Is a Statement of Reasons a denial?

It is not the final decision. It sets out the concerns and gives you the chance to answer them. What happens next depends on your response and on the process the letter describes.

We are not going to guess. Some people answer on their own and some get help. Either way, an organized record makes the work faster and cheaper.

Can I add things after I've responded?

Write down everything you send and the date you sent it, so you always know exactly what is on file and what is not.

Is what I write here private?

Yes. It is your account, in your account, and nothing leaves it unless you send it. It is not on your employer's systems.

If you're answering

You received a Statement of Reasons on your security clearance

The letter lists the concerns, usually in formal language, and it can read as though the decision is already made. It is not a decision. It is the point where you get to answer, and the answer is only as good as the record behind it.

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Last updated Oct 10, 2026

Written by Dave Shelton, founder of BuildMyEvidence. Thirty years in business taught him that the person with a clear record gets taken seriously.

First, read it slowly and split it up

A Statement of Reasons usually lists each concern as a separate point, often with detail underneath. Before you react to any of it, copy each point out on its own, in the letter's own words, numbered the way the letter numbers it.

Then, under each one, write three things:

What you agree is accurate.
What you say is wrong or missing.
What you have, or can get, that bears on it.

This is slow work, and it is the most useful thing you can do in the first week. A response that answers every point in order reads very differently from one long letter that answers the points that were easiest.

The letter also explains what you can do next and by when. Read that part twice, and put the date somewhere you will see it every day.

Gather the paper, not just the story

Most concerns in a Statement of Reasons are about things that left a paper trail: debts, payments, a past incident, a job, travel, contact with someone. Your memory of these is useful. The documents are better.

For each point, look for:

Statements, payment confirmations, settlement letters or payoff letters.
Court or agency paperwork showing how something ended, not only how it started.
Letters, emails or certificates showing what you did afterwards: a course completed, an account brought current, a counselor seen.
Names and contact details of people who can speak to how you have conducted yourself since.

Note where each document came from and the date you got it. If you have asked for something and are still waiting, write down when you asked and who you asked. "Requested Mar 3, 2026, still outstanding" is a fact you can put in front of someone.

Write your account once, carefully

For each point, write your own account in plain sentences: what happened, when, what you did about it, and where things stand now.

Keep it factual. The person reading it has read a great many of these. Explanations that run long, blame other people, or drift into how you felt tend to work against the writer. A short account with a date on every statement, and a document behind as many of them as possible, does the opposite.

Be careful with anything you said on an earlier form or in an interview. If your account now differs from what you said then, deal with it directly and explain it. An inconsistency you raise yourself is a different thing from one somebody else finds.

What to leave alone

Don't guess at dates. If you are not sure, say so and say how you will find out. A wrong date stated confidently can look worse than the thing it describes.
Don't leave a point unanswered because it seems minor, or because you think it is obviously wrong. Answer it anyway.
Don't discuss the details with coworkers. Keep it between you and anyone actually helping you with it.
Don't rely on anyone at work to keep your copies. Keep your own copy of everything, somewhere that is yours.

Whether to get help from a lawyer who handles clearance cases is your call, and plenty of people do. Either way, they will ask for exactly the record described above.

What your side looks like when it is in order

BuildMyEvidence is a place to put it. You write down what happened, as it happens, and attach what you already have. Everything gets a date and a number.

For something like this, that gives you:

Each concern, listed separately, in the letter's own words, with what bears on it underneath.
One chronology of the events behind each point, and what you did afterwards.
Every document dated and numbered, so your response can point straight to it.
Your own statement, in your words, numbered, with a page at the end to sign by hand.

You can read every page in full before you pay. The screen copy carries preview marks across it. The file you download is clean, and it is $59 once, for this case. What the $59 covers

It is a record, not a lawyer, and it does not tell you whether you will win. It makes sure that in three months, when somebody asks what happened, you are not relying on what you remember about something that happened years ago.

Start your side of it

Read one that is already written

Two of our four worked examples are written from this side — somebody answering something they did not start. You can open them and read every page, free.

Case 004 · answering a claimA withheld deposit, from the landlord's side$1,450 held back on a $2,000 deposit. One side had photo pairs twenty-one months apart; the other had a recollection.Case 002 · answering a complaintAccused of the noise, from the other side of the fenceSeven complaints over four months. What the accused neighbor had was a work calendar, and it did more than he expected.

Questions people ask

Is a Statement of Reasons a denial?: It is not the final decision. It sets out the concerns and gives you the chance to answer them. What happens next depends on your response and on the process the letter describes.
Do I need a lawyer?: We are not going to guess. Some people answer on their own and some get help. Either way, an organized record makes the work faster and cheaper.
Can I add things after I've responded?: Write down everything you send and the date you sent it, so you always know exactly what is on file and what is not.
Is what I write here private?: Yes. It is your account, in your account, and nothing leaves it unless you send it. It is not on your employer's systems. Privacy

Start your side of it

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