PDI Trusted Data Academy · Clearance Eligibility
No employer can give you a clearance. Including this one.
Here is what actually happens, who decides it, and where Pacific Data Integrators genuinely stands today.
First principle
Eligibility and access are two different things.
Eligibility is the government’s determination, based on a background investigation, that you can be trusted with classified information. Access is permission to see specific classified information, for a specific job, on a specific contract, because you need it to do that work.
When you separate, a security officer administratively terminates your access. Your eligibility is a separate status and carries no fixed term in years.
This is why we will not tell you to “bring your clearance with you.” You do not carry anything. A record exists, and an employer with the standing to do so may ask the government to act on it.
The numbers that matter
Three thresholds worth knowing before you apply anywhere.
Past 24 months of continuous break in federal or military service, Defense reciprocity stops applying — even where the underlying investigation is still within its valid timeframe. That is the line between reactivating and starting over.
On urgency
The 24-month clock is real and you should know it exists. It is not a reason to accept a contingent role quickly. If any recruiter uses that clock to compress your decision, treat it as a reason for more caution, not less.
Reciprocity
What reciprocity covers, and what it does not.
When it applies
An existing clearance must be accepted where the investigation meets or exceeds the scope required for the new position, no new derogatory information exists, and eligibility was granted without condition, deviation, or waiver.
When it does not
Reciprocity does not apply where a clearance was previously denied, revoked, or suspended. Suitability is a separate determination and can block a hire even where the clearance question resolves cleanly.
What sits outside it
Sensitive compartmented information, special access programs, polygraph requirements, badging, and customer-specific conditions are each separate from collateral eligibility and may require separate action.
A Secret-cleared candidate is not automatically eligible for Top Secret work. The two sit in different investigative tiers, and moving up means a new, deeper investigation.
Where PDI stands
We do not hold a facility clearance yet.
An uncleared company cannot apply for a facility clearance on its own behalf. Sponsorship must come from the government contracting activity or from a cleared prime contractor with which the company will hold a subcontract containing a DD Form 254. Pacific Data Integrators is pursuing sponsorship through a cleared prime. It has not been granted.
- TodayPDI has no Facility Security Officer with access to the government system used to verify eligibility and request sponsorship. Nobody here can check your record.
- We canRecruit, assess, train, and hire for unclassified work.
- We cannotVerify your eligibility, sponsor a clearance, promise reciprocity, or offer classified access.
- SequenceContract award, prime sponsorship, granted facility clearance — none of which PDI decides alone.
If any recruiter, here or anywhere, tells you a company can hold or transfer your clearance for you, they are either mistaken or misleading you.
POLICY SOURCES · 32 CFR PART 117 · DoDM 5200.02 · SEAD 7 · VERIFIED 03 AUG 2026
Questions
Common questions.
Did I lose my clearance when I separated?
Your access was terminated. Your eligibility determination remains on record and has no fixed term in years. Whether it can be acted on depends on how long the break has been and the age of the underlying investigation.
Can I reactivate it myself?
No. Sponsorship comes from an employer with a facility clearance or from a government agency that needs you in a cleared position. The company initiates; the government decides.
What should I tell you about my clearance history?
A category only — the level and the approximate date it was last active. Never investigation case numbers, adjudication history, polygraph details, program names, or your Social Security number.
Will PDI pay for a new investigation if mine has lapsed?
Companies do not pay for clearance investigations; the government funds processing for access to classified information. But nothing can be initiated without an awarded contract, a sponsoring relationship, and a position that requires the access. None of those exist yet.
If the contract is not awarded, what happens?
The four positions do not open. We will tell you as soon as we know, and we will not keep you in a pipeline for a role that no longer exists. If you ask us to delete your application at any point, we will.
Is this a SkillBridge program?
No. Pacific Data Integrators is not an authorized SkillBridge provider and is not operating through an authorized partner. If you are on active duty, this is a conventional hiring process timed to your separation date.
Pacific Data Integrators is a private company. Nothing on this page implies endorsement, sponsorship, partnership, or approval by the Department of Defense, any military department, or any government agency. This page describes publicly available government policy; it is not legal advice, not a security determination, and not a substitute for guidance from authorized security personnel. PDI does not grant, guarantee, transfer, reactivate, or adjudicate clearances. Anything a candidate reports about clearance history remains self-reported until verified by authorized security personnel. Employment, customer acceptance, reciprocity, and classified access are not guaranteed. Pacific Data Integrators is an equal opportunity employer; accommodations are available on request.