brazilian one

 

[Jim123]

+1 for proper use of 'whom'

-1 for phrasing it as though it's the difference between the Russian mail-order bride and the Brazilian one

Whoa, stop the presses! There are Brazilian mail-order brides??? Why am I just now finding out about this?

 

[OnTopTime]

I have been told by my OR and program coordinator, your wife has nothing to do with your security clearance. Furthermore, when I did my interview with the security people, I told them that my wife is Russian, they wrote that down and moved on to asking me about my drinking ticket that I had 10+ years ago. No questions were asked about her family, friends, or anything that has to do with her, except for name and B-day. The inspector did ask me about my family connections outside of the States though. Bottom line, they are giving you the clearance not her.

Right, but the kind of people you associate with absolutely effect the decision to grant or not grant the clearance.

As The Chief informs us, much depends on the level of clearance. For a run-of-the-mill TS clearance for a Naval Aviator, a foreign born spouse, even one from a not-so-friendly nation, may not be a problem. Step the clearance up to TS/SCI, and all bets are off. I have a brother-in-law who has lived in Taipei for 15+ years and is married to a nice Taiwanese lady. I see him and his family for several days every two years when they come to the States to visit. During my last reinvestigation for my TS/SCI, the investigator was VERY interested in this family connection, and I had to write and sign an affidavit detailing the nature and extent of my relationship with my brother-in-law's wife, which for all intents and purposes is nil (she barely speaks English). Of course, YMMV.

 

[Flash]

But a TS/SCI or Q clearance? I would say "no way", it will not happen except in certain most unusual circumstances. That is why they call it a clearance.

Your OR is wrong. Your wife and her connections back to her homeland are a factor in a clearance determination. That being said, having a foreign born wife is not an automatic disqualification but it can delay any adjudication. I have worked with numerous people with foreign born spouses as well as native speakers who now have TS/SCI accesses over the last 25 years. It's all about foreign entanglements.

As The Chief and Pugs have already pointed out it really depends on the circumstances, but it is definitely not a 'no go'. I have known numerous people, in the military and out, that have had foreign wives and they have kept their clearances, including one who met his Russian bride on the internet and whose father-in-law was a naval engineer in Vladivostok. He actually had more trouble getting cleared for his French mother than he did his wife, but the big key is that he already had a clearance. He was just a lowly LT in the Navy, nothing too special. Others have been married to South Koreans, ethnic Chinese from Indonesia, Belgian/Turkish, Japanese and Canadian . Most had their clearances before getting married but not all.

What you will have to get is an exception/exemption for your clearance since I actually think it may be against the rules to hold a TS/SCI while married to a foreigner. I am married to a Canadian and I had to get one, but your employer has to put you in for one and some don't want to. The military usually will but that does not guarantee approval and it certainly does cause issues. Not only that but my wife had to put in writing that she intended to become an American citizen, some wives don't want to do that. It does help a lot if she does become one as soon as she can (right now 3 years after marrying an American is the minimum for a spouse).

So it is not a show-stopper if she or her family aren't laden with foreign security or government connections but as has been pointed out it can be a roadblock that you will have to negotiate. Best of luck, I hope she is worth it!

 

[Alpha_Echo_606]

^ What Flash said, I work with numerous people who have TS clearances that are married to foreign wives. The best bit of advice is to be honest and forth coming on your application for clearance, it is when you omit or lie that problems come up.

 

[FlyinSpy]

Interesting set of posts over on this forum (http://www.federalsoup.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=20453&title=ts-sci-and-marriage-to-a-foreign-national) with someone in exactly the same scenario. Some useful discussion and insights covered there that largely parallel what the larger brains present on this forum (Pugs, Flash, etc) have already covered.

Hypothetically speaking, a good outcome would be if your bride-to-be fled Russia as an orphan, has no close or continuing contacts with any remaining family or friends, is an NRA Life Member, and nightly wraps herself in Old Glory as she goes to sleep. A not-so-good outcome would be an extended family back in the Motherland with whom she speaks (in Russian) daily, including Uncle/Colonel Yuri of the FSB, and a time-share dacha on the Black Sea....

 

[NAVYBM2]

I forgot to mention that I have known my wife for a long time, she is American educated, and has had a green card for a while (3+ years). So, it may be different if she is there now and you don'y know her very well. However, I still don't see how this could be a problem though, I guess we are going to find out soon. This is an interesting post, I am in the same boat and all signs thus far have been positive on the clearance, so it will be interesting to see how it turns out. I will keep you updated. Can you please do the same?