Standard Form 86 – Fill Out and Use This PDF

Purpose of this Form

The U.S. Government conducts background investigations and reinvestigations to establish that military personnel, applicants for or incumbents in national security positions, either employed by the Government or working for Government contractors, licensees, certificate holders, and grantees, are eligible for a required security clearance. Information from this form is used primarily as the basis for investigation for access to classified information or special nuclear information or material. Complete this form only after a conditional offer of employment has been made for a position requiring a security clearance.

Giving us the information we ask for is voluntary. However, we may not be able to complete your investigation, or complete it in a timely manner, if you don’t give us each item of information we request. This may affect your placement or security clearance prospects.

Authority to Request this Information

Depending upon the purpose of your investigation, the U.S. Government is authorized to ask for this information under Executive Orders 10450, 10865, 12333, and 12356; sections 3301 and 9101 of title 5, U.S. Code; sections 2165 and 2201 of title 42, U.S. Code; sections 781 to 887 of title 50, U.S. Code; and parts 5, 732, and 736 of Title 5, Code of Federal Regulations.

Your Social Security number is needed to keep records accurate, because other people may have the same name and birth date. Executive Order 9397 also asks Federal agencies to use this number to help identify individuals in agency records.

The Investigative Process

Background investigations for national security positions are conducted to develop information to show whether you are reliable, trustworthy, of good conduct and character, and loyal to the United States. The information that you provide on this form is confirmed during the investigation. Investigation may extend beyond the time covered by this form when necessary to resolve issues. Your current employer must be contacted as part of the investigation, even if you have previously indicated on applications or other forms that you do not want this.

In addition to the questions on this form, inquiry also is made about a person’s adherence to security requirements, honesty and integrity, vulnerability to exploitation or coercion, falsification, mis- representation, and any other behavior, activities, or associations that tend to show the person is not reliable, trustworthy, or loyal.

Your Personal Interview

Some investigations will include an interview with you as a normal part of the investigative process. This provides you the opportunity to update, clarify, and explain information on your form more completely, which often helps to complete your investigation faster. It is important that the interview be conducted as soon as possible after you are

contacted. Postponements will delay the processing of your investigation, and declining to be interviewed may result in your investigation being delayed or canceled.

You will be asked to bring identification with your picture on it, such as a valid State driver’s license, to the interview. There are other documents you may be asked to bring to verify your identity as well. These include documentation of any legal name change, Social Security card, and/or birth certificate.

You may also be asked to bring documents about information you provided on the form or other matters requiring specific attention. These matters include alien registration, delinquent loans or taxes, bankruptcy, judgments, liens, or other financial obligations, agreements involving child custody or support, alimony or property settlements, arrests, convictions, probation, and/or parole.

Organization of this Form

This form has two parts. Part 1 asks for background information, including where you have lived, gone to school, and worked. Part 2 asks about your activities and such matters as firings from a job, criminal history record, use of illegal drugs, and abuse of alcohol.

In answering all questions on this form, keep in mind that your answers are considered together with the information obtained in the investigation to reach an appropriate adjudication.

Instructions for Completing this Form

1.Follow the instructions given to you by the person who gave you the form and any other clarifying instructions furnished by that person to assist you in completion of the form. Find out how many copies of the form you are to turn in. You must sign and date, in black ink, the original and each copy you submit. You should retain a copy of the completed form for your records.

2.Type or legibly print your answers in black ink (if your form is not legible, it will not be accepted). You may also be asked to submit your form in an approved electronic format.

3.All questions on this form must be answered. If no response is necessary or applicable, indicate this on the form (for example, enter "None" or "N/A"). If you find that you cannot report an exact date, approximate or estimate the date to the best of your ability and indicate this by marking "APPROX." or "EST."

4.Any changes that you make to this form after you sign it must be initialed and dated by you. Under certain limited circumstances, agencies may modify the form consistent with your intent.

5.You must use the State codes (abbreviations) listed on the back of this page when you fill out this form. Do not abbreviate the names of cities or foreign countries.

6.The 5-digit postal ZIP codes are needed to speed the processing of your investigation. The office that provided the form will assist you in completing the ZIP codes.

7.All telephone numbers must include area codes.

8.All dates provided on this form must be in Month/Day/Year or Month/Year format. Use numbers (1-12) to indicate months. For example, June 8, 1978, should be shown as 6/8/78.

9.Whenever "City (Country)" is shown in an address block, also provide in that block the name of the country when the address is outside the United States.

10.If you need additional space to list your residences or employments/self-employments/unemployments or education, you should use a continuation sheet, SF 86A. If additional space is needed to answer other items, use a blank piece of paper. Each blank piece of paper you use must contain your name and Social Security Number at the top of the page.

Final Determination on Your Eligibility

Final determination on your eligibility for access to classified information is the responsibility of the Federal agency that requested your investigation. You may be provided the opportunity personally to explain, refute, or clarify any information before a final decision is made.

Penalties for Inaccurate or False Statements

The U.S. Criminal Code (title 18, section 1001) provides that knowingly falsifying or concealing a material fact is a felony which may result in fines of up to $10,000, and/or 5 years imprisonment, or both. In addition, Federal agencies generally fire, do not grant a security clearance, or disqualify individuals who have materially and deliberately falsified these forms, and this remains a part of the permanent record for future placements. Because the position for which you are being considered is a sensitive one, your trustworthiness is a very important consideration in deciding your eligibility for a security clearance.

Your prospects of placement or security clearance are better if you answer all questions truthfully and completely. You will have adequate opportunity to explain any information you give us on the form and to make your comments part of the record.

Disclosure of Information

The information you give us is for the purpose of investigating you for a national security position; we will protect it from unauthorized disclosure. The collection, maintenance, and disclosure of background investigative information is governed by the Privacy Act. The agency which requested the investigation and the agency which conducted the investigation have published notices in the Federal Register describing the systems of records in which your records will be maintained. You may obtain copies of the relevant notices from the person who gave you this form. The information on this form, and information we collect during an investigation may be disclosed without your consent as permitted by the Privacy Act (5 USC 552a(b)) and as follows:

1.To the Department of Justice when: (a) the agency or any component thereof; or

(b) any employee of the agency in his or her official capacity; or (c) any employee of the agency in his or her individual capacity where the Department of Justice has agreed to represent the employee; or (d) the United States Government, is a party to litigation or has interest in such litigation, and by careful review, the agency determines that the records are both relevant and necessary to the litigation and the use of such records by the Department of Justice is therefore deemed by the agency to be for a purpose that is compatible with the purpose for which the agency collected the records.

2.To a court or adjudicative body in a proceeding when: (a) the agency or any component thereof; or (b) any employee of the agency in his or her official capacity; or (c) any employee of the agency in his or her individual capacity where the Department of Justice has agreed to represent the employee; or (d) the United States Government, is a party to litigation or has interest in such litigation, and by careful review, the agency determines that the records are both relevant and necessary to the litigation and the use of such records is therefore deemed by the agency to be for a purpose that is compatible with the purpose for which the agency collected the records.

3.Except as noted in Question 24, when a record on its face, or in conjunction with other records, indicates a violation or potential violation of law, whether civil, criminal, or regulatory in nature, and whether arising by general statute, particular program statute, regulation, rule, or order issued pursuant thereto, the relevant records may be disclosed to the appropriate Federal, foreign, State, local, tribal, or other public authority responsible for enforcing, investigating or prosecuting such violation or charged with enforcing or implementing the statute, rule, regulation, or order.

4.To any source or potential source from which information is requested in the course of an investigation concerning the hiring or retention of an employee or other personnel action, or the issuing or retention of a security clearance, contract, grant, license, or other benefit, to the extent necessary to identify the individual, inform the source of the nature and purpose of the investigation, and to identify the type of information requested.

5.To a Federal, State, local, foreign, tribal, or other public authority the fact that this system of records contains information relevant to the retention of an employee, or the retention of a security clearance, contract, license, grant, or other benefit. The other agency or licensing organization may then make a request supported by written consent of the individual for the entire record if it so chooses. No disclosure will be made unless the information has been determined to be sufficiently reliable to support a referral to another office within the agency or to another Federal agency for criminal, civil, administrative, personnel, or regulatory action.

6.To contractors, grantees, experts, consultants, or volunteers when necessary to perform a function or service related to this record for which they have been engaged. Such recipients shall be required to comply with the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended.

7.To the news media or the general public, factual information the disclosure of which would be in the public interest and which would not constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.

8.To a Federal, State, or local agency, or other appropriate entities or individuals, or through established liaison channels to selected foreign governments, in order to enable an intelligence agency to carry out its responsibilities under the National Security Act of 1947 as amended, the CIA Act of 1949 as amended, Executive Order 12333 or any successor order, applicable national security directives, or classified implementing procedures approved by the Attorney General and promulgated pursuant to such statutes, orders or directives.

9.To a Member of Congress or to a Congressional staff member in response to an inquiry of the Congressional office made at the written request of the constituent about whom the record is maintained.

10.To the National Archives and Records Administration for records management inspections conducted under 44 USC 2904 and 2906.

11.To the Office of Management and Budget when necessary to the review of private relief legislation.