Adverse information can come from many sources; it's not limited exclusively to OPM investigations. On occasion, adjudicators cannot make a sound adjudicative decision based on the information in their possession. When this happens, adjudicators must solicit more information from either the subject of the investigation, the command, or a medical professional. In some instances, it's necessary to reopen an investigation through OPM. Once the additional information is requested, a suspense file is created.

Suspense files are cases awaiting: information (e.g. responses to LOIs, financial statements, medical evaluations, etc.) we have requested from commands, receipt of files we ordered from the repositories (such as investigations from NCIS, CID, OSI, DSS, OPM, etc.) for review in conjunctions with newly received derogatory information. If the information is not received in a timely manner (60-90 days), a tracer is forwarded to the command or a second request for files is made. If the command fails to respond to the tracer, a non-response letter is then forwarded to the command. Once the non-response letter has been forwarded, the command has 30 days to respond. If the command does not respond within 30 days, we will close the case and indicate that no clearance was granted due to non-response. If additional investigation is required, we will request OPM to conduct the investigation and notify the command. The command may keep track of when an additional investigation has opened and closed through JCAVS/JPAS.