Prescreening is the process of collecting preliminary information, such as fingerprints, background information and forms, to determine if an individual is eligible to receive an NIH badge or to occupy their position at NIH. Before issuing an NIH badge and before ‘clearing’ anyone for employment at NIH, DPSAC conducts Prescreening.                                      

DPSAC's goal is to ensure, from a preliminary sense, that individuals are not going to pose a risk to the life, safety or health of NIH staff or assets. Prescreening ensures all candidates are properly vetted and “cleared" prior to being issued a final employment offer and/or before being granted physical & logical access to NIH.                                      

DPSAC prescreening begins once Administrator Sponsorship and NIH Division of International Services (DIS) Validation (for Foreign Nationals) are completed in NED (must include receipt of SSN). You must complete Prescreening in order for you to be considered for a badge or to be authorized for Entry on Duty (EOD). As noted, DPSAC does not receive non-immigrant FNs’ cases until DIS validates employment eligibility.                                     

DPSAC allots 7 days for applicants to complete the prescreening requirements; which is well above the public burden estimation. ​​    

The average timeframe for the DPSAC prescreening process is about 30 days from the date the badge is sponsored in the NED system, to the date the badge is authorized. This timeframe is mutually dependent the applicant and DPSACs prompt completion of actionable items. This timeframe does not include:
    

• Additional time required for DIS to complete employment authorization after badge sponsorship 
• Corrections required on applicant-submitted information 
• Applicant delay in completing requirements or providing requested corrections to documents 
• Applicants who are not able to travel to an NIH or Field Print location to complete their fingerprinting 
• Issues that arise on the applicants paperwork that require mitigation  

Estimated Public Burden Information    

The amount of time it takes applicants to complete the prescreening forms depends on the investigation type they are completing and the applicants personal background (such as employment, residential and educational history, etc.). Here, DCSA provides the estimated public burden information within the instructions for each of the investigation standard forms: 
    

• Standard Form 85, 85P and 86:
• Public Burden reporting for this collection of information is estimated to average 155 minutes per response, including time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. 
• DPSAC finds that most applicants are able to complete the eApp background investigation questionnaire and forms in under 24 hours; usually between 30 minutes and 3 hours. If additional time is needed to collect information needed for the questionnaire, this can add to the total. 
• OF-306 Declaration for Federal Employment: Public burden reporting for this collection of information is estimated to vary from 5 to 30 minutes with an average of 15 minutes per response, including time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information.   
• Fingerprinting/Enrollment Service: around 20 minutes   
  

You must complete all DPSAC Prescreening requirements within 7 days of notice, to the greatest extent possible, to avoid delays. If not, the case can be delayed beyond normal processing times.            

• ​​eApp (if required): The eApp questionnaire is an extensive questionnaire that often requires back and forth correction requests from our office. Delays to submit the initial eApp within 7 days of notice is one of the largest contributors to significant Prescreening delays. Please read each question and all instructions carefully and provide exactly what is requested. Visit our All About eApp page for more information on how to fill this out correctly.
• Resume: If DPSAC does not receive your resume within 7 days, and if DPSAC detects a break in federal service of 24 ​​months or more since your last completed investigation (if applicable), then a new investigation will be required, which will add an additional 7-14 days of processing time before your badge can be authorized.
• OF-306: If you do ​not submit your OF-306 within 7 days of notice, the case can be delayed beyond normal processing times, especially if corrections are required.
• Crossmatch/Prescreening Fingerprints: If the P​​rescreening fingerprint appointment is not scheduled within 7 days of notice, at a minimum, the case can be delayed beyond normal processing time, as DPSAC cannot make a determination without your fingerprints. For more information, please visit our Fingerprint Services​ page.

Note: If suitability issues are disclosed/developed on prescreening paperwork, these will take additional time to mitigate.        

Applicants can expect to receive the following emails from DPSAC once their badge is sponsored. As stated in the earlier steps, non-immigrant foreign nationals will need to be validated by the NIH Division of International Services (DIS) after Badge Sponsorship, prior to DPSAC processing.
   

The requirements outlined in these emails must be competed in order for applicants to receive/retain their PIV Badge: ​​
   

Once all a candidate submits all Prescreening documentation, DPSAC will review and conduct issue mitigation (if applicable) and make a prescreening determination on the candidate's eligibility for NIH employment and/or NIH PIV/RLA badge:          

• If DPSAC's prescreening and suitability determination is found to be favorable, DPSAC will aut​horize PIV Badge and Prescreening Clearance for Entry on Duty (EOD).​​​
• If DPSAC's prescreening and suitability determination is found to be unfavorable, DPSAC will alert the candidate and notify the program office that the candidate was not eligible for a PIV/RLA badge. The program office will be recommended to withdraw the candidate's employment offer due to ineligibility for a position at NIH and for issuance of a PIV/RLA badge. The badge will be revoked in conjunction with the unsuitable determination and associated action.

In cases where a new background investigation is required, DPSAC makes what is called an "interim" PIV/RLA badge issuance determination (utilizing HSPD-12 credentialing standards) based on the preliminary documents received during Prescreening.
     

• ​This means that the candidate’s badge is issued on an "interim" basis, pending ​​the results of the background investigation and suitability adjudication. 
• A final determination on the candidate’s badge eligibility and/or suitability for NIH em​​ployment will be made based on the results of the background investigation completed by the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA). This final determination can take several months to be completed. 
• Non-Responsive Applicants: If a candidate does not respond or fails to complete the requested prescreening items in the allotted time, DPSAC will find the individual ineligible for issuance of a PIV/RLA badge due to failure to complete federally mandated prescreening requirements. DPSAC provides ample reminders and warnings, and will also escalate to the Administrative Officer, Supervisor and/or Project Officer if the candidate is not responsive.