Hiring for cleared positions already comes with more moving pieces than the average recruiting process. Between verifying clearance eligibility, coordinating with security teams, initiating investigations, completing fingerprints, and waiting on government processes, getting a candidate from offer to start date requires close coordination.
Now, there’s another process change cleared employers need to have on their radar.
The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) has moved the initiation, review, and approval of eApp used for background investigations from the National Background Investigation Services (NBIS) Agency system into the Defense Information System for Security Joint Verification System, better known as DISS-JVS.
For recruiting and talent acquisition teams, this may sound like a change that belongs solely in the security office. But anything that affects how quickly a candidate can move through the clearance process can ultimately affect hiring timelines, candidate communication, onboarding, and workforce planning.
Previously, security professionals could find themselves working between different systems while managing an applicant's clearance process.
Under the updated process, the Facility Security Officer (FSO) or other authorized security professional initiates the applicant's eApp through DISS. DCSA says that after successful initiation, the security receives notification containing the applicant's account instructions and PIN or registration code. Those instructions are then provided to the applicant so they can access and complete their investigative questionnaire.
The applicant still has work to do. They must complete the required electronic questionnaire, certify the information they provide, sign the appropriate releases, and, when required, submit fingerprints.
Once completed, the FSO reviews the package for adequacy and completeness before submitting the security clearance package through DISS for government review.
The significant operational difference is that security professionals can now initiate, review, and approve background investigation submissions through DISS-JVS rather than managing that portion of the process through NBIS Agency. The goal is a more consolidated workflow and greater visibility for security teams.
TRANSITION DATES EMPLOYERS SHOULD BE AWARE OF
There is an important transition period underway. According to reporting from ClearanceJobs, applicants who already have an eApp in progress through NBIS can continue working on it. However, new applications will no longer be initiated there after September 30, 2026, and DCSA has notified partners that NBIS Agency is scheduled to sunset on November 30, 2026. That November deadline is particularly important for candidates with an application already underway. If an existing NBIS application isn't completed before the system sunsets, the application may need to be reinitiated through DISS, potentially forcing the applicant to start the process again.
For employers, that's a good reason to identify candidates currently sitting somewhere in the clearance initiation process and make sure they understand any outstanding actions.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR CLEARED RECRUITERS
Recruiters probably aren't going to become DISS administrators because of this change, and they shouldn't. But cleared recruiting works best when recruiting, HR, onboarding, program management, and security aren't operating in separate silos.
A recruiter may be the candidate's primary point of contact even when the delay has nothing to do with recruiting. When candidates don't understand what's happening after accepting an offer, silence can quickly turn into frustration or cause them to pursue another opportunity.
Recruiters should know enough about the updated process to explain the basic handoff:
Recruiting/HR → Security Team → DISS initiation → Candidate completes eApp → Security review → Government processing
That visibility can also help recruiters distinguish between a candidate who is waiting on the government and one who hasn't completed an action required to move the investigation forward.
This is where an adaptable applicant tracking system can help.
With AgileATS, organizations can build recruiting workflows around their actual hiring processes rather than forcing cleared hiring into a generic commercial recruiting funnel. Teams can configure stages, establish ownership, automate appropriate candidate communications, and create better visibility around hiring bottlenecks.
The ATS doesn't replace DISS or the security clearance process. Instead, it helps recruiting teams manage everything happening around that process.
MODERNIZED PERSONELL VETTING FOR GOVCON
DISS itself isn't new. It has served as the Department of Defense system of record for personnel security, suitability, and credentialing management since replacing JPAS in 2021. JVS is the DISS subsystem used by DoD professionals to document access and verify eligibility determinations. The eApp transition is part of a much larger modernization of federal personnel vetting.
DCSA has been working toward implementation of Trusted Workforce 2.0, including modernized technology, continuous vetting, and changes to the forms used to collect information from applicants.
Another major change is also approaching: the Personnel Vetting Questionnaire (PVQ), which is expected to eventually replace forms including the familiar SF-86 used for national security positions. ClearanceJobs reports that a phased PVQ rollout is expected beginning in late 2026, with broader adoption expected in 2027.
In other words, cleared employers should expect the personnel vetting ecosystem to continue evolving.
CANDIDATE COMMUNICATION STILL MATTERS
Moving eApp processing into DISS-JVS may simplify the administrative side of clearance initiation for security professionals, but technology alone won't solve one of the biggest challenges in cleared hiring: keeping candidates informed throughout a complicated process.
Recruiters don't need to become security experts. They do need to understand where recruiting ends, where security processing begins, and how the two functions can work together to keep candidates moving toward their start date.
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