Back in 1995 I applied for an INS Immigration Inspector position.  The OPM conducted the background investigation and because a former employer said some very negative and false things about me the OPM said I was unsuitable for employment.

I got a copy of the investigation and I appealed the decision giving my truthful version of the events in question.  The OPM elected to believe my former employer, and debared me from Federal employment for three years.

I have just gotten a job offer to be a civilian police officer with the Department of the Army.  The job requires that I get a Secret clearance.  I just sent off the SF-86 for investigation and I was totally honest about the above situation on the SF-86.  I realize that it is my word against my former employer, and to complicate matters the former employer is long out of business and I have lost touch with former co-workers who could verify that my version of events was the truth and that my former employer and I did not like each other and he was sticking it to me.

I am hoping that since just over 10 years has passed since the incident the passage of time has mitigated the problem.  Does anyone know if the OPM or INS would even still have a copy of the 1995 investigation?  Would the debarment come up in a National Agency Search?  Do I have a realistic chance of being granted a clearance or will the fact that I was debared sink me right away?

Thanks Dimas.  My paperwork was submitted for an interm clearance and I am waiting to hear back.

INS was abolished and transformed into USCIS, Department of Homeland Security in 2003.