SF86 Explained: The SF-86 Form, eApp and the PVQ (2026)
What the SF86 asks and how far back, who sends it through NBIS eApp, what happens after you submit, and how the PVQ and DCSA's five-year rule fit in.
The SF86 (Standard Form 86, the Questionnaire for National Security Positions) is the OPM form a sponsoring agency or cleared employer invites you to complete in NBIS eApp. Your answers drive the Tier 3 or Tier 5 investigation behind Confidential, Secret, Top Secret and SCI eligibility. Completing it does not mean you hold a clearance.
This is general, factual information, not legal, security, career or financial advice; eligibility and policy are decided by the government, adjudicators and your hiring organization's security office.
Three things have moved since most SF-86 guides were written. e-QIP is gone, replaced by eApp in NBIS. OPM says the Personnel Vetting Questionnaire (PVQ) that will replace the SF-86 is approved and in development. And DCSA's April 2026 guidance for NISP contractors ties the five-year questionnaire update to a "PVQ Date" recorded in DISS. The lookback periods below come from the question text on OPM's published SF-86 PDF. Treat that PDF as a preview: OPM's July 2026 Federal Register notice says eApp uses branching logic that tailors questions to your answers, and that revisions approved in February 2024 and de minimis changes made in May 2025 are already built into eApp. The questions and instructions in your sponsor's eApp invitation are the ones that govern your submission.
Who sends you the SF-86, and can you fill it out on your own?
You can download the SF-86 and prepare your answers yourself, but you cannot initiate the sponsored investigation or submit through eApp without an agency or employer request. A sponsor has to initiate it: a federal agency for its own employees and applicants, or a cleared contractor for a position on a classified contract. On the contractor side that usually means the FSO sends the invitation after a conditional offer. The full sponsorship path is in our post on getting a cleared job without a clearance.
The invitation arrives through NBIS. DCSA's own e-QIP page now carries a one-line note: e-QIP "has been replaced by eApp and NBIS Agency." DCSA describes NBIS eApp and NBIS Agency as the new entry points for background investigation applications: eApp is the applicant side holding the investigative Standard Forms, and NBIS Agency is where SSOs and FSOs initiate and review cases. If a guide or an AI answer still tells you to log in to e-QIP, it is out of date.
OPM still publishes the SF-86 as a PDF on its Federal Investigation Forms page, next to the SF 85, SF 85P and SF 85P-S.
What does the SF-86 ask, section by section?
The form asks for gap-free histories in some areas and yes/no screening questions with a fixed window in others. Sections 1 to 7 cover identity and contact details. The table covers sections 8 through 29, with windows taken from the question text on the OPM PDF. Several sections mix seven-year questions with "have you EVER" questions, and the table says which is which.
A few details from the question text trip people up. The police record questions exclude traffic citations only when the fine was under $300 and no alcohol or drugs were involved. The form says to report police records whether or not the record was sealed, expunged or otherwise stricken, or the charge was dismissed, and DCSA's guide to common SF-86 errors tells applicants to watch whether each police question asks about the last seven years or about ever. Foreign travel solely on U.S. government orders is exempt, but personal side trips taken during official travel are not.
How do you fill out the SF-86, and what should you gather first?
OPM's July 2026 notice estimates 150 minutes per respondent for the information collection, but that is a burden estimate, not a deadline or a promise about your preparation time. Most of the work goes into finding dates and contact details, so the fastest applicants are the ones who collect them first:
- Every address for the last 10 years, with move-in and move-out months.
- Every employer for the last 10 years, with dates, addresses and a supervisor's phone number and email.
- Your most recent U.S. passport number, any foreign passport you have ever held, and, if relevant, naturalization or citizenship documents.
- Three references who are not relatives, with addresses, phone numbers and email.
- Full names, dates and places of birth, and addresses for your spouse or cohabitant, parents, siblings and children.
- Trips abroad in the last seven years with countries, dates and number of days, plus details on foreign nationals you have close and continuing contact with.
- Court records for every police-record question that applies to you, including the lifetime questions on felony, domestic violence, firearms or explosives, and alcohol or drug charges, plus records for any debts in collections, liens or judgments.
You no longer need to lift a credit freeze. OPM's notice says security freezes don't restrict access to credit reports for background screening, so applicants aren't required to lift one during the investigation, and the form's instructions were updated to match.
If you've filled out an SF-86 before, eApp may carry forward old data. DCSA's common-errors guide tells applicants to delete residences and jobs older than 10 years, fix earlier mistakes, and refresh addresses and phone numbers for relatives and references. Investigators use those contact details, and stale ones slow the case down. When you estimate a date, tick the "Est." box rather than presenting a guess as exact.
What happens after you submit the SF-86?
Submission starts a chain run by different offices. In order:
- Your sponsor's security office reviews the form in NBIS Agency, checks it for completeness, and may send it back for corrections. You also sign the releases that authorize record checks, and your security office arranges fingerprints.
- The sponsor may request an interim determination so you can start work while the investigation runs. An interim is temporary and can be withdrawn; it is not a prediction of the final result.
- DCSA (or another authorized investigative agency) runs the investigation: a Tier 3 for Confidential or Secret, a Tier 5 for Top Secret or SCI. Our tiers explainer covers what each tier involves.
- An adjudicator weighs the file against the 13 guidelines in SEAD 4 under the whole-person concept. Our plain-English guide to the 13 guidelines walks through each one.
- A favorable decision grants eligibility. Access still requires need-to-know and a signed SF 312 nondisclosure agreement, and SCI access adds a read-in.
How long it takes depends on the tier, the case and which clock you read. The FY2026 Q2 Personnel Vetting quarterly progress report says that, using the fastest 90% standard, investigations were processed in an average of 44 days for Secret-level cases and 57 days for Top Secret-level cases. Those figures cover the investigation stage only, leaving out initiation and adjudication, and they describe a reporting quarter, not your case. Performance.gov's Trusted Workforce 2.0 page now lists an FY26-Q3 report as well; check there for the newest quarter.
Is the SF-86 being replaced by the Personnel Vetting Questionnaire (PVQ)?
Eventually, yes. OPM proposed the PVQ as a common form in a November 2022 Federal Register notice, consolidating the SF-86 with the questionnaires for public trust and non-sensitive positions. In its July 2026 notice, OPM proposed renewing the SF-86 without change, citing "the forthcoming plan to replace the SF 86 with the Personnel Vetting Questionnaire," which it describes as "currently approved and in development."
So in October 2026 the SF-86 is still a live collection and the PVQ is approved but still being built out. You complete whichever questionnaire your sponsor's eApp invitation opens, answering the questions as that version words them.
Do cleared contractors have to update their SF-86 every five years?
For contractor personnel cleared under the NISP, DCSA's April 2026 guidance says yes. DCSA's Industry Continuous Vetting guidance, titled "Changes to the Five-Year Update Criteria," supersedes the earlier version and states that an updated Personnel Vetting Questionnaire "(PVQ or SF-86 eApp and releases) must be submitted every five years." DCSA says the five-year clock now runs from the "PVQ Date" recorded in DISS, which it treats as equivalent to the SF-86 date. Your FSO is the one to confirm how it applies to your record.
Under Trusted Workforce 2.0, scheduled periodic reinvestigations are giving way to Continuous Vetting's ongoing automated record checks, but CV doesn't remove the questionnaire. DCSA's 2022 version of the guidance already required an updated SF-86 every five years; the 2026 version moved the anchor date to the PVQ Date.
The practical version for a contractor: your FSO can see your PVQ Date in DISS. If the PVQ Date recorded for you is March 2022, five years from it falls in March 2027, and the FSO initiates the update through NBIS the same way as a first SF-86.
Which clearance levels appear in ClearMatch's scan?
In ClearMatch's scan of 118,726 ATS postings across 1,154 employer career sites, September 26 to October 10, 2026, 56,957 (about 48%) required Secret or higher. These are advertised clearance requirements on job postings. They show which levels employers are asking for, not which questionnaire a hire completed or whether a new submission is required.
Confidential-only roles were rare in the same window: 73 postings. The Top Secret levels combined made up 26,695, about 47% of the Secret-plus roles. For where the roles are, ClearMatch counted 48,077 cleared postings by state as of October 9, 2026, led by Virginia at 11,505 and Maryland at 7,948.
For your job search, the SF-86 matters in one specific way: describe your status precisely. "SF-86 submitted," "interim Secret," "Tier 5 in progress" and "active TS/SCI" are different things to an FSO checking DISS. The clearance ladder explainer and TS/SCI breakdown cover which label goes where.
Frequently asked questions
What is the SF-86 for, and is it a security clearance?
The SF-86 collects the personal history used to investigate people for national security positions; it is the application, not the clearance. Its answers set up a Tier 3 or Tier 5 investigation, which supports Confidential, Secret, Top Secret or SCI eligibility if an adjudicator decides favorably. OPM owns the form, and applicants complete it in NBIS eApp after a sponsor initiates the request.
What disqualifies you on the SF-86?
The form itself doesn't disqualify anyone. Adjudicators weigh the information under the 13 guidelines in SEAD 4 and apply the whole-person concept, considering factors such as recency, frequency and mitigation. Our guide to the 13 adjudicative guidelines explains each area; your security office or an attorney can speak to an individual case.
Is lying on the SF-86 a felony?
It can be. The SF-86 certification warns that a knowing and willful false statement on the form can be punished by fine or imprisonment or both under 18 U.S.C. 1001, which provides for up to five years in prison, a felony-level penalty. Separately, deliberate omission or falsification is a concern under SEAD 4's personal conduct guideline. This is general information, not legal advice.
How long does it take for an SF-86 to be approved?
If you mean clearance approval, submitting the SF-86 is followed by security-office review, investigation and an eligibility decision by an adjudicator. The FY2026 Q2 Personnel Vetting progress report put investigation time alone at an average of 44 days for Secret-level cases and 57 for Top Secret-level cases under the fastest-90% standard, excluding initiation and adjudication. Those are quarterly averages, not an estimate for your case, and your FSO can see your case status in DISS.
How do I access my SF-86 after submitting it?
Ask your FSO or sponsoring agency first, since DCSA asks people seeking a copy of a completed SF 86, 85P or 85 from e-QIP or NBIS eApp to coordinate with them before filing a request. For the investigative file itself, DCSA accepts Privacy Act and FOIA requests through its background investigation records page.
What is the difference between the SF-85 and SF-86?
The SF-85 is the Questionnaire for Non-Sensitive Positions and supports a Tier 1 investigation for low-risk work and credentialing. The SF-86 is the Questionnaire for National Security Positions and supports Tier 3 and Tier 5 investigations, including security clearances. Public trust positions use the SF-85P, and all three are slated to be consolidated into the PVQ.
What this looks like inside ClearMatch
ClearMatch reads the clearance you report on your profile and matches it against the clearance tier each posting requires. It never sees your SF-86, your investigation file or anything in DISS, and it doesn't need to.
If your SF-86 is in progress, list the status your FSO would confirm, then get matched to cleared roles, scan open cleared jobs, or run a posting through the job fit check to see how your level lines up.
Sources: OPM: Standard Form 86, Questionnaire for National Security Positions, OPM: Federal Investigation Forms, Federal Register via GovInfo: Submission for Renewal, SF 86, July 9, 2026, Federal Register: Common Form Personnel Vetting Questionnaire, November 2022, DCSA: NBIS eApp and Agency, DCSA: Common SF-86 Errors and Mistakes, DCSA: Industry Continuous Vetting Guidance, April 2026, DCSA: Requesting Background Investigation Records, ODNI: SEAD 4 Adjudicative Guidelines, Performance.gov: Personnel Vetting Quarterly Progress Report, FY2026 Q2, Performance.gov: Trusted Workforce 2.0, U.S. Code: 18 U.S.C. 1001. Policy is set by the federal government and changes over time; confirm anything about your own case with your FSO, security office or the official sources above.