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DHS
The Department of Homeland Security has a vital mission: to secure the nation from the many threats we face. This requires the dedication of more than 230,000 employees in jobs that range from aviation and border security to emergency response, from cybersecurity analyst to chemical facility inspector. [Their] duties are wide-ranging, but [their] goal is clear: keeping America safe. (source: www.dhs.gov)
Perhaps you are working for the DHS or interested in working for the DHS. Here is a forum to share your experience with the DHS.
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Originally Posted by: Taya  My references were contacted.
Texas Service Center Position #0915
Applied: 5/27/18
Referred: 6/13/18
Interview: 7/17/18
Tentative: 8/1/18
SF-86: 8/22/18
Adv EOD: 9/30/18
You can PM if you have anymore questions. Thank you. I was hoping to hear from California service center. I only got an interview but haven't heard anything back from them. Edited by user Monday, September 24, 2018 5:04:15 PM(UTC)
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Hey, everyone.
I was given a tentative offer for a position with USCIS as an Immigration Services Officer in Seattle, WA. Being that this is my first TO with the federal government, I was hoping someone could give me a little insight as to what I should expect moving forward.
Here is my timeline so far:
Applied: 6/01/2018
Referred: 6/15/2018
Phone Interview: 7/31/2018
Tentative Offer: 8/14/2018
BASIC Training Agreement signed: 8/16/2018
Drug Screening requested and completed: 8/20/2018
SF-86 submitted: 9/5/2018
In the email I received from OSI Personnel Security, one of the attachments was a FAQ that included this:
How long will this screening process take?
Although our time frames vary, 90% of pre-appointment determinations are made within 20 days of receiving your completed paperwork. We understand that compiling the information we request may take time; however, submitting your required documents by the given deadline will help us complete the pre-appointment determination as quickly as possible.
So here are my questions:
1. Other than that, there no other reference to an advance EOD. I’ve done some research on my own and I’ve gotten conflicting information. Some say that only previous federal employees would be eligible for advance EOD. Is this true?
2. What goes into the advance EOD determination? There’s nothing in my background that should be of any concern (squeaky clean background in general- no arrests, no lawsuits, no shady personal/business/foreign connections). The only things that may be an issue would be my low credit score (due to student loans and a failed startup) and an inconclusive polygraph for another federal position in 2017. I’ve been working to rebuild my credit and there are no outstanding issues or late payments for a few years.
If advance EOD isn’t granted, then I’d have to wait for a full background investigation. If I had a background investigation initiated for another agency (Secret Service) in June of 2017, would USCIS or OSI Personnel Security use that?
Wednesday is the 20 day mark for me and I’m super anxious about hearing back. I appreciate whatever help or answers anyone could provide.
Thank you,
Chris
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Originally Posted by: Link971 Hey, everyone.
I was given a tentative offer for a position with USCIS as an Immigration Services Officer in Seattle, WA. Being that this is my first TO with the federal government, I was hoping someone could give me a little insight as to what I should expect moving forward.
Here is my timeline so far:
Applied: 6/01/2018
Referred: 6/15/2018
Phone Interview: 7/31/2018
Tentative Offer: 8/14/2018
BASIC Training Agreement signed: 8/16/2018
Drug Screening requested and completed: 8/20/2018
SF-86 submitted: 9/5/2018
In the email I received from OSI Personnel Security, one of the attachments was a FAQ that included this:
How long will this screening process take?
Although our time frames vary, 90% of pre-appointment determinations are made within 20 days of receiving your completed paperwork. We understand that compiling the information we request may take time; however, submitting your required documents by the given deadline will help us complete the pre-appointment determination as quickly as possible.
So here are my questions:
1. Other than that, there no other reference to an advance EOD. I’ve done some research on my own and I’ve gotten conflicting information. Some say that only previous federal employees would be eligible for advance EOD. Is this true?
2. What goes into the advance EOD determination? There’s nothing in my background that should be of any concern (squeaky clean background in general- no arrests, no lawsuits, no shady personal/business/foreign connections). The only things that may be an issue would be my low credit score (due to student loans and a failed startup) and an inconclusive polygraph for another federal position in 2017. I’ve been working to rebuild my credit and there are no outstanding issues or late payments for a few years.
If advance EOD isn’t granted, then I’d have to wait for a full background investigation. If I had a background investigation initiated for another agency (Secret Service) in June of 2017, would USCIS or OSI Personnel Security use that?
Wednesday is the 20 day mark for me and I’m super anxious about hearing back. I appreciate whatever help or answers anyone could provide.
Thank you,
Chris You will know if you are eligible for an advanced EOD within the 20 day timeframe. If you are, then you will be able to EOD a few weeks later. If not, then you do have to wait for a full background investigation which will take several months and up to a year. Being a prior federal employee has little bearing on whether or not you get an advanced EOD. It would depend on when your last completed investigation was as well as the level of it. Even for the public trust position (which is what ISOs are), DHS still requires a SSBI, which is a Top Secret level investigation. As far as reciprocity from the SS investigation, it would have to depend on the level. Although, if it was an SSBI and its still open, then it should be fairly easy to transfer the information. Make sure you annotate it on your SF-86.
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 1 user thanked rbr for this useful post.
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Joined: 8/17/2018(UTC) Posts: 3 Location: Fort Lauderdale Thanks: 1 times
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Originally Posted by: rbr Originally Posted by: Link971 Hey, everyone.
I was given a tentative offer for a position with USCIS as an Immigration Services Officer in Seattle, WA. Being that this is my first TO with the federal government, I was hoping someone could give me a little insight as to what I should expect moving forward.
Here is my timeline so far:
Applied: 6/01/2018
Referred: 6/15/2018
Phone Interview: 7/31/2018
Tentative Offer: 8/14/2018
BASIC Training Agreement signed: 8/16/2018
Drug Screening requested and completed: 8/20/2018
SF-86 submitted: 9/5/2018
In the email I received from OSI Personnel Security, one of the attachments was a FAQ that included this:
How long will this screening process take?
Although our time frames vary, 90% of pre-appointment determinations are made within 20 days of receiving your completed paperwork. We understand that compiling the information we request may take time; however, submitting your required documents by the given deadline will help us complete the pre-appointment determination as quickly as possible.
So here are my questions:
1. Other than that, there no other reference to an advance EOD. I’ve done some research on my own and I’ve gotten conflicting information. Some say that only previous federal employees would be eligible for advance EOD. Is this true?
2. What goes into the advance EOD determination? There’s nothing in my background that should be of any concern (squeaky clean background in general- no arrests, no lawsuits, no shady personal/business/foreign connections). The only things that may be an issue would be my low credit score (due to student loans and a failed startup) and an inconclusive polygraph for another federal position in 2017. I’ve been working to rebuild my credit and there are no outstanding issues or late payments for a few years.
If advance EOD isn’t granted, then I’d have to wait for a full background investigation. If I had a background investigation initiated for another agency (Secret Service) in June of 2017, would USCIS or OSI Personnel Security use that?
Wednesday is the 20 day mark for me and I’m super anxious about hearing back. I appreciate whatever help or answers anyone could provide.
Thank you,
Chris You will know if you are eligible for an advanced EOD within the 20 day timeframe. If you are, then you will be able to EOD a few weeks later. If not, then you do have to wait for a full background investigation which will take several months and up to a year. Being a prior federal employee has little bearing on whether or not you get an advanced EOD. It would depend on when your last completed investigation was as well as the level of it. Even for the public trust position (which is what ISOs are), DHS still requires a SSBI, which is a Top Secret level investigation. As far as reciprocity from the SS investigation, it would have to depend on the level. Although, if it was an SSBI and its still open, then it should be fairly easy to transfer the information. Make sure you annotate it on your SF-86. Thank you for your reply! With that 20 day mark quickly approaching, I’ve been worried that I hadn’t heard back from the OSI Personnel Security. I did note in my SF-86 that SS initiated a background investigation last year. I guess I’ll just need to have a little more patience. I’m very much looking forward to this opportunity.
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If you don't receive a response within 20 days, does that mean an advanced EOD was not granted?
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Originally Posted by: SoCal If you don't receive a response within 20 days, does that mean an advanced EOD was not granted? You will receive a response telling you whether or not its been granted. Whether or not it comes within the 20 day window has no bearing one way or the other.
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Once you receive an EOD date, are you able to postpone it? If so, what's the max length they'll allow you to postpone it?
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Yes. I received two dates to chose from. Each were two weeks apart. They also stated that if neither worked, to let them know.
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Hi all,
I recently applied for an ISO2 position in Denver/Salt Lake City (I applied non-competitive as a former Foreign Service Officer). It noted 11 openings so I have to assume they are expanding capacity, though who knows how much in Denver (my preferred location). Is anyone aware of the expansion?
I only selected GS-12 as my interest area (I would prefer to keep my current non-fed job over anything below this). I would like a realistic sense from those in the know of whether my background would be well-aligned to the ISO2 at the GS-12 level:
• I spent 9 years with the State Department including one year as a Consular Non-immigrant adjudicator overseas (adjudicated/interviewed 10,000 cases, led a trade/investment visa category country-wide)
• Left the State Department as an FS2 (GS14 equivalent)
• I previously applied for a GS-13 Supervisory ISO role and was interviewed (5 candidates I believe) and was the only external candidate. The interview went great, but I believe there were concerns that I was coming from outside USCIS with no USCIS experience (I consider that a pretty fair reason for non-selection)
• I have a Masters Degree in Middle Eastern Studies and have reached intermediate/advanced level of Arabic and Spanish with the help of 2+ years of federal government funded language study.
I see this as a future and exciting career path, but given my prior status as a GS14 and the recent GS13 USCIS interview, I felt the GS-12 was the minimum I should accept (I also like my current job and salary enough not to go lower than this).
Do I have a shot in your opinion? Do first time ISOs ever start at the 12?
I appreciate any feedback!
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Originally Posted by: FormerFSO Hi all,
I recently applied for an ISO2 position in Denver/Salt Lake City (I applied non-competitive as a former Foreign Service Officer). It noted 11 openings so I have to assume they are expanding capacity, though who knows how much in Denver (my preferred location). Is anyone aware of the expansion?
I only selected GS-12 as my interest area (I would prefer to keep my current non-fed job over anything below this). I would like a realistic sense from those in the know of whether my background would be well-aligned to the ISO2 at the GS-12 level:
• I spent 9 years with the State Department including one year as a Consular Non-immigrant adjudicator overseas (adjudicated/interviewed 10,000 cases, led a trade/investment visa category country-wide)
• Left the State Department as an FS2 (GS14 equivalent)
• I previously applied for a GS-13 Supervisory ISO role and was interviewed (5 candidates I believe) and was the only external candidate. The interview went great, but I believe there were concerns that I was coming from outside USCIS with no USCIS experience (I consider that a pretty fair reason for non-selection)
• I have a Masters Degree in Middle Eastern Studies and have reached intermediate/advanced level of Arabic and Spanish with the help of 2+ years of federal government funded language study.
I see this as a future and exciting career path, but given my prior status as a GS14 and the recent GS13 USCIS interview, I felt the GS-12 was the minimum I should accept (I also like my current job and salary enough not to go lower than this).
Do I have a shot in your opinion? Do first time ISOs ever start at the 12?
I appreciate any feedback! As you saw during your recent interview USCIS's preference is to hire internally for higher graded positions. The main reason is that ISO 1 positions ladder out at 11 and most candidates have to apply to USA job announcement's for a "promotion". Despite your FSO experience, you are competing against people that have been in the organization for several years and have presumably gotten excellent evaluations. If you really want to work for USCIS, you will have to start at a GS11 and try to negotiate to a step that most closely matches your current salary.
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Originally Posted by: rbr Originally Posted by: SoCal If you don't receive a response within 20 days, does that mean an advanced EOD was not granted? You will receive a response telling you whether or not its been granted. Whether or not it comes within the 20 day window has no bearing one way or the other. Thank you. I haven’t been contacted by an investigator for any follow-up questions or clarifications, and none of my references have been contacted since I submitted my SF-86 (two employers were contacted the day after my interview, though). While I understand that the “20 day” timeframe is a guideline and that the actual advanced EOD can be made at any time, it’s tough just waiting. I think I’d be more comfortable if I knew what went into the advanced EOD determination, what OSI Personnel Security was looking for. If they haven’t reached out for further questions or contacted my referenced, is that good? Bad? I’m very anxious to hear back one way or another.
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You can email OSI to see your staus. I did and actual found out the my advanced EOD was approved before the official job offer was sent.
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Why are some ISO positions on USA Jobs listed as non-competitive GS-9 and some GS-12. Does it vary by location?
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Originally Posted by: AZcactus42 Why are some ISO positions on USA Jobs listed as non-competitive GS-9 and some GS-12. Does it vary by location? There are two different levels of ISO positions. ISO 1 is the entry level position and is typically listed at GS 9-11. ISO 2 positions are promotion positions and are listed at GS 12 and above. The GS9 position is most likely open to the public while the GS 12 position is internal to the agency. In most cases, in order to move from ISO 1 to ISO 2 you are required to apply via USAjobs.
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Originally Posted by: rbr Originally Posted by: AZcactus42 Why are some ISO positions on USA Jobs listed as non-competitive GS-9 and some GS-12. Does it vary by location? There are two different levels of ISO positions. ISO 1 is the entry level position and is typically listed at GS 9-11. ISO 2 positions are promotion positions and are listed at GS 12 and above. The GS9 position is most likely open to the public while the GS 12 position is internal to the agency. In most cases, in order to move from ISO 1 to ISO 2 you are required to apply via USAjobs. ISO1s are 5/9 ISO2s are 11/12 (on rare occasions, they can be listed as 9/11/12) ISO3s are 13
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1 user thanked for this useful post.
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Originally Posted by: Mac101 Anybody that has applied and interviewed with Vermont, have you heard any news yet? Anyone in the forum applied and interviewed with them? Still haven’t heard anything, curious if any of you have since the interviews. Thanks again!
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