News Release

Director James Announces Government Clearance Process Moves Into 21st Century

Another crucial milestone reached in E-Clearance initiative

WASHINGTON - Office of Personnel Management Director Kay Coles James announced today that the next step in the President's e-Clearance initiative has been met with the launch of the full automation of clearance form clearance form SF-86.

"The SF-86, the form used for security clearances, is now available online and is completely automated. This will help relieve the bottleneck that exists in the security clearance process and will result in enhanced national security," James said. "Individuals can now fill out the form online and eliminate the need for paper forms in most instances. This step is key to moving the clearance process for the Federal Government squarely into the 21st Century."

"Having this form fully automated will speed up the clearance process while making it more accurate, thereby improving the process for all involved," James added.

"The e-Clearance initiative will eliminate unnecessary and duplicative paperwork, reduce the burden on people we want to bring into the federal government, cut time involved in processing clearances while preserving the integrity of our investigations, and free-up personnel security resources to focus where it counts," James declared.

E-Clearance is part of the e-Government initiative contained in President George W. Bush's Management Agenda. The President's Management Agenda contains 24 e-Government initiatives, five of which are managed by OPM. The other four programs OPM manages are e-Training, e-Payroll, Recruitment One-Stop, and Enterprise Human Resource Integration.

For more information please contact Chad Cowan at 202-606-2402 or cdcowan@opm.gov.

OPM oversees the federal work force and provides the American public with up-to-date employment information. OPM also supports U.S. agencies with personnel services and policy leadership including staffing tools, guidance on labor-management relations and programs to improve work force performance.

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