Do foreign contacts or travel affect a security clearance?

What counts as a foreign contact on the SF-86?

Section 19 defines a foreign national as a person who is not a U.S. citizen or U.S. national. It asks about close and/or continuing contact during the last seven years when you—or your spouse, legally recognized civil union or domestic partner, or cohabitant—are bound to that person by affection, influence, common interests, and/or obligation. It includes associates and relatives not already listed in Section 18.

That is not the same as listing every non-U.S. citizen you have ever met, followed online, served at a restaurant, or encountered on a trip. It is also not permission to omit a relationship that meets the form's words merely because the contact feels ordinary. Use the current question, sponsor instructions, and an authorized security contact when the facts are unclear.

Relatives, contacts, and foreign activities are separate sections

Section 18 has its own relative categories. Section 19 covers the defined close or continuing contacts not already listed there. Sections 20A and 20B separately ask about foreign assets, benefits, property, business or professional activity, foreign government contacts, sponsorship, and specified political activity. One truthful entry does not automatically answer the other questions.

Dual citizenship is also a different topic. Citizenship, passport use, voting, benefits, and conduct that may indicate preference for a foreign interest have their own facts and instructions. Do not relabel a U.S. citizen as a “foreign contact” solely because the person was born abroad or has another citizenship.

Do foreign relatives or friends automatically disqualify you?

No. Guideline B is concerned with foreign contacts, interests, and circumstances that could create a heightened risk of exploitation, pressure, coercion, conflict of interest, or divided interests. Relevant context can include the nature and frequency of the relationship, obligations, the foreign person's affiliations, the country and conditions involved, access or vulnerability, and the person's conduct and candor.

The same nationality can appear in very different cases, and nationality alone is not an individualized adjudication. This guide does not publish “safe” and “unsafe” country lists, assign risk to a family member, or predict how an adjudicator will weigh a relationship. Complete reporting gives the authorized process the facts it needs; it is not proof that eligibility will be denied.

What foreign travel does the SF-86 ask about?

Section 20C asks whether you traveled outside the United States in the last seven years. For trips other than solely U.S. Government business or military overseas assignment on official orders, it requests all covered trips, including personal travel combined with official business. It asks for countries, dates, duration, purpose, and specified security or counterintelligence incidents.

Keep a travel chronology rather than relying only on passport stamps: tickets, itineraries, calendars, expense records, photos, and email may help reconstruct dates. Follow the form's definition of the United States and sponsor instructions; do not omit a trip merely because there is no stamp or because it was brief.

Current holders: SEAD 3 is not Section 19

A previously submitted SF-86 is a snapshot governed by the form's questions. SEAD 3 creates ongoing reporting duties for covered individuals with classified access or in sensitive positions. DCSA notes that procedures vary by agency and directs people to their security office; DoD contractor personnel use their Facility Security Officer.

DCSA's NISPOM guidance for DoD-cleared contractors says limited or casual public contact with a foreign national is not reportable absent another SEAD 3 requirement. It identifies continuing relationships involving affection, intimate contact, personal obligation, or recurring exchange of nonpublic personal information, as well as known or suspected foreign-intelligence contact. Other agencies, contracts, SCI, SAP, or position rules can require additional reporting, so do not use the contractor example as a universal substitute for your own instructions.

Current holders: unofficial foreign travel is reportable

For covered DoD contractor personnel, DCSA says the travel excluded from SEAD 3 reporting is travel in direct support of an established U.S. Government contract whose ultimate customer is the U.S. Government. Unofficial travel—and a personal segment mixed into official travel—must be reported through the approved process. U.S. possessions and territories are not foreign travel under that guidance.

Report before travel when your procedure requires it, complete any required briefing or approval, and promptly report itinerary changes, unusual contacts, detention, coercion, attempted elicitation, lost devices, or other security events as instructed. Do not assume a destination is exempt because it is nearby, allied, familiar, or visited frequently.

If a contact or trip changes after submission

Do not silently edit a saved copy, resubmit a public PDF, or send sensitive details to a recruiter or job board. A pending applicant should use the investigator, security office, HR contact, or other channel provided by the sponsor. A current holder should use the organization's approved self-reporting process.

DCSA routes military members to their recruiter or duty-station Security Officer, federal civilians to their agency Security Officer or HR office, and DoD contractors to the company FSO. That office can tell you which rule applies, what details are required, and whether an update already exists in the authorized record.

A practical preparation checklist

1. 1

   Separate the rule and your status

   Identify whether you are completing an SF-86, updating a pending case, or following ongoing holder reporting. Do not merge the thresholds.

2. 2

   Build a private relationship timeline

   For covered contacts, organize names, citizenship if known, relationship, dates, frequency, communication methods, addresses, employers, affiliations, obligations, and significant changes.

3. 3

   Build a private travel timeline

   Record countries, approximate dates, duration, purpose, personal portions of official trips, and any unusual law-enforcement, customs, security, coercion, or information-seeking event.

4. 4

   Use honest uncertainty

   The form allows estimates and several “I don't know” responses. Explain uncertainty accurately instead of guessing or omitting a responsive item.

5. 5

   Use only the secure sponsor channel

   Keep foreign-contact identities, addresses, travel records, questionnaire answers, and case information out of Cleared Colorado, public forums, and ordinary recruiter messages.

Current Colorado jobs where a clearance may be obtainable

Cleared Colorado currently has 518 direct-employer listings across 14 employers whose source explicitly allows the required Secret-or-higher clearance to be obtainable. This is only a clearance-timing filter: the jobs are not screened for foreign contacts, citizenship, travel, ties, reportability, or individual eligibility.