To think I would probably fail DV check

[tamade]

Ha been living in China with Chinese DP for several years and DS also Chinese. We’re moving back to UK and I’m looking for jobs. I am an engineer and a lot of the employers (30%) for my discipline would require DV security checks. I am British and no other issues apart from my connection to China. Would it be a waste of time applying for roles that require vetting?

DV yes SC maybe not

I think it's worth asking the question of any prospective employer. A lot depends on what sort of organisation you would be looking to work for. Some have stricter requirements than others - ands some won't let you even apply from abroad.

Are you sure you would need DV? That's a very high level of clearance. The checks are pretty invasive too.
Is the nature of your work dealing with top secrets etc?

Not sure about DV but you'd fail SC if you'd not been in country the last five years. And even if in the last five years but too big a gap away in the middle (eg over 6m)

Look for civil services jobs with BPSS but expect that the checks may take longer than six weeks.

I work in this area and quite rare that you’d need DV. We only put 20% of our employees through SC and have secured lower level clearance for Chinese nationals.

Which industries/areas/companies are you looking at?

@springisspring for some of the roles yes, it’s in the job descriptions. Things like nuclear or defense manufacturing.

Not necessarily. I know someone who has a Russian wife and child and has lived in Russia who has DV.

You can't not be offered the job because of your links (trust me, I had to go through this entire procedure for someone who I knew would fail their DV but they were the best candidate and HR said it was unreasonable not to offer them the job...set me back four months) but you might not get the clearance. There's no harm in applying - what do you have to lose? Nothing.

And ignore people who say you'll fail clearance checks if you've not been in the country for X many of the last few years. It doesn't work like that - there's flexibility. If it did, all our diplomats overseas would be out of jobs.

Ah that makes sense.

I work for one of the largest engineering firms in the UK, and world. There are very few with DV clearance. I work on a lot of MOD / DIO various other government agencies and need BPSS and SC.

My understanding is that it's five years residency in the UK at some point to be eligible to apply, not having needed to be resident within the last 5 years. And for the second point, surely this is only relative to maintaining a current SC clearance rather than applying for a new one?

Not being unnecessarily argumentative. Just perplexed as to how I hold one under the parameters as you've laid them out, and when I went to check online the guidance has been withdrawn!

You cant even get SC (below DV) if youve spent more than 28 consecutive days out of the UK in the past 5 years. One of our team was stuck in Italy during lockdown one while on holiday and cant get SC until 2025, he has BPSS though (below SC).

Surprised if DV is a requirement for nuclear.

You’ll need minimum CTC where there is fuel present, which requires 3 years continuous residency. For somewhere like Rolls Royce, AWE, anyone involved in EDF’s new builds, you’d only need BPSS initially.

@καλοκαλoκαιρι and @Sanch1 just asked a friend in infosec and they said anyone away more than six months will struggle to get SC. And same for risking losing it.

Thanks for the advice,
I’ll probably try applying to a few and see how it goes, it’s obvious from my CV that I have been living and working here so it can be discussed at interviews,

Definitely speak to the hiring managers! Even living out of country can be cleared sometimes, I have DV and have colleagues who have the same clearance with living abroad / visiting abroad in their history.

For somewhere like China you're going to raise red flags immediately but I know people who've had to go through the extended in person interviews to gain their clearance due to visiting China. Honestly living there would be considered a risk but your partner being a Chinese national + having a Chinese national child will also be red flags, at least where I work.

No harm in applying for roles that need vetting as long as you're honest and upfront about it and also aware that it might be a barrier to working in some places.

Being a diplomat is an exempt category as you are technically still resident in the UK and have a footprint that can be traced, so you're wrong there.
Being outside the UK for more than 3 years will make it difficult (if not impossible for higher level jobs) as will residence in China which as other have said will be a big red flag.

Diplomats was an example but also your response is not accurate. New fast streamers aren't rejected just because they spent their 3rd year overseas. I can think of dozens of examples of people who have DV who have lived overseas. The main thing is being able to account for your time there and why you were there.

The guy I knew who had a Russian wife and child works at MoD - and he had lived in Russia for several years prior to securing DV. He’s not a paper pusher either - his job is highly complex and senior (he’s my counterpart). So it’s not impossible. You just need to be prepared to be cross-examined.

I lived in Hong Kong for six month, and had no issues obtaining relevant clearances.

There’s more misinformation on this thread than in Putin’s manifesto.